Wine Survey

Hello everyone,

I have just recently joined the forum in search of a community of wine lovers who could perhaps take part in this graduate school survey. The purpose of this survey is to better understand consumer behavior when shopping for wine. If you would be so kind please respond to the following survey, the longer the answers the better, this is a qualitative essay. I would like to make this process as interactive as possible and I will probe for further details as the need may rise. Please feel free to react to each other's answers as well, like I said I would like this survey to become a conversation among community members.

I look forward to your responses. Thank you in advance.

Alex O
Marketing
10/29/09

Wine Survey



1. How often do you drink wine?
a. less than once per month
b. 1 to 2 times per month
c. Once per week
d. A couple of times per week
e. Almost every day
NOTES:



2. In what quantities do you purchase wine? (# of bottles)
a. 1 bottle at a time
b. between 2 to 4 bottles at a time
c. more than 4 bottles at a time
NOTES:



3. In which price range do the majority of your wine purchases fall? (per 750ml bottle)
a. less than $10
b. between $10 and $20
c. between $20 and $30
d. greater than $30
NOTES:



4. For which purposes do you purchase wine? (circle all that apply)
a. gift
b. as a collector
c. for holidays
d. for yourself for immediate consumption
e. other
NOTES:








5. The majority of the time you consume wine with:
a. by itself
b. with tobacco products
c. with finger foods (cheese, crackers, chocolate, fruits etc.)
d. with large meal (lunch, dinner)
e. other
NOTES:



6. Where do you usually drink wine?
a. home
b. restaurant
c. bar/lounge
d. club
e. other
NOTES:



7. When heading into a wine store you already know which:
a. brand and type you want
b. type and region you want
c. region you want (Bordeaux, Napa Valley, Chile etc.)
d. type you want (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noire etc.)
e. look to see what catches your attention
f. ask a store clerk for suggestions
NOTES:



8. Do you have a favorite type of red wine?
a. Merlot
b. Bordeaux blend
c. Pinot Noir
d. Cabernet Sauvignon
e. Syrah
f. Zinfandel
g. Malbec
h. Sangiovese
i. Cabernet Franc
j. Chianti
k. Other ________________
NOTES:



9. What are your top two favorite regions to purchase wine from: United States East Coast, United States West Coast, Chile, Argentina, Spain, Portugal, Germany, France, Italy, Australia, Other _______. Why?
1.
2.
NOTES:



10. What type of wines do you prefer? Why?
NOTES:



11. How would you rate merlot as a type of wine that meets your priorities? Please Explain
Excellent
Very Good
Good
Fair
Poor


What do you like most about Merlot?

What don't you like about Merlot?

NOTES:



12. Do you usually repurchase the wines you like or do you try new ones each time?
NOTES:



13. Other than wine, which other spirits do you regularly enjoy?
NOTES:



14. When thinking about wine, what words come to mind?
NOTES:



15. True/False – Professional wine ratings like Wine Advocate (WA) or Wine Enthusiast (WE) affect your decision.
NOTES:



16. True/False – Price and Quality of wine are directly correlated.
NOTES:



17. True/False – In a blind tasting you believe you could tell the difference between a $10 wine and a $50 wine of the same brand and grape variety.
NOTES:



18. True/False – The older the wine the better it is?
NOTES:



19. Male or Female
NOTES:



20. Age:
NOTES:



21. Nationality:
NOTES:



22. Favorite Color:
NOTES:



23. Favorite Animal:
NOTES:



24. Favorite Fruit:
NOTES:



25. Favorite Comfort Foods:
NOTES:

Out of curiosity, who wrote this survey?

Why do you ask about consuming wine with tobacco products?

And why do you distinguish between the United States East Coast and the United States West Coast but then only put 'France' and 'Italy'? I imagine you're aware of the huge diversity as well as the historic importance of diversity within 'France' and 'Italy'.

Not sure if we're your target audience, but will be interesting to see the responses.

