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Wine is widely regarded as a ‘complicated’ product and for the majority of consumers the purchasing of wine in the retail situation evokes considerable risk. Marketers are therefore constantly and increasingly trying to demystify wine in order to reduce the perceived risk levels of consumers in the purchase situation. Most previous research in the area of perceived risk literature tended to focus on the concept of risk and its measurement rather than on risk‐reduction. This study examined the preferred risk‐reduction strategies (RRS) employed by identified wine‐related lifestyle segments in the Australian wine market and linked these strategies to the wine retail environment. Relying on favourite brands or so‐called ‘safe brand’ buying was found to rank highest as a risk reduction strategy in the commercial (under $15 per bottle) and premium‐to super‐premium ($15‐$25) price ranges while the opportunity to try before buying ranked highest in the ultra‐premium ($25) price range. The results obtained have major implications for retailers and form the foundation for a competitive advantage. It also indicates the direction for future research in this strategically important area of wine consumer behaviour.

The wine industry is a multi‐billion product value category worldwide with a significant part being sales through hospitality service providers. Although wine sales add considerably to the profitability of many restaurants, hotels, bars and other hospitality establishments, few studies have been conducted into wine purchasing behaviour within hospitality settings. This study identifies the factors that influence consumers to purchase wine and attempts to demonstrate how the basic demographic characteristic of age is a useful variable for segmentation purposes. The study reveals that there are six dominant factors that influence wine purchasing behaviour and that significant differences in purchase motivation exist between three age segments, 18 to 25 years, 26 to 34 years and 34+years. The results of this research have significant implications for hospitality operators who, with a basic knowledge of the demographic characteristics of their guests, can develop marketing strategies to maximise the sale of wine and wine products.

Wine tourism is a major public relations medium and for many wineries a major source of revenue. This article uses theories of brand equity to develop cellar door strategies. These theories are supported by previous research into product involvement with wine, which shows that high and low involvement wine buyers behave differently. The two segments must be catered for differently if a winery is to build its overall reputation and brand equity. Wineries can enhance their long‐term market‐based assets through building customer relationships at cellar door. Strategies and examples are provided.

As Australia embarks on the new millennium, marketers must understand the basis of consumer choice, both domestically and internationally. Generally, brands are becoming globalised (Boze and Patton, 1995), but the wine industry provides an interesting example of global branding in the context of a plethora of brand names. In Australia alone, over one thousand wine companies produce over 16,000 wine brands (Spawton, 1998). This array of wine product creates a complex marketplace, which causes consumers great difficulty when making a purchase decision (Greatorex and Mitchell, 1988). To combat this problem, wine companies have been using branding as a means of differentiating their product (Lockshin, 1997). The introduction of geographical indicators (registered names for specific regions of origin) has spurred on the use of regional branding as a branding tool. This research is being conducted to clarify the effect of regional branding on consumer choice behaviour. The results from the qualitative research stage highlighted the fact that a small number of consumers used regional branding as a cue in their choice decision. These consumers generally had higher perceived knowledge of wine, greatly enjoyed purchasing wine and spent a longer time in the wine retail outlet than other consumer groups. A quantitative study will now be conducted to clarify which consumer groups use regional branding as part of the choice process and to determine the importance of a company's brand and price used in consumers' choice process. As wine is not the only product branded by its region of origin, this research will be beneficial to other product categories such as cheese, seafood and olive oil (Belk King, 1997).

While the concept of involvement has long intrigued marketing researchers, its application to the case of wine purchase behaviour has been limited. In particular, little is known of the wine consumer characteristics likely to influence their degree of product involvement. Furthermore, no reported research has attempted to assess the outcome of product involvement in relation to the different attributes relevant to consumer's choice of wine. This Australian study, based on more than 300 face‐to‐face interviews, aims to provide a clearer picture of the demographics of the involved wine consumer as well as to demonstrate that involvement matters considerably in determining the importance of some wine attributes over others.

Who is the wine consumer? Who cares? The wine industry globally is a multibillion dollar industry, yet research into the behaviour of the typical wine consumer is limited. This article is a partial review of the literature and by deduction from current trends endeavours to provide the wine maker with a broad profile of who drinks wine and what they might be drinking in the future.

Who is the wine consumer? Who cares? The wine industry globally is a multibillion dollar industry, yet research into the behaviour of the typical wine consumer is limited. This article is a partial review of the literature and by deduction from current trends endeavours to provide the wine maker with a broad profile of who drinks wine and what they might be drinking in the future.

The current study is an initial attempt to segment the wine market in an emerging region and examine local residents’ attitudes towards local wines.

The study was conducted using data collected from US households through a telephone survey. Consumer attitudes towards local wines were operationalized through assessment of local wines; recommendation of local wines to others; and rating of quality of local wines. The K‐means clustering algorithm was applied to classify the respondents into clusters.

The developing wine market was segmented into four clusters: “local enthusiasts”, “local detractors”, “local advocates” and “local non‐advocates”. Socio‐demographic and wine consumption profiles for each segment are developed. Of particular interest was the difference in recommendation behavior between two of groups of consumers with similar relatively high‐quality ratings and assessments of the local wines. Despite the similarity in attitudes, local advocates are willing to recommend the regional wines to other people, whereas non‐advocates would not recommend them.

By better understanding how information is transferred from one person to the next will assist marketers in their efforts to establish new products or introduce new brands or regional wines.

The market segmentation approach taken in this study is based on local residents’ attitudes towards local wines. The study sets the starting point in investigating new markets consumer characteristics and reasons for their behavior. Of particular interest for future research is consumer recommendation behavior.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual model that examines wine channels typified by differing levels of service orientation, and resulting branding implications based on consumer involvement and value co‐creation properties. Examples of channels characterised by relatively low levels of organisational service provision include supermarket retailing, while higher levels of service orientation are found in channels such as restaurants and wine tourism. The model thus provides a framework for analysis of wine branding across distribution channels characterised by differing levels of service orientation.

A literature review addressing service provision in wine marketing, consumer involvement and needs, value co‐creation and branding is proposed in the paper.

An integrative conceptual model and associated research issues are derived from a review of relevant literature.

The paper provides a research agenda for involvement‐based wine branding across more traditional, external marketing‐oriented channels (e.g. supermarket retailing) and emerging, more interactive/relational wine marketing service sectors (e.g. restaurateurs, tourism).

The paper provides a deeper understanding of wine marketing in growing forms of service‐based wine channels.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how brand equity influences brand survival in the wine industry. Specifically, the aim is to investigate the influence of two key facets of brand equity (brand awareness and perceived quality) on brand survival.

Two types of data were used: consumer survey data and longitudinal data on brand survival over a 16‐year period. Perceptions of quality and brand recognition data were collected via survey at the beginning of the time frame (1991), longitudinal data regarding the brand survival were obtained for the years through 2006 and survey data were again collected in 2006. Twenty‐seven brands from wineries of a specific region were used for the study. Brand survival (measured in years) was analyzed using logistic regression with brand recognition and perceived quality as the predictors.

A slightly positive relationship between consumer ratings of perceived quality and the probability of brand survival was found. However, a strong positive relationship was found between brand recognition and probability of brand survival.

The results offer insights into long‐term brand management and what marketers can do over time to reinforce brand equity and brand survival. Specifically, brand awareness is a better predictor of brand survival than perceived quality for these emerging brands.