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The purpose of this paper is to examine whether or not transaction marketing is being employed together with various types of relationship marketing. A classification scheme of contemporary marketing practices (Coviello, Brodie and Munro, 1997) is reviewed, and the need to enrich earlier research findings is discussed. A case study methodology for conducting research into the New Zealand wine sector is then considered. The preliminary findings suggest that vineyards increasingly employ a pluralistic approach to marketing combining transaction marketing with relational types of marketing, and that the softer sides of marketing are becoming important, such as social bonding, networks and interactions. The findings also give insights into whether or not vineyards are driven by their product or market.

The wine industry of New Zealand has rapidly developed and matured in the last decade to produce an international product that is highly desired by key global markets, and has become a major contributor to the economy. However, limited productive capacity, and macroeconomic forces have contrived to constrain the global marketing opportunities, essentially forcing New Zealand wines into niche markets. These forces include: global market forces, technological forces, global cost forces, and socio‐political macro‐economic forces. The impact of these forces are analysed in this article. Several analytical tools borrowed from ‘lean manufacturing’ are used to construct a conceptual value chain map of the generic industry. A key concept for success that will be a challenge to industry participants is to create and deliver ‘value’ in the minds of the final consumer. This can be achieved by mapping/measuring the value generated in different parts of the supply chain while still allowing for the synergies generated by the whole system.

This article focuses on the relationship marketing approach to marketing of agricultural products. The article provides specific insights into, and comparisons between, suppliers of two particular agricultural products sectors: in Britain, the fresh produce (fruits and vegetables) sector and, in New Zealand, the wine sector. The article examines the nature of marketing relationships from the perspective of the suppliers in these sectors and their relationships, networks, and interactions with importers and retail buyers in the food and beverage industry. The research methodology is qualitative and inductive in nature and utilises multiple cases. Interpretation is first through content analysis of each individual case in order to identify important themes, clusters, and patterns in the research data and secondly through across‐case analysis. Investigated marketing issues include the following: nature of relationship marketing, implementation of relationship marketing, and monitoring and measurement of relationship marketing.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how decision making and learning are related to marketing planning among owner/managers with lifestyle in comparison to growth-oriented objectives in the New Zealand wine industry.

The study reports on 12 interviews with owner/managers of New Zealand vineyards. The vineyards were small to medium sized and independently owned to avoid bias from parent company decision making within larger scale corporate wine producers.

Different degrees of causation and effectuation-based decision making were found to exist among owner/managers starting from the nascent stage in their respective marketing planning processes. Learning to different degrees was evident in order to remain competitive in a climate of uncertainty and not least of which due to problematic exchange rates. An important issue influencing decision making was whether owner/managers were running the vineyard to maintain a lifestyle or a growth strategy; an issue affecting perceptions of risks and rewards.

The originality of the study is that it employs an effectuation lens in respect of the marketing planning process; specifically, decision making among owner/managers with differing objectives, experience and perceptions of risks and rewards.

Guided by a relational, stakeholder perspective of resource-based theory, the purpose of the current investigation is to help unpack the complexity of the performance-enhancing nature of coopetition for international entrepreneurs, namely the interplay between collaboration and competition. The context features under-resourced wine producers owned and managed by entrepreneurs that have implemented an internationalised business model. The focus of the study involves the influence of a “competitor orientation”, namely when decision-makers understand the short-term strengths, weaknesses, long-term capabilities and strategies of key current and potential rivals.

Data collection primarily featured semi-structured interviews with owner-managers of wine-producing firms in New Zealand that reflected heterogeneity amongst international entrepreneurs' strategies targeting different product markets within their respective business models. Secondary data were also collected where possible. Specifically, interviewees' firms exhibited different portfolios involving wine sales (with varying export intensities) together with augmented sales of tourism-related products/services focussed on the domestic market.

Coopetition activities amongst international entrepreneurs varied; i.e. influenced by respective owner-managers' competitor orientations. Illustrations of different decision-makers' business models within a 2 × 2 matrix feature those with a low- or high-export intensity, together with a narrow or augmented product portfolio. Internationalising entrepreneurs' perceptions varied regarding the extent to which their respective business model was oriented towards local cluster-based domestic tourism with limited export sales, as opposed to those with national and more importantly international wine sales. Possessing and acting upon relevant knowledge manifested in which competitors international entrepreneurs collaborated with and the extent to which this took place across product-market strategies. In turn, this enabled particular decision-makers to exhibit flexibility; hence, entrepreneurs enter and exit certain markets together with changing export intensities, as varying opportunities were identified and exploited.

Although the performance-enhancing nature of coopetition is largely established in prior literature, the complexity of that relationship remains relatively under-researched, not least, amongst international entrepreneurs. More specifically, the extent to which decision-makers that are engaged in coopetition exhibit a competitor orientation remains under-researched. Unique insights feature a 2 × 2 matrix in order to provide originality regarding international entrepreneurs' respective product-market strategies within their business models that are underpinned by varying coopetition relationships and competitor orientations.

To examines strategies that have locked the Australian wine industry into a price‐sensitive, commodity wine market. The paper seeks to explain the inherent weakness of these strategies and their inability to address current challenges and opportunities.

