Are Brits too polite to send wine back?

A new study has suggested that Brits are often too polite to refuse a faulty bottle, but pretend that they do to appear more sophisticated and demonstrate “confidence and worldliness”.

Research released this morning by behavioural science experts Decision Technology (Dectech) claims to have demonstrated a disconnect between the number of people that claim to send wine back in restaurants, compared to the number of bottles that actually get sent back in restaurants.

Of the 1,086 people surveyed, 18% said they had sent back wine in a restaurant, with 50% of those respondents explaining that the reason was because the wine was corked. However Dectech claims that its “Unmatched Count Technique” (UCT) system, reveal that in reality only 2% had actually sent wine back, suggesting that pretending that they would be prepared to send wine back offered a “social boost”.

Explaining how the study was carried out, Datech said it used the UCT technique, which involves showing respondents a statement inventory and asking how many statements are true for them, but not which specific statements, which protects their anonymity but also allows analysts to measure the incidence rate of taboo topics. Analysts then compared the UCT incidence rate to the self-report incidence rate as a measure of a given behaviour’s “embarrassment factor”.

The method is based on a 2011 research paper by Coutts & Jann on Sensitive Questions in Online Surveys: Experimental Results for the Randomized Response Technique (RRT) and the Unmatched Count Technique (UCT) published in the journal Sociological Methods & Research. 

Dectech says its analysis shows that only 2% of people had actually sent back wine in a restaurant, while 18% self-reported that they had.

“This study shines a light on an amusing stereotype about the British temperament: even when we are faced with faulty goods, we are polite and are willing to pay to avoid an uncomfortable social interaction,” said Henry Stott, director at Dectech.

“Our research reveals that people are, consciously or not, carrying out a kind of cost-benefit analysis when it comes to claiming to send back wine versus doing so in practice. People see the benefit in claiming to have sent back wine. They think it may give the impression that they are sophisticated and discerning, and set high standards for the restaurants they go to. But in reality, many feel the social cost of actually sending back wine is too high. They would much rather avoid being impolite to the staff or creating an awkward moment, so they simply keep drinking.”

Do you think this study is an accurate reflection of UK consumer habits? Would you have any qualms about sending back a faulty wine, or are Brits really too polite? Please leave a comment below.