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Several studies in management science have called for a better understanding of the experience economy approach to develop wine tourism. Few studies, however, have analysed experiential dimensions in the context of French wine-growing regions. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the difference between what wine tourism providers consider relevant in their market offer and what customers expect from their wine tourism experience. A new categorisation of wine tourists’ expectations based on Pine and Gilmore’s (1998) four realms model and Quadri-Felliti and Fiore’s model (2012) are developed.

A mixed methodology, qualitatively analysing 17 semi-structural interviews with the main wine tourism stakeholders in the Alsace region in north-east France and quantitatively analysing 233 questionnaires on wine tourists’ expectations and behaviours are adopted.

The study reveals a difference between experiential offers predicated on an educational approach and the explicit expectations of wine tourists (combining aesthetics, conviviality and authenticity, whose central focus is an encounter with the winemaker). Overall, the findings point to a need for greater inclusion of the experiential aspect in the offer designed for wine tourists.

The study identifies a gap between the educational dimension that professionals tend to promote in their offers and the real expectations of wine tourists who express more interest in the aesthetic dimension provided by an attractive visit environment and an enjoyable experience. At the heart of the authentic experience for wine tourists is meeting the winegrower, making authenticity a major factor.

In 1864 two famous novelists: Erckmann and Chatrian co‐edited a fiction called L’Ami Fritz. Very quickly this work had a tremendous success. It was the story of a fellow named “Fritz Kobus” who was living in Alsace. He could be seen as the stereotype of how the “collective unconscious” in France was imagining a prosperous Alsatian fellow. In a very short period of time this fiction became a significant link between the Alsace region and the whole French nation. We will use this example in order to show that the links with consumption and art are very peculiar. It is not only companies that are interested in the appropriation of art, but also consumers. This will help us to show that for example in postmodern times the distinction between high and low culture is not as clear as it may first appear. High and low culture are blending together in interesting ways. What we would like to show here, is that the novel sometimes gives a landmark to the consumers, telling them what their ideal aspirations should be and then the society tries to reflect the novel.

This paper is the result of empirical field research conducted in Alsace, a bi‐cultural area of France controlled by Germany from 1870 to WWI, by France between the World Wars, and by Germany during WWII. The objective of the study is to contribute to the understanding of small‐scale entrepreneurs who traditionally controlled the distribution of livestock in this bi‐cultural and multi‐lingual region.

This paper gives an account of the livestock distribution system, which prevailed in Alsace, until the Second World War. It uses qualitative methodology, based on oral testimonies of retired entrepreneurs and verified by means of triangulation.

The findings in this paper indicate that, in this region of traditional rivalry between French and Germans, the sector was dominated by family enterprises speaking Jédich‐Daitch, serving as a middleman minority, and dealing between French‐speakers and German‐speakers, who did not trade with one another.

This paper shows that, while much literature shows that middleman minorities now exist around the world, it also reveals that the concept of middleman minority existed centuries ago, in the food sector; the arrangement allowed farmers to specialise in agriculture, while specialised entrepreneurs bought and sold livestock and also provided credit to farmers. This paper is of interest to historians and anthropology/management/sociology scholars of entrepreneurship, as well as practitioners in the livestock industry.

The purpose of this paper is to show that consumers' expertise of a product influences the number of attributes considered as important, the importance given to the attributes as well as the size and the content of the consideration set (CS).

A quantitative empirical study was carried out with 287 French wine consumers.

The results show that the attributes which were considered as important by the novices differ from those considered important by the experts and that the number of important attributes given by the novices (2) is lower than those given by the experts (7). Furthermore, the results show that the size of the CS itself is also influenced by subjective knowledge. On the other hand, this is not the case for the content of the CS.

The empirical study only focuses on one product category. The data were collected on the basis of statements rather than observations, which is liable to distort the results.

The paper shows that the visual attributes, such as the design and the packaging, are not sufficient to sell wine to French consumers, even if they are novices in this field.

While most research devoted to the effects of the CS focus on a single dimension of it, this paper tests simultaneously the effects on the size and on the variety of the CS, which is analyzed according to both a qualitative and quantitative approach.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the structural characteristics, the governance and the performance of two French and Italian groups of wine cooperatives, with two objectives in mind. On one hand, the study will analyse the presence of similarities between the characteristics of the two groups of companies which were founded in the same period within a similar legal framework; on the other, it will study the presence of links between the strategic policy of the companies and their structural, governance and performance characteristics.

The study uses survey data obtained from interviews with 25 wine cooperatives. It covers the topics of their structure, organisation, strategies, management and performance in Italy (specifically in Umbria, a region in the centre of Italy), and in France (in Languedoc‐Roussillon, a region in southern France). Other indicators of performance, calculated from the balance sheets of the companies, were added to this analysis, and a careful analysis was drawn up to check the factors which condition the performance of the companies.

The main finding underlines some strong differentiating elements between those cooperatives selling the biggest part of their production as bulk wine and those selling it as packaged wine. But the first situation does not lead automatically to inferring a decline or an involution of these cooperatives. On the contrary, the mitigated performances that were found clearly question whether there is a strategic evolution towards more specialisation (intermediate phases of product transformation, leading to business‐to‐business differentiation strategies) which could be more profitable for their growers‐owners than further integration towards packaged wine sales.