Out of curiosity, who wrote this survey?

Why do you ask about consuming wine with tobacco products?

And why do you distinguish between the United States East Coast and the United States West Coast but then only put 'France' and 'Italy'? I imagine you're aware of the huge diversity as well as the historic importance of diversity within 'France' and 'Italy'.

Not sure if we're your target audience, but will be interesting to see the responses.

I wrote this survey with the aid of my marketing professor who specializes in consumer behavior, also some of the questions were edited using feedback from the other students. Asking about the tobacco products and other products that are enjoyed with wine is for the purpose of figuring different avenues of marketing wine, such as in a cigar magazine, or perhaps suggesting certain wines are good with certain tobacco products and having this suggestion on the back label of the bottle the way you would suggest what food the wine should be enjoyed with. As for the territory question, this has to do with the target audience of the results of this survey which are fellow grad students who admitedly have little knowledge about wine, it was their suggestion to break down the US in two areas. Also since I live in NY most wine shops will have the wines separated by country, but you always see a West Coast and an East Coast section for the US wines so that may have played into the class suggestion.

You may not be interested in my replies as I do not reside in the USA. Also I find few of the questions suitable for categoric answers but here goes -

I put xx next to the relevant answer and my text is in italics.

Wine Survey



1. How often do you drink wine?
a. less than once per month
b. 1 to 2 times per month
c. Once per week
d. A couple of times per week
xx e. Almost every day
NOTES:



2. In what quantities do you purchase wine? (# of bottles)
a. 1 bottle at a time
b. between 2 to 4 bottles at a time
xx c. more than 4 bottles at a time
NOTES:



3. In which price range do the majority of your wine purchases fall? (per 750ml bottle)
a. less than $10
xx b. between €10 and €20
c. between $20 and $30
d. greater than $30
NOTES:



4. For which purposes do you purchase wine? (circle all that apply)
a. gift
b. as a collector
c. for holidays
d. for yourself for immediate consumption
xx e. other
NOTES:

I cellar most of the wines which I purchase for future consumption. About a third are consumed within one year.








5. The majority of the time you consume wine with:
a. by itself
b. with tobacco products
c. with finger foods (cheese, crackers, chocolate, fruits etc.)
xx d. with large meal (lunch, dinner)
e. other
NOTES:



6. Where do you usually drink wine?
xx a. home
b. restaurant
c. bar/lounge
d. club
e. other
NOTES:



7. When heading into a wine store you already know which:
a. brand and type you want
b. type and region you want
c. region you want (Bordeaux, Napa Valley, Chile etc.)
d. type you want (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noire etc.)
e. look to see what catches your attention
f. ask a store clerk for suggestions
xx g. other
NOTES:
It varies. At least half my purchases follow tastings. Sometimes I go to a store for a specific wine type needed for a dinner party, e.g. Champagne, rosé in the summer; other times I order specific wines for delivery; yet other times I go into an unfamiliar wine store just to look around. Store owners can be a fount of knowledge and useful advice but the majority of simple salesmen/women are not much use.



8. Do you have a favorite type of red wine?
a. Merlot
b. Bordeaux blend
c. Pinot Noir
d. Cabernet Sauvignon
e. Syrah
f. Zinfandel
g. Malbec
h. Sangiovese
i. Cabernet Franc
j. Chianti
xx k. Other ________________
NOTES:
There are very fine red wines made by all the above grapes (NB Chianti is a regional appellation based on Sangiovese). Amongst my Mount Olympus of reds have been Châteaux Latour and Palmer (Bordeaux), La Tâche (Burgundy), Barolo Monfortino (you don't mention Nebbiolo, its grape variety).