The paper uses empirical research data gathered from 100 SME wine firms. These firms were selected using a stratified random sampling technique. Four states were covered – New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Western Australia – with all major wine regions in these states equally represented. There was careful sampling according to size, so that boutique, and small‐ and medium‐sized firms were represented. Non‐exporting firms were excluded. In each case either the CEO or the marketing manager was interviewed.

The findings confirm the paper's hypothesis, that increasingly the Australian wine industry has become risk‐averse and locked into paradigms and organizational frameworks that are disconnecting from users and their requirements. The findings concur that greater differentiation of place, product, supply chains, and markets is required if the industry is to operate effectively within a multi‐dimensional landscape and continue to attract sustainable returns.

The paper was based largely upon user perceptions about current and future industry developments. It would be extremely valuable if future research could align these perceptions with performance data at industry and firm level to provide a more convincing map of R&D activity.

This paper has significant implications and policy advice for future industry organization. The most immediate and important of these is a strategy of emphasizing differentiated, regionally‐identified products that target higher price‐points in major markets. The industry has already indicated that it intends moving in this direction.

The original aspect of the paper is its organization ecology approach to the industry, in which national parameters are replaced by a perception of global operating landscapes. In this sense, users are not only participants, but also spectators and interpreters. The paper should be of value to researchers, policy‐makers and all industry stakeholders.

Over the past decade, the Queensland wine industry has experienced a greater percentage growth than the Australian national average. The aim of the research undertaken for this article is to identify specific national and international strategies that have allowed the industry to achieve this level of growth.

The study involved a quantitative survey of all Queensland wineries at the time (n=101), using a five‐point Likert‐scaled questionnaire with questions developed from the literature, together with a small‐scale qualitative survey involving in‐depth interviews of winery managers and industry leaders.

The findings indicated that key strategies in the domestic sector included a focus on cellar door sales combined with establishing links with the tourism industry, together with an incremental expansion of domestic markets. For the international sector, additional strategies included targeting familiar, psychically‐close and niche markets in the initial stages of exporting, as well as taking advantage of firm‐specific strengths and managerial competencies.

Not previously regarded as a major wine producing region of Australia, the Queensland wine industry has received limited attention in the literature, particularly the reasons for its rapid growth in recent years. The article helps to identify the strategies used by wineries in growing the industry.

This paper draws upon the Yin and Yang concept of Chinese philosophy within a Western context to examine coopetition, namely, the interplay between cooperation and competition. Although coopetition activities should positively affect company performance, earlier research involving this relationship has typically been linear in nature and without moderating factors. Consequently, underpinned by resource-based theory and the relational view, the purpose of this investigation is to examine the non-linear (inverted U-shaped) link between coopetition and company performance under the moderating role of competitive intensity.

Collection of survey data involved a sample of 101 internationalising wine producers in New Zealand. Following a check of the statistical data for all major assessments of reliability and validity (together with common method variance), testing the research hypotheses and control paths took place through hierarchical regression. Furthermore, 20 semi-structured interviews helped explain the underlying mechanisms behind the quantitative results.

Coopetition had a non-linear (inverted U-shaped) relationship with market performance. Surprisingly, competitive intensity yielded a negative moderation effect. The mixed methods results highlighted that firms must strike an effective balance between the paradoxical forces of cooperativeness and competitiveness across their product-market strategies.

This investigation contributes to the existing literature by developing and testing a conceptual framework examining the nature of the relationship between coopetition activities and market performance – using non-linear (inverted U-shaped) and moderating effects. It addresses a debate between two schools-of-thought concerning the impact of competitive intensity on the coopetition paradox. Additionally, this study helps to explain the coopetition construct through the Yin and Yang concept to highlight how the paradoxical forces of cooperativeness and competitiveness can create harmful outcomes for organisations if they do not manage them effectively (across domestic and international markets).

Faced with the prospect of over supply, wine exporters are increasingly focused on establishing new markets, particularly in Asia. Recent papers have suggested that relationship‐marketing approaches may be the most successful for establishing wine sales in these markets. Despite many models, evidence on the content and implementation of relationship marketing remains scarce. This research reports on the experience of one firm in Asia, and identifies the link between cultural values and the need for relationship based strategies for wine exporters to Asia. Tactical implications for wine markets are also explored.

The purpose of this article was to explore why small wine producers in one of Australia’s premium wine regions engage in horizontal networking within both their sub-regions and at a state-wide level. The benefits of these formal network relationships are investigated from a collaborative marketing perspective.

Qualitative data were collected via in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 33 wine producers. Industry informant interviews and secondary data collection enabled triangulation of the research findings.

Overall the study found that producers join horizontal networks for commercial, social and strategic reasons. These motivations evolve over time as the owner/managers gain experience and presence in the region. Horizontal networks assist regions to build goodwill and industry norms, and share knowledge. Such social capital encourages collaboration among wineries and enables networks to effectively pursue shared objectives. Horizontal networks at a sub-regional level also play a key role in establishing and promoting wine tourism.

The paper shows how horizontal wine networks develop over time and the key motivations for membership. Those looking to establish networks can benefit from knowledge of the key drivers which influence and enhance participation.

To date most network studies in the sector have focused on informal relationships between wineries, or networks and clusters comprising firms vertically integrated in the supply chain. The paper contributes to understanding why small wine producers join horizontal networks and examines how collaborative marketing can assist boutique and developing wine regions to increase the competitiveness and market penetration of their products.