Label design of wines sold online: Effects of perceived authenticity on purchase intentions

Abstract This article aims at exploring the relation between customers' perception of the authenticity of wines and their purchase intentions in online retailing. We investigate if perceived pleasure plays a mediating role and whether the relation between perceived authenticity and perceived pleasure is moderated by the color type (heraldic vs. vivid colors), presence or absence of a château (icon), and visual complexity (high vs. low) with respect to label design. For this purpose, we conduct an exploratory study followed by an experiment (n = 215). The results reveal that perceived authenticity has a positive effect on both pleasure and purchase intent. Labels showing heraldic colors and low visual complexity lead to a stronger effect of authenticity on pleasure in comparison to labels with vivid colors and high visual complexity. The presence or absence of a château does not have a significant moderating effect. Therefore, wine marketers selling wines on the Internet are advised to design wine labels which tend to show heraldic colors and low visual complexity to enhance customers’ perception of wine authenticity.