7 Lessons from Italian Youngsters: how to deal with wine complexity by Marketing Management Alberto Mattiacci 1 , Federica Ceccotti 2 , Costanza Nosi 3 7.1 Abstract Factors and constraints affecting wine purchasing decisions are numerous, since wine is extraordinarily rich both in intrinsic and in extrinsic attributes, material and immaterial characteristics, as well as functional and symbolic traits which influence the quality perceived by consumers. These conditions reflect themselves in the com- plexity of consumer purchasing behavior for wine. The main objective of this study is to outline the traits of the cognitive complexi- ty of wine, with the aim of understanding the awareness of young Italian wine and beer consumers and to examine their consumption and purchase habits. Using both qualitative and quantitative research techniques, the findings highlight that, even if wine belongs to the country culture heritage and represents an inherent element of people life, young consumers are quite confused about it and a cognitive mismatch reduces their capability to grasp the meaning of all product information attributes provided by wine producers and marketers. The survey highlights that the product- related “cognitive complexity” may prevent young consumers from buying and drinking wine compared with other “easier” alcoholic beverage, such as beer. The results suggest that wine producers and marketers should invest more in the “cogn i- 1 Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza, Facoltà di Scienze della Comunicazione - Via Salaria 113, 00198 Roma. Phone: +39.06.4991.8341; Email: alberto.mattiacci@uniroma1.it 2 Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza, Facoltà di Economia, Dipartimento di Management e Tecnologie, Via del Castro Laurenziano, 00161 Roma. Phone: +39.06.49766784; Email: federica.ceccotti@uniroma1.it 3 Università degli Studi di Siena, Facoltà di Economia Richard M. Goodwin, Piazza San Francesco, 53100 SIENA, Phone: +39.0577.232627; Fax: +39.0577.235005; Email: nosi@unisi.it