9. What are your top two favorite regions to purchase wine from: United States East Coast, United States West Coast, Chile, Argentina, Spain, Portugal, Germany, France, Italy, Australia, Other _______. Why?
1. Loire valley for wines of real distinction at reasonable prices.
2. Rhône valley for gutsy generous wines mostly priced more sensibly than Bordeaux, Burgundy or Barolo.
NOTES:
Calling those European countries "regions" is meaningless. To take both France and Italy as examples, there is huge diversity; nothing in common between Loire and Languedoc in France nor between Langhe and Sicily inj Italy except the language of the inhabitants and even then their dialects differ.



10. What type of wines do you prefer? Why?
NOTES:

Wines with a sense of place.



11. How would you rate merlot as a type of wine that meets your priorities? Please Explain
Excellent
Very Good
Good
Fair
Poor

Merlot can very good/excellent in blends from cool regions, e.g. Saint-Emilion and Pomerol. In exceptional terroirs, it is capable of great wines when almost 100%, e.g. Pétrus. Most mass market warm climate Merlot is jammy and flabby, i.e. poor.


What do you like most about Merlot?

Its suppleness and flesh.

What don't you like about Merlot?

Tendency to flab and jamminess

NOTES:



12. Do you usually repurchase the wines you like or do you try new ones each time?
NOTES:

A bit of both.



13. Other than wine, which other spirits do you regularly enjoy?
NOTES:
Calvados, cognac, armagnac, malt whisky. (Wine is not a spirit)



14. When thinking about wine, what words come to mind?
NOTES:
"Elegance"; but most mass market wines don't have it.




15. True/False – Professional wine ratings like Wine Advocate (WA) or Wine Enthusiast (WE) affect your decision.
NOTES:
False for those two. Other professionals can be useful as a filter to identify wines worth tasting.



16. True/False – Price and Quality of wine are directly correlated.
NOTES:
False



17. True/False – In a blind tasting you believe you could tell the difference between a $10 wine and a $50 wine of the same brand and grape variety.
NOTES:
False a lot of the time



18. True/False – The older the wine the better it is?
NOTES:
False. Only a small minority of wine are suitable for ageing. However most of my great wine emotions have been with well aged bottles.



19. Male or Female
NOTES:
Male



20. Age:
NOTES:
Over 65



21. Nationality:
NOTES:
British



22. Favorite Color:
None


23. Favorite animal
Dog


24. Favorite fruit
Riesling grape

25. Favorite comfort foods
What are comfort foods?

Hello, Mr. O.

I'm no expert on statistics, but isn't selection bias one of the biggest challenges to deriving useful information from a survey? Assuming you get much of a response from this group, will the data you collect really be useful? I can't imagine that more than 1% of American wine drinkers read a wine-related forum like this one. That being the case, our responses are unlikely to reflect prevailing views towards the purchase of wine. Surely your professor would agree?

I can't imagine that more than 1% of American wine drinkers read a wine-related forum like this one.

Maybe. But it depends on what his goal is. I am willing to wager that even if the people on this board represent only 1% of American wine drinkers in numerical terms, they represent more than that in terms of money spent on wine (since most people don't spend every day figuring out what wine to buy next, the way we do! ).

But, that still doesn't mean we are the majority of wine buyers and we all know that retail outlets would go broke only catering to our needs.

If our surveyor does want something more 'representative' of the average American wine consumer, perhaps there are other forums for more casual wine consumers? Is that what the Wine Spectator forum is about?

Asking about the tobacco products and other products that are enjoyed with wine is for the purpose of figuring different avenues of marketing wine, such as in a cigar magazine, or perhaps suggesting certain wines are good with certain tobacco products

I would be shocked and horrified if a significant number of people were enjoying wine with tobacco products. But, crazier things have happened and to the extent you are focusing on people who casually drink wine in bars without paying attention to what is in the glass, you may be on to something. But again, we're not that crowd!

