The Role of Actual and Purported Origin in e‐Commerce Wine Pricing: Evidence From Italian and French Names on Labels

The origin of a product, if associated with good quality, can contribute to building a positive collective reputation, leading to a potential price premium. However, it is conceivable that a producer markets a product by evoking symbols, images, words, and values typical of places other than where it was designed or produced, creating a “foreign sounding” effect. This study, which focuses on wines available for purchase online, examines whether and to what extent wines with actual or perceived associations with French and Italian production cultures enjoy a price premium. Through an empirical analysis using matched sampling in a multiple treatment framework, this study draws on an original database constructed using web-scraping and text-mining techniques. The database contains detailed information on over 17,000 bottles of wine offered online on three major English-language websites. Controlling for a variety of factors affecting wine performance—at the bottle, winery, and brand level—and segmenting by price range—the analysis finds that Made in France bottles command a price premium. Conversely, Made in Italy, Italian-sounding, and French-sounding bottles experience price penalties, with Italian wines suffering greater price penalties than Italian-sounding alternatives. These results have important implications. For example, wineries that rely on foreign-sounding branding may face consumer skepticism, leading to price penalties, as observed for French-sounding wines. Despite this, the better performance of Italian-sounding labels over Made in Italy wines suggests that certain branding strategies—such as using culturally evocative names—can partially enhance consumer perception even when it is purported.