Understanding Consumer Acceptance and Barriers to Alcohol-Free Wine: Insights Into Quality Perception and Purchase Motivations Across Demographics

The global demand for nonalcoholic wine is growing significantly, driven by evolving consumer preferences, health-conscious trends, and religious considerations. This study evaluates consumers' ability to differentiate wine samples based on alcohol content (12%, 6%, and 0% v/v), perceptions of overall quality, and the motivations and barriers influencing the choice of alcohol-free wine across demographics (age, gender, and education). For this, a sensory evaluation was conducted using a ranking task, where consumers were randomly presented with the three wine samples and asked to rank them from highest to lowest alcohol content. Subsequently, participants rated the overall quality and reported the motivations and barriers influencing their choice of alcohol-free wine. A total of 59 participants (57.6% female and 42.4% male) took part in consumer acceptance testing and surveys. Sensory analysis revealed that 88.14% of participants correctly identified the original wine (OW), while 76.27% identified the partially dealcoholized wine (PDW) and the alcohol-free wine (DW). Overall quality scores significantly declined with decreasing alcohol content, with DW receiving the lowest score (4.2 ± 2.5), suggesting that ethanol concentration may influence flavor perception and overall sensory preference in the evaluated wines. Safety (52.5%), health or wellness benefits (44.1%), and the desire to avoid alcohol (37.3%) emerged as the primary motivations for consuming alcohol-free wine. In contrast, sensory shortcomings (64.4%), higher costs (25.4%), and limited availability (23.7%) were identified as key barriers to the adoption of alcohol-free wine. Furthermore, educational qualification (PhD > BSc > MSc) and age groups (younger: 18–35 years > older: above 35 years) significantly influenced the motivational factors “for social occasions without alcohol” (χ² = 8.20, p = 0.02) and “health or wellness benefits” (χ² = 9.74, p = 0.04), respectively. However, no statistically significant associations were found between demographic variables and key barriers.