Also since I live in NY most wine shops will have the wines separated by country, but you always see a West Coast and an East Coast section for the US wines

I'm from Nyc and my favorite wine shops don't even sell US wines

1. How often do you drink wine?
a. less than once per month
b. 1 to 2 times per month
c. Once per week
d. A couple of times per week
e. Almost every day
NOTES:



2. In what quantities do you purchase wine? (# of bottles)
a. 1 bottle at a time
b. between 2 to 4 bottles at a time
c. more than 4 bottles at a time
NOTES:



3. In which price range do the majority of your wine purchases fall? (per 750ml bottle)
a. less than $10
b. between $10 and $20
c. between $20 and $30
d. greater than $30
NOTES:



4. For which purposes do you purchase wine? (circle all that apply)
a. gift
b. as a collector
c. for holidays
d. for yourself for immediate consumption
e. other
NOTES:

I have a "working" wine collection



5. The majority of the time you consume wine with:
a. by itself
b. with tobacco products
c. with finger foods (cheese, crackers, chocolate, fruits etc.)
d. with large meal (lunch, dinner)
e. other
NOTES:

Before dinner.


6. Where do you usually drink wine?
a. home
b. restaurant
c. bar/lounge
d. club
e. other
NOTES:



7. When heading into a wine store you already know which:
a. brand and type you want
b. type and region you want
c. region you want (Bordeaux, Napa Valley, Chile etc.)
d. type you want (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noire etc.)
e. look to see what catches your attention
f. ask a store clerk for suggestions
NOTES:



8. Do you have a favorite type of red wine?
a. Merlot
b. Bordeaux blend
c. Pinot Noir
d. Cabernet Sauvignon
e. Syrah
f. Zinfandel
g. Malbec
h. Sangiovese
i. Cabernet Franc
j. Chianti
k. Other _Pinot Grigio_
NOTES:



9. What are your top two favorite regions to purchase wine from: United States East Coast, United States West Coast, Chile, Argentina, Spain, Portugal, Germany, France, Italy, Australia, Other _______. Why?
1.Locality and value
2.Value
NOTES:



10. What type of wines do you prefer? Why?
NOTES: Whites: Pinot Grigio, Fume Blanc, Viognier- I prefer light tasting dry wihte wine.
Reds: Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Syrah, Pinot Noir- I prefer complexity and depth for my red wine.



11. How would you rate merlot as a type of wine that meets your priorities? Please Explain
Excellent
Very Good- Depending on the vintner
Good
Fair
Poor


What do you like most about Merlot? Approachable. A crowd pleaser.

What don't you like about Merlot? Too much fruit in the nose sometimes.

NOTES:



12. Do you usually repurchase the wines you like or do you try new ones each time?
NOTES: Both.



13. Other than wine, which other spirits do you regularly enjoy?
NOTES: Brandy.



14. When thinking about wine, what words come to mind?
NOTES: I hope it won't cost me too much.



15. True/False – Professional wine ratings like Wine Advocate (WA) or Wine Enthusiast (WE) affect your decision.
NOTES:



16. True/False – Price and Quality of wine are directly correlated.
NOTES: There are new wineries near my home which are charging way too much for relatively unproven wines.



17. True/False – In a blind tasting you believe you could tell the difference between a $10 wine and a $50 wine of the same brand and grape variety.
NOTES:Neither. I think quality is the determiner, not price.


18. True/False – The older the wine the better it is?
NOTES: Depends on how it was handled/stored.



19. Male or Female
NOTES:



20. Age: 55
NOTES:



21. Nationality: United States
NOTES:



22. Favorite Color: None.
NOTES:



23. Favorite Animal: Wild or domestic?
NOTES: Domestic: Cat
Wild: Hawks, Dark-Eyed Juncos and Scrub Jays



24. Favorite Fruit: Watermelon and Oranges.
NOTES:



25. Favorite Comfort Foods: Anything that goes with wine.
NOTES:

[David M. Bueker]

we all know that retail outlets would go broke only catering to our needs.

Not based on my recent behavior

we all know that retail outlets would go broke only catering to our needs.

Not based on my recent behavior

Nor mine.

Places like Trader Joe's love it when they see me coming

Hello, Mr. O.

