Chinese Consumers' On Of Australian Wine Labels:From The Perspective Of Semiotic Studies

Australia and China bear differences in living environment,historical background and thinking habits,and wine is a typical western product.Since the tariffs on Australian wine imports have been fully eliminated by ChAFTA last year,it provides an unprecedented opportunity to Australian wineries.Thus,in order to expand the market of Australian wines,it is crucial for them to understand Chinese consumers well.Earlier literatures have stated the important role of product packages in conveying brand values and attracting consumers.Therefore,the package is the communication bridge between the product and the consumer.However,the packages may generate different interpretations among different cultures that result in the effectiveness in delivering the intended meanings of product to the consumers.Consequently,comprehending and foreseeing the perceptions of the consumers from different cultures would be helpful in enhancing the correctness of delivered product messages.This thesis aims to explore Chinese consumers" perceptions of Australian wine labels from the perspective of semiotic studies.It mainly focuses on the graphic design of wine labels and intends to figure out the reasons behind certain perceptions that generated by Chinese consumers.In order to answer these research questions,this thesis adopts the methodology of semiotic analysis,questionnaire survey and data analysis.Firstly,this thesis analyses 6 themes that distinctively generated by 6 selected Australian wine labels through semiotic studies;then,it tests the perceptions of these labels within 789 Chinese consumers through a free word association task;at last,it discusses the gap of perceptions between Chinese consumers and the original designed intentions,and analyses the differences caused by different cultural background and cognition.The result of this study has shown that the Chinese consumers can basically perceive the intended meanings that produced by Australian wine labels.Nevertheless,some gaps are existed due to the undeniable culture differences between Australia and China.Attributed are as follows:Chinese consumers are not familiar with the wine-making culture;Australia's specific ethnic culture,which is different from other European countries,is relatively unfamiliar to Chinese consumers;compared to the west,wine carries different social meanings for Chinese consumers.This research work focuses on the wines from 'New World' region,it expands the diversity and regional representation of wine packaging system from the perspective of semiotic analysis.In addition,this study focuses on exploring the consumer experience from the perspective of graphic design,and there is currently no domestic literature that specifically analyses imported wines in China from such point of view,so this article provides materials for this new angle.