Wine labels in Austrian food retail stores: A semiotic analysis of multimodal red wine labels

Bettina König; Erhard Lick

doi:10.1515/sem-2014-0014

Article

Wine labels in Austrian food retail stores: A semiotic analysis of multimodal red wine labels

Bettina König
Bettina König (b. 1974) is a lecturer at the University of Applied Sciences Burgenland 〈bettina.koenig@fhburgenland.at〉. Her research interests include branding and brand positioning, international marketing, and marketing research methods. Her publications include “nimm2 Lachgummi – Markenpower, Vitamine & Naschen” (2009); and “Die Lehre qualitativer Marktforschung – eine multiperspektivische Evaluierung didaktischer Erfahrungen” (with C. Kummer, 2011).
and Erhard Lick
Erhard Lick (b. 1967) is a professor at the ESCE International Business School 〈erhard.lick@esce.fr〉. His research interests include international marketing communications, branding, multimodality, and applied linguistics. His publications include “Advertising to Canada's official language groups: A comparative critical discourse analysis” (with J. Kuhn, 2009); and “The myth of cultural differences between English and French Canada” (2010).

Published/Copyright: May 23, 2014

Published by

Become an author with De Gruyter Brill

Submit Manuscript Author Information Explore this Subject

From the journal Semiotica Volume 2014 Issue 200

Abstract

From a marketing point of view, front labels play a crucial role in the consumers' relatively quick decisionmaking process when buying wine in retail stores. The aim of this paper was to reveal which semiotic code systems, in particular, colors, visual representations, and designs, as well as verbal representations, Austrian wine producers use on the front labels of their red wine bottles. For that purpose, the method of content analysis was applied on a representative corpus of red wine labels. Our empirical study showed that the wine labels analyzed especially appeal to price sensitive customers through the employment of light colors. In addition, wine producers do not seem to apply the “visualtotaste lexicon” as the labels rarely show the color “red.” Furthermore, in a large number of cases the wine producers use their family names as brand names of their wines. Moreover, both the depiction of crests and landscapes and the application of indexical brand names, emphasize the Austrian origin of wines. Finally, the extensive use of English brand names appears to connect wines to the social stereotypes of modernity, prestige, and progress.

Keywords: red wine labels; Austria; multimodality; marketing; retailing; content analysis

About the authors

Bettina König

Bettina König (b. 1974) is a lecturer at the University of Applied Sciences Burgenland 〈bettina.koenig@fhburgenland.at〉. Her research interests include branding and brand positioning, international marketing, and marketing research methods. Her publications include “nimm2 Lachgummi – Markenpower, Vitamine & Naschen” (2009); and “Die Lehre qualitativer Marktforschung – eine multiperspektivische Evaluierung didaktischer Erfahrungen” (with C. Kummer, 2011).

Erhard Lick

Erhard Lick (b. 1967) is a professor at the ESCE International Business School 〈erhard.lick@esce.fr〉. His research interests include international marketing communications, branding, multimodality, and applied linguistics. His publications include “Advertising to Canada's official language groups: A comparative critical discourse analysis” (with J. Kuhn, 2009); and “The myth of cultural differences between English and French Canada” (2010).

Published Online: 2014-5-23

Published in Print: 2014-6-1

You are currently not able to access this content.

Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/sem-2014-0014

Keywords for this article

red wine labels; Austria; multimodality; marketing; retailing; content analysis