I'm no expert on statistics, but isn't selection bias one of the biggest challenges to deriving useful information from a survey? Assuming you get much of a response from this group, will the data you collect really be useful? I can't imagine that more than 1% of American wine drinkers read a wine-related forum like this one. That being the case, our responses are unlikely to reflect prevailing views towards the purchase of wine. Surely your professor would agree?

I am not sure which part of the wine survey suggested I am interested in only the responses of US wine consumers, but I assure you everyone's answers are useful. Also I am distributing this survey to three groups; those who have no wine knowledge and rarely purchase wine, those who have some knowledge and enjoy wine a couple of times a month, and those like yourselves in this WineLover's community who have more than a general knowledge about wine and enjoy it regularly. Thank you for your inquiry.

Alex, Hi.....

I wish you luck but will not respond to your questions for two reasons:

(a) I am a professional wine critic and don't think my points of view fit here
(b) Even if I were merely a wine lover, your questions are so broad that many of them would need an entire dissertation (master's or PhD level) to answer with any sense of accuracy.

Best wishes
Rogov

1. How often do you drink wine?

e. Almost every day
NOTES:



2. In what quantities do you purchase wine? (# of bottles)

c. more than 4 bottles at a time
NOTES:

Silly question, some times 1 bottle, sometimes 24



3. In which price range do the majority of your wine purchases fall? (per 750ml bottle)

c. between $20 and $30

NOTES:



4. For which purposes do you purchase wine? (circle all that apply)
a. gift
b. as a collector
c. for holidays
d. for yourself for immediate consumption
e. other
NOTES:

eh? I buy to drink myself at sometime in thefuture, buy when there are bargains & sales and for tastings, almost never for immediate consumption

5. The majority of the time you consume wine with:

d. with large meal (lunch, dinner)

NOTES:



6. Where do you usually drink wine?
a. home
b. restaurant

NOTES:


7. When heading into a wine store you already know which:
a. brand and type you want
b. type and region you want
c. region you want (Bordeaux, Napa Valley, Chile etc.)
d. type you want (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noire etc.)
e. look to see what catches your attention
f. ask a store clerk for suggestions
NOTES:
sometimes a sometimes e



8. Do you have a favorite type of red wine?
a. Merlot

k. Other __Pinotage______________
NOTES:



9. What are your top two favorite regions to purchase wine from: United States East Coast, United States West Coast, Chile, Argentina, Spain, Portugal, Germany, France, Italy, Australia, Other _______. Why?
1.South Africa - because thats what I specialise in
2.
NOTES:



10. What type of wines do you prefer? Why?
NOTES:

Red fruity wines and Champagne

11. How would you rate merlot as a type of wine that meets your priorities? Please Explain

not a a varietal I buy a lot of, prefer in Bordeaux or similar blend


What do you like most about Merlot?
Part it plays in Bordeaux blends
What don't you like about Merlot?
Prefer other red varietals

NOTES:



12. Do you usually repurchase the wines you like or do you try new ones each time?
NOTES:
Both



13. Other than wine, which other spirits do you regularly enjoy?
NOTES:

Wine isn't a spirit. Don't now regularly drink spirits

14. When thinking about wine, what words come to mind?
NOTES:
Ummmm


15. True/False – Professional wine ratings like Wine Advocate (WA) or Wine Enthusiast (WE) affect your decision.
NOTES:
False


16. True/False – Price and Quality of wine are directly correlated.
NOTES:
Yes


17. True/False – In a blind tasting you believe you could tell the difference between a $10 wine and a $50 wine of the same brand and grape variety.
NOTES:
eh? same brand? don't understand


