The King of Wines on the Online Marketplace: How Much Are the Tokaj Name, Terroir, and Vintage Actually Worth Online?
In research published in the international scientific journal Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Jeremiás Máté Balogh PhD, University Professor, and Zalán Márk Maró PhD, Assistant Professor, from the Department of Agricultural Economics at Corvinus, were the first to investigate the factors determining Hungarian online retail wine prices. The researchers analyzed data from 1,216 domestic and imported wines from the selections of two major Hungarian online wine merchants, Borháló and Bortársaság. Using the hedonic pricing method and quantile regression analysis, they demonstrated the extent of the price premium that specific wine characteristics and attributes generate across different price categories.
Key Findings:
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The Tokaj Wine Region is Unbeatable: Wines from the Tokaj wine region carry a price premium between 77% (q₁₀) and 147% (q₉₀) on their own compared to other domestic wines.
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The Dominance of Tokaji Aszú: Looking specifically at botrytized Aszú wines, the effect is even more pronounced, with a price surplus ranging from 196% to 480%. This effect nearly doubles in the highest-price segment (q₉₀) relative to the median, confirming Tokaji Aszú’s positioning as a luxury product.
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The Value of the Vintage: Older vintages are more expensive, reflecting aging potential, storage costs, and uniqueness. Each additional year of age increases the online wine price by 13–27%. In the premium segment (q₉₀), the effect of the vintage amplifies, meaning that the premium paid for an older vintage is significantly higher for top-tier wines.
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The Position of Imported Wines: Imported wines are significantly more expensive than domestic ones across all segments (carrying a price surplus between 171% and 339%). Imported wines dominate the highest segment of the online market.
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Growing Environmental Awareness: Having an organic (bio) certification can be associated with a price increase between 39% and 106%. This relative impact is highest in the lower-price segment (q₁₀), indicating that eco-labels are important to more price-sensitive, ethically minded consumers, while luxury buyers value tradition and classification instead.
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Dominance of Top Foreign Wines: In the premium category, import status and formal French classifications (Premier Cru and Grand Cru) command the highest price premium, multiplying the value of the bottles severalfold. On the other hand, “Selection” or “Superior” designations yield a more moderate price premium (26%–94%), and their impact is not always statistically significant in the upper price segment.
The study highlights that the Hungarian online wine market has a dual structure. While sustainability aspects and unique producer designations drive prices in the lower and middle price categories, buyers in the luxury and premium categories pay for cultural heritage (the historic reputation of the wines), place of origin (especially Tokaj), rarity, and quality designations of origin (such as Grand Cru). The impact of these factors varies greatly across different price segments (quantiles). The results of the research provide direct assistance to Hungarian winemakers and merchants in developing effective online positioning and pricing strategies.