Geisenheim doctoral student receives sought-after OIV scholarship for research on labelling of wines

12/18/2018

Evelyn Pabst

How do nutritional information labels on wine bottles affect international wine consumers?

Each year the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV) awards research scholarships to support priority programs as part of their strategy plan. The OIV is an intergovernmental, international organization in the wine business. The scholarships are awarded for specific post-university training courses and scholars receive support for between 6 and 15 months.

This year, Evelyn Pabst from Hochschule Geisenheim University is the happy scholar, receiving a scholarship worth 10,000 Euros for research on labelling regulations in the wine business. Evelyn Pabst is currently writing her doctoral thesis supervised by Prof. Simone Loose from the Department of Wine and Beverage Business, having completed her Bachelor’s and Master’s program in International Wine Business at Geisenheim and the Justus-Liebig-University in Gießen.

The research project is based on European Union plans to establish mandatory nutritional information labels on alcoholic beverages. In November 2017, results of a preliminary survey of German wine consumers were already presented at the Labelling-Forum at Hochschule Geisenheim University. Two scientific papers on the first results from Germany are currently being processed by international scientific journals.

The scholarship enables Evelyn Pabst, together with an international research team, to conduct a large-scale evaluation of consumers’ reactions to nutritional information labels on wine bottles across three international wine markets. Alongside scientists from the University of South Australia in Adelaide and Italian universities in Naples, Evelyn Pabst M.Sc. and Prof. Simone Loose from Geisenheim will be carrying out experiments on wine with different labels in the respective countries. The results will show whether or not consumer groups react to labelling, and if so, to what extent.

The research project may also suggest which media are best suited to informing consumers and reducing the possible negative effects of labelling. It will show what damage potential negative media coverage could have on the international wine business. Through the survey the wine business will gain important information on the possible effects of labelling and how best to prepare communication strategies for consumers.

Hochschule Geisenheim University would like to congratulate Frau Pabst and wishes her all the best for the future!