18. True/False – The older the wine the better it is?
NOTES:
false


19. Male or Female
NOTES:
male


20. Age:
NOTES:
aged to maturity


21. Nationality:
NOTES:
England


22. Favorite Color:
NOTES:
eh? Red for wine, white for Champagne


23. Favorite Animal:
NOTES:
Beef as a rib roast or steak


24. Favorite Fruit:
NOTES:
Thai mango


25. Favorite Comfort Foods:
Fish n chips with Champagne

1) e
2) c
3) b
4) b,d
5) d
6) a
7) e
d
9) USA -West, France
10) semi-dry Riesling, dessert Rieslings, Cal. Cab. Bordeaux, N. Rhone, CNDP
11) Fair pro--- smooth easy going red
con--good examples are expensive
12) repurchase
13) none
14) leather, eucalyptus, cedar, cassis
15) true
16) mostly true
17) true
18) false
19) male
20) 62
21) English/German
22) blue
23) box turtles
24) avacado
25) pizza, beef pot roast

Too complicate, too broad, too much work. I suggest you make your survey a bit easier for the user - click the box choice works well for me.
Best of luck
Linda

Yup,
I agree with Linda.

Sorry. Also for me (English living in France) it's FAR too USA centric to be able to answer in any way accurately.

[Jenise]

Okay, I'll play.

1. e. Almost every day
2. b. between 2 to 4 bottles at a time
c. more than 4 bottles at a time
NOTES: Found this hard to answer accurately. That is, I do b as often as I do c.

3. In which price range do the majority of your wine purchases fall? (per 750ml bottle)
d. greater than $30

4. For which purposes do you purchase wine? (circle all that apply)
e. other
NOTES: Poorly phrased question that un-includes most people in this forum. I do not buy wines for investment/later sale so I'm not a collector as I would define that word, but I accumulate large quantities of wine and keep a 2000 bottle cellar because I prefer the type of wines that benefit from same. I have no idea where that places me in your question.

5. The majority of the time you consume wine with:
d. with large meal (lunch, dinner)

6. Where do you usually drink wine?
a. home

7. When heading into a wine store you already know which:
e. look to see what catches your attention

8. Do you have a favorite type of red wine?
b. Bordeaux blend

9. What are your top two favorite regions to purchase wine from: United States East Coast, United States West Coast, Chile, Argentina, Spain, Portugal, Germany, France, Italy, Australia, Other _______. Why?
1. France
2. United States West Coast

10. What type of wines do you prefer? Why?
NOTES: Balanced, elegant wines with good structure and acidity.

11. How would you rate merlot as a type of wine that meets your priorities? Please Explain
Very Good

What do you like most about Merlot?
Attractive, aromatic grape when made well

What don't you like about Merlot?
It's often made in a too-soft style for infrequent wine drinkers who want something "easy"

12. Do you usually repurchase the wines you like or do you try new ones each time?
NOTES: From year to year, I often repurchase new vintages of wines I've liked in previous vintages, but just as often I try new things.

13. Other than wine, which other spirits do you regularly enjoy?
NOTES: sherries, single malt scotches

14. When thinking about wine, what words come to mind?
NOTES: Makes life more interesting

15. True/False – Professional wine ratings like Wine Advocate (WA) or Wine Enthusiast (WE) affect your decision.
NOTES: False--the majority of wines I purchase are based on my own impressions and previous experience with a producer, but high scores in certain categories of hte wine market can get my attention

16. True/False – Price and Quality of wine are directly correlated.
NOTES: True insofar as quality drives demand and demand drives prices northward.

17. True/False – In a blind tasting you believe you could tell the difference between a $10 wine and a $50 wine of the same brand and grape variety.
NOTES: True.

18. True/False – The older the wine the better it is?
NOTES: True in that I generally find aged wines and the type of wine that ages well the most compelling.

19. Male or Female
NOTES: Female

20. Age:
NOTES: Probably old enough to be your mother

21. Nationality:
NOTES: American

22. Favorite Color:
NOTES: Black

23. Favorite Animal:
NOTES: Cat

24. Favorite Fruit:
NOTES: Apricots

25. Favorite Comfort Foods:
NOTES: Fried chicken, cheeseburgers, tomato bisque

Too complicate, too broad, too much work. I suggest you make your survey a bit easier for the user - click the box choice works well for me.
Best of luck
Linda

+1. It's just too hard and too much all over the place. Favorite animal!!!??? Favorite color??? Sorry.

