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The purpose of this paper is to examine the underexplored niche market potential of craft beer, especially as it may relate to independent food and beverage operations, as a means of gaining competitive advantage.

Data were collected through the distribution of a survey instrument to craft beer and home brewers, designed to assess the demographic profile, purchasing/restaurant selection, and decision behavior of this group and assess the likelihood of their future behavioral intentions toward continued participation in the craft beer segment.

The paper reveals that craft beer and micro brew pub success has been driven by the home brew movement and continues to gain market share at the expense of broad line food service and macro beer producers. The demographic profile of this group shows age range, income, and educational levels sufficient to drive continued growth. The high satisfaction and likelihood to recommend scores support this assessment.

The sample is limited to members of the Brewers Association, the American Home Brewers Association, and craft beer enthusiasts known to members of the organization. Additionally, the survey was administered electronically limiting participation to people comfortable with this medium.

F&B operators who demonstrate commitment to craft beer through server education, beverage list commitment, and supporting events can achieve market differentiation and dominance within the niche; leading ultimately to competitive advantage.

This research sheds light on underexplored areas of craft beer and the opportunity for independent F&B operators to identify and penetrate an increasingly important niche market, which to date has been viewed primarily from the perspective of microbrew pubs.

This paper aims to uncover patterns of Mexican craft beer consumers and guide companies’ decisions in the creation of new products, marketing strategies, advertising and promotion to increase craft beer sales and contribute to faster growth.

This is a conjoint analysis with a selection of attributes for new or renewed products, marginal disposition to pay for particular characteristics through brand-specific choice-based design, and market simulation.

This paper clearly demonstrates consumers’ preferences and willingness to pay in Mexico, with a cutting-edge market research technique combining the prioritization of preferred craft beer characteristics, and the price consumers are willing to pay for such product characteristics.

The study's sample size of 501 responses is relatively small compared to the total number of craft beer consumers in Mexico. To enhance the validity and reliability of the findings, future studies should aim to obtain larger samples and compare their results with those of this study.

This study has important implications for craft beer producers, allowing them to develop targeted craft beers with appealing attributes for Mexican consumers, such as color, aroma intensity, alcohol degree intensity, bitterness, foam level and price.

This study's market forecasting simulation technique is based on assumptions of consumer behavior and market dynamics. Although relevant variables were considered, unanticipated external factors or market changes could impact the forecasts' accuracy. This will allow for a more comprehensive understanding of craft beer consumer preferences in different markets and enhance the reliability of forecasting techniques.

This paper informs craft beer producers by providing valuable knowledge on customers’ preferences and willingness to pay to enhance craft beer companies’ product development processes.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the demographic characteristics and habits of craft beer consumers, as well as to identify the motivational factors for consumption.

Data were collected through questionnaires applied to 316 Brazilian craft beer consumers, and results were evaluated descriptively and by multivariate statistics.

The results of the survey revealed that there is a growing market segment with different buying habits and behaviors compared to traditional beer consumers. Demographically, it was found that these consumers are an attractive part of the beer market in terms of age, schooling and, more importantly, in terms of income, factors that indicate the probability of continued growth in the sector.

The research was limited to craft beer consumers in the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte/MG, Brazil.

The results obtained are important, as they can help new craft breweries, as well as help established industry managers to create strategies related to marketing four Ps in order to increase the consumption of its products, with competitive advantages to the market.

This research presents the characteristics of the consumers of craft beer, a market segment in evident rise in Brazil, about which there are few studies. In addition, it provides valuable information to both the new beverage manufacturers as well as to the already established entrepreneurs in the market so that they can increase the consumption of their products in a strategic way.

In this chapter, the authors explore the entrepreneurial nature of craft brewing. The authors find growth in the microbrewery sector has been supported through a cooperative approach between competing artisanal small firms. This has helped build competitive advantage in resistance to the dominant market forces of large brewers. Data were gathered using semi-structured interviews with 12 craft brewers in the North East of Scotland. Analysed findings are used in the design of a conceptual model on the nature of collaboration in the craft beer sector. An artisanal scene is presented, where community benefit and continued development of the craft beer movement is prioritised, over commercial and strategic growth. The typically small firms in this area share resources and support each other in a drive to wean customers away from the large mainstream producers. The authors argue that the nature of the craft beer sector seeks to actively resist market dominance, not only through product quality and marketing, but also in the entrepreneurial behaviours enacted to sustain the movement. The findings suggest a co-existence of both collaboration and competition in the strategic decisions of craft brewers. The focus is on the locally embedded connections these firms develop in the maintenance of their craft roots, with a range of complex interconnected factors linking brewer, community, and the broader industry.

The revival of the modern craft beer industry has been attributed to people rediscovering their tastes for authentic and hand-crafted products from small, local and independent firms – notable in many sectors ranging from food and alcohol products to textile and furniture. While one of the grounding principles of the craft beer sector has been serving the local community, some brewers started to explore growth opportunities beyond their national borders. Some did so by pure excitement and prestige of sending their beers overseas; others sensed that their domestic markets were becoming flooded by other craft beer brands or ‘craft-washed’ beers from large beer companies. This chapter explores two sides of this going-international story – its promise and perils. The promise of international growth represents the fulfilment of the entrepreneurial mission, the opportunity to collaborate on a global level or the result of positive country reputation. While the perils of crossborder venturing are formed by country-level differences (rules, values and culture), the author brings to the fore that the socially constructed and fluid definition of craft beer forms unique constraints. The author particularly explores how the sector’s cultural boundaries and competition for authenticity with large beer companies act as liabilities during internationalisation. This chapter contributes to the extant literature on firm internationalisation by focussing on a unique dataset of internationalising craft breweries from four small open economies (Australia, New Zealand, Denmark and the Czech Republic). In that sense, it also provides valuable insights to practitioners and the general public.

