Är vinkritik nonsens - En explorativ studie av vinkritiker och deras bedömningsprocess i en kluven industri
With increasing wine consumption and a growing assortment at available to Swedish consumers, there is an interest in understanding the decision making process of Swedish wine consumers. In this thesis the expert phenomenon is studied with respect to wine through wine critic reliability: grading objectivity, understanding the process of wine criticism and possible critic influence on consumer behavior. Two studies were performed; a qualitative in-depth session of interviews with industry connoisseurs and a quantitative analysis of 589 online wine reviews. Our results indicate that wine reviews are highly subjective and defy prediction through analysis of external variables. Critics are likely to judge differently based on what information they have at hand, suggesting that expectations affect grading. Consensus between critics was found to be low, which combined with the subjective nature of grading leads the authors to conclude that wine critic reliability is low. Based on this conclusion it is surprising to note the level of influence over pricing and global consumption wielded by critics like the influential Robert Parker.