Glenn

It's not comprehensive enough. Where do I enter my blood type, my driver's license number and my golf handicap?

[/quote] It's just too hard and too much all over the place. Favorite animal!!!??? Favorite color??? Sorry.
Glenn[/quote]

FYI, these questions are common in surveys and focus groups. The answers provide information about the type of person answering the survey.

FYI, these questions are common in surveys and focus groups. The answers provide information about the type of person answering the survey.

What kind of information do you get from the favorite color question? Is that for help in designing labels? (Which I guess is the same point behind the animal question, as we know how well those Critter Wines sell).

But do people really have favorite colors? Are those opinions strongly held? I certainly don't have a favorite color and I always answer that question with whatever color happens to be in my field of vision. And even if I did have a favorite color, that doesn't mean I would want every item I purchased to be marketed with that color. But, maybe marketing research says otherwise.

(And I'm not criticizing survey methodology in general, my professional life consists of lots of survey analysis).

FYI, these questions are common in surveys and focus groups.

You're too kind. Once you learn that people who like dogs tend to prefer $12 merlot with meat loaf, what do you do with that information? I don't want to be cruel, but this is a typical amateur survey. It's more of a fishing expedition--let's ask for all sorts of things and see what we land. Then we'll figure out what to do with it.

Sorry. Also for me (English living in France) it's FAR too USA centric to be able to answer in any way accurately.[/quote]

Hello,
I appreciate the feedback and have received a few other similar comments. I was wondering if you could tell me which questions, or what specifically makes the survey be USA centric? It was not my intension to create a USA centric survey and had hoped it would appeal to the general public, no matter their background or wine knowledge level.

Thank you,

Alex

[/quote] You're too kind. Once you learn that people who like dogs tend to prefer $12 merlot with meat loaf, what do you do with that information? [/quote]

You would sell your $12 merlot with a picture of a dog on the label and on the back you would write it matches well with meat loaf. You are right that the survey is amateurish, that is because it is the first survey I have ever done. I do truly appreciate all of the comments and have read over them very carefully, and I am sure the next survey I will create will be of a higher quality.

Also to give some idea of where I came up with some of the questions. The reason for the comfort food question is connected to the "when thinking about wine what words come to mind?" question. My theory was that people relate wine to comfort and if you add food pairing suggestions on the back label that are comfort foods, it would further link this wine to their idea of comfort and perhaps give them more of an incentive to purchase that wine.
The favorite color question comes from a research paper I read on color that basically suggested that consumer behavior is subconsciously driven by a couple of factors one of which (surprisingly to me as well) was favorite color. So I figured if your favorite color is blue and you are not sure which wine to pick you look around and without realizing it you go for the blue label.
The favorite animal question, as someone above guessed does have to do with research done on the popularity of "Critter Wines". A research study done in England showed that "Critter Wines" sell four times more in the $5 to $15 range. Also there was a case in Long Island, NY (where I am from) where a vineyard was about to go under due to lack of sales and decided they would sell one more year and dedicate their entire production to their recently dead dog. So the vineyard changed its typical fancy letter label and just put a black and white photo of their dog (the wine was sold in the $10 to $15 range), their sales went through the roof and sold out the entire stock in a month. Also I have done 20 or so of these surveys so far and 14 of the people have said their favorite animal is a dog. I realize that this forum is composed of a far more wine educated community than the average wine drinker and that these questions or perhaps what they imply seems silly or offensive, but as I have stated before I was not allowed to adjust my survey to the various groups of people. So I had to create a survey that would work for a spectrum of people that ranges from "sommelier" to "my favorite wine is red".

Thank you all for your feedback, this is a learning process for me.