They are as follows: to identify strategic growth opportunities for SMEs in the South African craft beer industry; to understand the complexities associated with operating a craft beer SME in the South African alcohol sector and analyse the SME’s strategic decision-making process that happens as a result; to understand the challenges and identify opportunities for entrepreneurship and growth in an emerging economy and niche segment; to develop a differentiation strategy for a small player in a competitive market; and to impart industry-specific knowledge and insight on the craft brewing industry.

The case is centred on the challenges that Hein Swart, managing director of Mitchell’s Brewery, is facing in sustaining business operations amid heavy regulations and increasing competition from existing craft breweries. In addition, there is the entry of a different type of competitor into the South African market that did not exist previously. The case narrative broadly presents several industry themes that interact with each other and create the existing complexities.

This case is targeted at postgraduate business school students with some work experience who want to build their critical thinking, business management and strategic decision-making skills such as Masters of Business Administration (MBA) and Executive MBA academic programmes, and also delegates on Executive Education programmes. The case is expected to be used as a case study for courses in entrepreneurship and strategic management; however, it can also be applied in strategic marketing courses.

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CSS 3: Entrepreneurship

The purpose of this paper is to contribute understanding tendencies of the Italian demand for craft beer. More in details, it seeks at exploring consumers’ awareness about craft beer, their attitudes, habits and behaviors. It also aims at assessing the impact of each and all these features on consumers’ choice. At last, the paper frames different consumers’ profiles.

The analysis is based on an online survey associated with a choice experiment designed for assessing willingness to buy (WTB) and willingness to pay (WTP) for craft vs industrial beer. Factors influencing consumers’ expenditure for craft beer are explored via an OLS estimation of a simple regression model. Afterwards, different consumers’ profiles are depicted via cluster analysis.

The survey shows that, overall, Italian consumers appreciate craft beers and are interested in this market. Socio-demographic characteristics impact this inclination but have no significant influence on the results of the choice experiment. Market knowledge, preferences and consumption habits influence consumer spending. Five different consumer profiles emerge.

The research proposes a combined original methodology for assessing beer consumers’ features and their impacts on beer WTB and WTP. The complementary perspectives adopted provide new insights on craft beer demand. Results are of interest for craft brewery managers and for the design of policies aimed at promoting and expanding the sector. Enlarging the sample and improving its representativeness would allow for more general results.

Fewer than half of UK start-up businesses survive beyond five years (ONS, 2020). The Scottish Small Business Survey of 2019 found competition in the market and uncertainty as to how to face it were considered the most significant barrier to success by almost half of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) (Scottish Government, 2020). This chapter considers how four Scottish breweries have formulated start-up strategies to respond to competition in an ever-increasingly crowded marketplace in order to maximise their likelihood of survival. The findings from each of these case studies are presented in an accessible format, and indicate that a variety of approaches to the development of the businesses can be adopted, albeit planned approaches dominate. Drawing on real life experiences of four successful businesses, the practical choices they took provide guidance and inspiration for other aspiring craft beer entrepreneurs in selecting an appropriate approach to and content of their founding strategy.

This two-part exploratory study aims to investigate the perceptions of active lifestyle individuals and general craft beer consumers toward no- and low-alcohol craft beers. The influence of advertising appeals is also tested to determine the effectiveness of value-expressive and guilt appeals in determining switching behaviors.

The first study used a mixed-methods approach to determine perceptions and switching behaviors for active lifestyle individuals. The first part of the study presented respondents with one of three advertisements, the ads were designed to either elicit a value expressive appeal, a guilt appeal or a control. The second part of this study presented respondents with a series of open-ended questions seeking further information on their perceptions and preferences regarding no- and low-alcohol craft beers. The second study assessed perceptions of general craft beer consumers as they related to the three advertisements.

The results of this quantitative studies did not find any significant differences between the three ad slogans; however, the results of the qualitative study do indicate differing perceptions and potential switching behaviors for active lifestyle individuals.

This research advances knowledge on advertising appeals for no- and low-alcoholic craft beers.

Brewers and marketers gain insights into two different consumer groups perceptions and potential switching behaviors toward no- and low-alcohol craft beers.

This research tests how advertising appeals influence perceptions and potential switching behaviors of active lifestyle individuals and general craft beer consumers toward no- and low-alcohol craft beers.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the emergence of microbreweries in Italy over the last 20 years (period 1993-2014) and assess its main determinants.

The recent intense growth is expressed by the increasing number of entries in the sector actually accompanied, in most recent years, by an increasing number of exits. The paper proposes a quantitative assessment of this entry-exit dynamics through a sequence of econometric models known as survival models.

Together with two other orders of possible determinants (idiosyncratic characteristics and the exogenous evolution of the beer market), the paper assesses the role played by specific geographical and local factors within these dynamics. Estimation results show that, whereas market force and individual features unquestionably affect entry and exit choices, geographical and local factors are of limited relevance, especially for the recent entry dynamics.

Although the literature on the so-called craft beer revolution is already vast and increasing, the novel contribution of the paper concerns the specificity (if any) of the Italian case and the role of spatial factors in this respect. This investigation is performed adopting an advanced quantitative approach and this attempt is also quite original within this literature.