If you’re on TikTok, it’s likely your For You Page has been full of Gen Z ladies filling their glasses with ‘Chicken Wine’.
‘Chicken Wine’ is a nickname for the supermarket wine brand, La Vieille Ferme – an £8.50 rose said to taste just like Whispering Angel.
But why exactly are La Vieille Ferme and Whispering Angel so popular among women?
In a new study, researchers from Washington State University set out to answer this question.
And their findings suggest that the appeal of these wines may come down to their labels, rather than their taste.
What exactly is it that makes La Vieille Ferme and Whispering Angel so appealing to women? In a new study, researchers from Washington State University set out to answer this question
The audience of rose sippers is colossal, with thousands of videos on TikTok revealing scenes of Gen Z filling their glasses and even fridges with bottles of La Vieille Ferme and Whispering Angel.
In their new three-part study, the team set out to understand what makes these wines more popular than others.
In the first two experiments, 324 women were shown fictitious wines with labels that were either feminine, masculine or neutral.
Feminine labels included those with cute animals, flowers and female portraits, while masculine labels featured more rugged animals like wolves and stags, as well as portraits of men.
Finally, neutral labels featured things like castles and bunches of grapes.
After being shown the bottles, the women were asked how likely they would be to buy them.
The women were shown fictitious wines with labels that were either feminine, masculine or neutral. Feminine labels included those with cute animals, flowers and female portraits, while masculine labels featured more rugged animals like wolves and stags, as well as portraits of men. Finally, neutral labels featured things like castles and bunches of grapes
The results revealed that the women were more likely to buy wines with feminine labels than those with masculine ones (stock image)
The results revealed that the women were more likely to buy wines with feminine labels than those with masculine ones.
What’s more, the women also rated the expected colour, taste, aroma, and aftertaste more highly for wines with feminine labels.
Surprisingly, the researchers found that the participants’ levels of wine expertise influenced their taste expectations, but not their purchase intentions.
Professor Christina Chi, co-author of the study, said: ‘Whether they were knowledgeable or less knowledgeable about wine, when they saw those feminine cues, they had a higher intention to buy the wine.
‘The gender cue influence was so strong, it trumped the effect of that knowledge.’
In the third experiment, another set of 138 women were asked to taste bottles of the same red wine, but with different labels.
The results revealed that women who tasted the wine when it had a feminine label ranked it higher in fruit flavours.
And those who tasted the same wine with a masculine label connected more with mineral flavours.
The researchers hope the findings will encourage wine producers to involve women in the label design process.
‘When you look at the market segments, women are actually purchasing a lot of wine. They are a large group,’ said Dr Ruiying Cai, lead author of the paper.
‘We found that feminine cues speak to women consumers.’
