The dimensions of wine quality Steve Charters a, * , Simone Pettigrew b,1 a Reims Management School, 59 rue Pierre Taittinger, 51100 Reims, France b University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia Received 25 May 2006; received in revised form 4 April 2007; accepted 4 April 2007 Available online 14 April 2007 Abstract The nature of product quality is complex and repays close investigation. Using qualitative methods, this study examined Australian wine drinkers’ perceptions of wine quality to construct a comprehensive, consumer-focused understanding of the complexity of the con- cept. Wine quality was found to comprise a number of dimensions, both intrinsic to what is drunk and extrinsic to it. These dimensions may be terminal – an end state of pleasure – or catalytic, factors which help to stimulate resulting pleasure. In theoretical terms the study suggests that quality is a multi-dimensional construct and that consumers engage with it depending on their varying involvement levels with the product. Practically the research offers marketers the chance to understand how quality is conceived by consumers and the vary- ing ways in which drinkers can be grouped based on the quality dimensions they focus on. Ó 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Wine quality; Intrinsic dimensions; Extrinsic dimensions; Terminal quality; Catalytic quality 1. Introduction The nature of product quality is considered to be diffi- cult to understand (Garvin, 1984; Zeithaml, 1988), and the nature of wine quality, with its quasi-aesthetic charac- ter and relationship to personal taste (Charters & Petti- grew, 2005), is particularly hard to pinpoint. Some studies have examined the components of wine quality (Botonaki & Tsakiridou, 2004; Jover, Montes, & Fuentes, 2004), but these have tended to focus on quality in relation- ship to purchase rather than the consumption experience. Additionally these studies work within the context of Euro- pean legal quality frameworks with a focus on the origin of a wine as a determinant of quality. The present study con- siders wine quality from a consumer’s perspective and spe- cifically examines what are termed the dimensions of wine quality; these are the various components which together are perceived by the drinker to facilitate evaluation at the point of imbibing. Given that this process had a focus on consumers’ feel- ings, ideas and perceptions, a qualitative research method, concentrating on the drinker’s personal experience, was deemed most appropriate. Focus groups (which included tastings that allowed the evaluation of quality to be observed as well as discussed) and interviews were the spe- cific data collection methods selected to achieve the aims of the study. 2. Context 2.1. The marketing perspective As noted, from the perspective of marketing academics quality is hard to define precisely. This has led to a focus on perceived rather than actual quality (e.g. Oude Ophuis & van Trijp, 1995; Rust, Inman, Jia, & Zahorik, 1999). Thus the issue of whether or not quality exists or how it operates becomes secondary to the perspective of the con- sumer. Zeithaml (1988, p. 4), having distinguished perceived 0950-3293/$ - see front matter Ó 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.foodqual.2007.04.003 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +33 3 26 77 52 30. E-mail addresses: stephen.charters@reims-ms.fr (S. Charters), simo- ne.pettigrew@uwa.edu.au (S. Pettigrew). 1 Tel.: +61 8 6488 1437. www.elsevier.com/locate/foodqual Food Quality and Preference 18 (2007) 997–1007