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Free keywords:
wine, economic sociology, Bourdieu, field, class, price
Abstract:
In markets for goods that are valued for their aesthetic qualities, the ascription of value appears
to be an uncertain social process. The wine market is an extraordinary example, as most
persons are not able to differentiate between wines based on objective sensory characteristics.
Therefore, we theorize valuation according to Bourdieu’s field theoretical perspective as a
social process in which quality is contested. Our empirical analysis shows, first, that his model
has considerable power in explaining price differentiation between wineries and second, that
the orientation of consumers toward different segments of the field is based on a homologous class hierarchy.
