Judging the Bottle by Its Cover: Wine Label Style and Price Cues in Regulated Monopoly Retail Settings

Sammanfattning

We examine how modern versus traditional wine label design and displayed price shape perceived quality and purchase intention in a Systembolaget-like shelf context. Drawing on visual semiotics, product form theory, and price cue literature, we ask whether a modern label generates higher perceived quality and purchase intention than a traditional one, and whether displayed price moderates the label style effect on purchase intention. We ran a 2x2 between-subjects online experiment with 125 respondents after exclusions. Each participant was randomly assigned to evaluate one fictional wine bottle shown in a Systembolaget shelf scene, varying by label style (modern vs. traditional) and displayed price (99 SEK vs 199 SEK). The manipulations worked as intended, but none of the three hypotheses reached statistical significance. Label style did not significantly affect perceived quality or purchase intention, and the label style x price interaction on purchase intention was not significant either. The clearest finding was that displayed price significantly increased perceived quality, with respondents rating the wine as higher quality at 199 SEK than at 99 SEK. In this regulated retail context, displayed price worked more clearly as a quality cue than label style did.