Impact of the information provided to consumers on their willingness to pay for Champagne: comparison with hedonic scores

This study was carried out in order to compare two mechanisms designed to reveal consumers' preferences: a Vickrey auction which measures willingness to pay, and a common hedonic test. Via these two methods, the objective was to assess the respective effects of sensory characteristics and external information on the overall evaluation of five brut non-vintage Champagnes. One hundred and twenty three consumers were randomly assigned to two groups and took part in one of the methods. Whichever the method, they evaluated the Champagnes in a blind condition, then on the basis of bottle presentation and, finally, after observing the bottle while tasting. Results revealed that the two methods performed equally in revealing the effect of external information on the overall evaluation of Champagnes. Participants are unable to discriminate Champagnes after blind tasting, while significant differences in preferences for the products appeared when labels were made known, and the preferences observed respected the hierarchy of the market. Nevertheless, some differences between the two methods were observed suggesting that these methods could be used differently according to the specific objectives of the study. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.