The analysis deals with the problem of performance and governance of the transformation cooperative companies in the wine sector, which produce more than 50 percent of the entire wine production both in France and Italy.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the term branded marketing events (BMEs), and examine the role of its experiential components as a strategic tool for the facilitation of customer brand engagement. This study examines five experiential components of BMEs at events held in Australia and France to determine their respective impact on customer brand engagement.

Surveys were distributed to attendees of ten events by six wine brands in South Australia, and six events in five sub-regions of Bordeaux.

Findings suggest that BMEs influence customers’ brand engagement and brand purchase intention in both Australia and France. However, the experiential components within the events had differing effects. Australian customers were influenced by cognitive, sensorial, and relational experiences and their increased customer brand engagement strongly influenced brand purchase intention. French customers, however, required pragmatic event experiences to build brand engagement.

Recognizing their mutual experiential and interactive foundations, this study integrates the research domains of marketing events, customer experiences and customer brand engagement, and contributes to the strategic understanding of how branded event experiences facilitate customer brand engagement.

This exploratory study aims to investigate the national adoption of international wine industry trends in Germany. Specifically, the paper consider this adoption as perceived by luxury German wine producers in three wine regions. This study addresses two main questions: what impact do regional German traditions have on techniques used by small wine producers in the super‐premium + segment? Are these traditions balanced with the adoption of New World techniques and trends in viticulture and viniculture?

Due to the complex nature of the research questions and to provide rich, meaningful descriptions, this study adopted a qualitative method. The researchers did semi‐structured interviews with five highly respected German winemakers in the Rheingau, Württemberg and Baden regions.

This study shows that German wine producers are heavily influenced by Old World philosophy and traditions as well as New World concepts and technology. Successful wine producers appear to create a balance between the gastronomic identity of the region with advantages of new technologies, business models and trends. Research limitations/implications – The study has been conducted in only three wine regions in Germany. In addition, this study employed the case study approach. Future research could use large sample proposition testing to investigate if the findings from this study can be statistically confirmed and are applicable to other countries.

German wine producers can learn much from New World business models. In particular, revised organizational forms that allow wine producers increased access to travel and promotion of products can assist in increasing demand for quality products as well as on‐going learning through interaction with others in the industry.

German wine is an important subject for academic study, however, it is under‐researched. This exploratory study provides several implications for small to medium‐sized wine producers in Germany.

The purpose of this paper is to show that the branded wine concept refers to a very heterogeneous category as regards wine made in France, but this sort of wine can appeal to certain types of consumers.

An initial qualitative study was carried out to explore consumer representation as regards branded wine. A second, quantitative, study enabled us, through a cluster analysis, to identify brand‐sensitive consumer segments in the wine field.

There is a divergence in consumer representation between novices and experts. The former considers A.O.C.s (Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée, a French official label of protected geographical indication) and regions as brands while the latter have a narrower vision of what a branded wine means. The “discoverers”, the youngest consumers (18‐29 years old), who are interested in wine and have little knowledge of it are most liable to be influenced by wine brands. The novices and routine consumers are also brand sensitive but to a lesser degree. The experts, on the other hand, are not influenced by brands.

The influence of the brand derives from the declarative. A more indirect measure which mixes the brand with other wine attributes would be preferable. The use of a sample of convenience means results can only be generalized with caution.

There indeed exists a place for branded wines on the French market but an association is needed with other attributes such as the origin and/or the grape variety.

Little research has been devoted to the French consumer's acceptance of branded wines.

Many thousands of business related pages have been established on the World Wide Web (The Web) in the last five years. Some of the organisations that have published such pages have seen the Web as a medium of massive potential in the future. Despite this, actual direct sales from the web are still fairly low, especially amongst wine producers. A worldwide survey of vineyards with Web sites showed that there are many reasons for these low sales, including legal problems and transport of goods. However, the Vineyards appear confident that their investment will pay off, if not in direct sales then in terms of marketing benefit and cheap advertising. To date, the majority of vineyards questioned seem to be content. This paper discusses the main findings of the survey that produced these results.

The success of the Australian wine industry is well documented. However, there have been few comparative studies of the reasons for this success as compared to Australia's main competitors. Most of the anecdotal evidence and trade publications focus on “value for money” and fruit‐driven wines, without looking at how the Australian wine businesses operate. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the external environment in France and Australia as one of the drivers for Australian wine sector success.

In‐depth interviews with two French and two Australian wineries and a review of the literature led to a series of hypotheses about the role of market orientation, strategic orientation, innovative and entrepreneurial environment orientation, constraining legislation, industry infrastructure usage, industry plan support, and interorganizational collaboration as factors differentiating the two countries. An online survey of wineries in the two countries resulted in a sample of 82 French and 63 Australian responses. An analysis of variance revealed significant differences between Australian wineries as compared to the French.

Australian wineries rated themselves higher in market orientation, growth strategy, export proactiveness, perceived innovative environment, perceived entrepreneurial environment, more interorganizational collaboration, and less perceived constraining legislation.

These results not only provide some basis for Australia's success in wine exporting, but also add to the literature on the effect of the external environment on business performance.

Wine exporting countries can use the results to help shape policy for creating a more conducive environment for exporting wine.