Grapes & Grain Opinion Panel

The Grapes & Grain Opinion Panel is a result of collaboration between Merrill Research LLC and Snooth Media Inc. This consumer panel is the largest panel in North America dedicated to wine and spirits drinkers, all whom have joined the panel in the summer of 2011 - so all panelists are fresh and highly engaged. The large size of our panel, coupled with our detailed respondent profile information, allows us to be highly targeted with our surveys. It also eliminates the need to "over-survey" any of our panelists, allowing our panelists to provide objective feedback and not be prone to becoming "professional respondents."

Two Reports Now Available (March 2012)

2012 Grapes & Grain Wine Consumer Usage & Attitude Study

The first survey utilizing the panel, The Grapes & Grain Wine Consumer Usage & Attitude Study, fielded in August 2011 had 4,152 respondents and focused on general wine purchase and consumption behavior. Due to the large number of respondents we were able to segment the results by the following variables: age, income, gender, marital status, employment, political leanings, sexual orientation, online buying, kids/no kids, buying frequency, and buying volume and price points paid for wine.

Study Methodology

• 4,152 online surveys
  
  • 94% U.S., 6% Canada
• Surveys were completed between August 15 and August 29, 2011
• Average survey length was 17 minutes

Target Audience

Respondents were required to meet all of the following criteria:

• Age 21+
• Core wine drinkers (drink wine at least once a week)
  • Our previous research shows that core drinkers account for 90%+ of all US wine consumption volume
• Responsible for purchasing wine at retail for household
• Purchased 2+ bottles of wine (750 ml) in a store in the past 6 weeks

The Grapes & Grain 2012 Wine Consumer Usage & Attitude Detailed Report contains 75 pages of information on the following areas:

Wine Consumption & Purchasing

• Percentage of wine purchased from: Retail store, restaurant, auction, wine club, winery (in-person), winery web site, wine retailer website
• Percentage of wine consumed: at home, home of a friend/relative, restaurant/bar/lounge, other venues (such as at a sports event, concert, etc.)

Retail Purchasing

• Number of bottles of wine purchased from a store in past 6 weeks
• Frequency of buying wine from a store
• Research done prior to arriving at a store to purchase wine
• Sources of information about wines before purchasing at a store
• Frequency purchase at a store a brand of wine have never seen or heard of before
• Frequency of buying wine online
• Importance of factors in determining which wines to select when purchasing at a store
  (23 factors rated)

Internet / Social Media Usage

• Frequency use of mobile phone applications for wine research and information
• Frequency of combining the use of various social media with wine drinking.
• Types of wine-related information sought online
• Frequency of access to specific types of wine websites
• Current subscriptions to social media sites

Wine Attitudes

• Brand loyalty
• Level of agreement with statements about wine
  37 statements pertaining to:
  • Wine involvement
  • Wine collecting
  • Alternative packaging
  • Taste preferences
  • Price sensitivity
  • Down shifting
  • West coast wine perceptions
  • Price-quality perceptions
  • Use of technology in wine evaluation
  • Randomness of wine pricing
  • Wine and health
  • Light wine

Other Survey Topics

• Publications read regularly
• Television news networks watched
• Activities regularly participated in
• Wine and pregnancy
• Change in personal financial situation over the past 12 months
• Sexual orientation

The Grapes & Grain 2012 Wine Consumer Usage & Attitude Detailed Report is now available to wine producers and resellers. Pricing is below.

2012 Affluent Wine Consumer Usage & Attitude Report

The 2012 Affluent Wine Consumer Usage & Attitude Report is now available for just $1,000. It contains the same level of detail as the core drinker report (see above) and reflects the opinions of 647 affluent drinkers. The sample consists of core wine drinkers with household income above $100,000 (mean=$168,000) who frequently purchase wine costing $20+ at retail. This affluent market segment represent 7-8% of all core wine drinkers (i.e., approximately 3 million luxury wine drinkers).

Please contact us to order your copy of either report:

WEST COAST Mr. Patrick Merrill Merrill Research 650-954-2932 pmerrill@merrill.com

EAST COAST Ms. Lisa Gorkin Merrill Research 650-954-2940 lgorkin@merrill.com