Search results

Wine and accessories bought partly or fully out of a perceived need to repay services received at a winery are defined here as gratuity purchasing. The purpose of the research is to identify factors that predict gratuity purchasing at wineries. Specifically, the study seeks to investigate the role of gratitude and obligation, along with other consumer characteristics, in purchasing.

Winery visitors were sampled from six Texas wineries. A total of 357 questionnaires were analyzed. Hierarchical multiple regression, correlation and factor analyses were employed.

Gratitude and obligation were found to be strong predictors of purchasing at wineries. Visitors who feel grateful to personnel and/or obliged to buy wine are likely to spend more money at wineries. Involvement and knowledge also appear to be related to purchasing.

Since gratitude and obligation appear to be strong predictors of buying decisions, winery managers need to find ways to enhance visitor feelings of appreciation. Although developing a sense of obligation may have an impact on sales, obligation may also create feelings of not wishing to return. It is important for managers to consider the extent to which they would like to have people feeling obligated or guilty about making a purchase.

The research offers new insights into an understudied area of consumer behavior – the role of reciprocity in purchasing behavior. An innovative feature of this study is the development of a new instrument to measure gratitude and obligation.

This study aims to understand the degree of predictability and value in analyzing consumer purchase patterns in the US wine retail market. The study considers whether brands in US wine retailing follow the well-established Duplication of Purchase Law and Double Jeopardy Law.

Over 20,000 customer panel wine purchases were analyzed from a number of locations within a supermarket chain based on the West Coast of the USA. Cross-purchasing behavior for the top 20 wine brands by market penetration was analyzed to assess whether the well-established Duplication of Purchase Law and Double Jeopardy Law hold up in this wine retail setting in the USA. The degree of predictability and the existence of anomalies in expected cross-purchasing behavior were identified in the analysis.

Results confirmed a Double Jeopardy pattern and that wine cross-purchasing patterns for the most part followed the Duplication of Purchase Law. However, exceptions to these patterns were found, which indicated areas in need of managerial attention due to the potential to remedy, develop or monitor the most prominent variations between predicted and realized cross-purchasing behavior. Repeated identification of variations has been identified in other product categories, known as market partitions.

Although it is commonly believed that wine is a unique product category, the results of this study demonstrate that consumer behavior toward wine is similar to other fast-moving consumer goods. The exceptions suggest that while similar consumer purchase patterns are evident, consumers are more likely to cross purchase wine brands and grape types more than would be expected given Duplication of Purchase Law benchmarks.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse consumer buying behaviour in the Japanese rice wine, also known as sake market.

The study applies a novel qualitative and quantitative analytical methodology to an off-license channel in Japan. The methodology involves the use of anchoring-and-adjustment theory and simulation to a large set of point of sale data. The selection of the brands used for the study are more than 230 brands and more than 150 sake breweries.

Age and gender are important factors determining recurrent patterns of purchasing behaviour. Small size packaging, e.g. one cup, has the highest volume in sales, for example, convenience shopping, but it depends on exogenous factors, e.g. summer season or festive events.

Limitations are related with the lack of specific personal data from consumers that impedes to test behavioural attitudes driving loyalty to brands. Anchoring-and-adjustment theory can be a valid approach to evaluate large longitudinal data sets of purchasing behaviour.

Results indicate that fragmented markets tend to over-expand the assortment affecting volume stability. However, this dynamics is difficult to avoid when all participants are engaged in this behaviour and the market is strongly segmented by age and gender.

The paper contributes to the body of knowledge of buyer behaviour in relation to purchasing and consumption for other types of wine. It is the first application in alcoholic beverages of anchor-and-adjustment theory.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the purchasing behaviour of consumers across four nations and evaluate the influence that gender has on wine purchasing decisions.

An interviewer‐administered questionnaire was used to examine the actual purchase decisions made by 399 consumers inside stores in New Zealand, Australia, the UK and the USA.

The results indicate that gender has little significant impact on the frequency with which consumers purchase and drink wine. In addition, gender does not significantly influence the number of attributes which are evaluated by consumers nor the importance that they attach to them. In terms of product attributes, gender was found to significantly influence consumer utilisation of the discount price cue and the region of origin cue.

For those wine marketers who are targeting the female consumer, one implication of this research is that this may be achieved by utilising price discounts. In general, however, the results provide little evidence of significant differences between males and females in terms of wine purchasing behaviour and therefore suggest that gender may not be a useful variable for segmenting the global wine market.

This paper adds to current knowledge regarding the influence of gender on purchase decision making. In particular, the paper is of significance because it has explored the behaviour of consumers during an actual purchase decision and examined the views of consumers across four nations.

The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of atmosphere on consumer emotions and wine purchasing behaviours to assist winery management in the development and communication of a strong positioning strategy. Studies in retail have indicated the importance of atmosphere in relation to consumer emotions and behaviours. Until now, limited evidence has existed on how the three dimensions of atmosphere may influence consumers visiting wineries.

The study consisted of surveys conducted in two stages. The first survey (n = 170) explored the factors applied in this study, and the second survey (n = 377) analysed the relationship between the atmosphere, emotions and consumer purchasing behaviours at wineries.

Findings indicated that atmosphere at a winery has the potential to positively influence consumer emotions and wine purchasing behaviours. Live music and the natural environment were particularly formative of atmosphere and consumer emotions and their subsequent wine purchasing while visiting the winery. The distinction allowed this study to analyse factors important for consumers to increase the time they spent at the winery.

The geographical location of the study is limited to one state in Australia.

In distinguishing between different consumer wine purchasing behaviours, drinking wine and buying wine, this paper contributed to three important intersectoral fields: wine tourism, atmosphere and consumer behaviour. Additional factors that contributed to consumer emotions and wine purchasing behaviours included live music and the natural environment at wineries.

This study aims to understand the market structure and explore the applicability of recognised generalisations to a European wine retail market. The study considers whether brands in European wine retailing follow the established double jeopardy and duplication of purchase laws, with the aim of investigating their limits so as to identify where market partitions are evident.

The researchers conducted a cross-purchasing analysis within the wine category over a 12-month period, using a customer panel of n = 25,000 across a chain of independent retail stores in an English-speaking European country. Analysis was conducted across purchases of the top 20 wine brands.

Consumer wine repurchase results confirmed a double jeopardy pattern. These consumers’ wine repurchasing behaviour from other top-20 wine brands could have generally been predicted in line with the duplication of purchase law. However, a small number of exceptions to these patterns were identified, suggesting the existence of market partitions.

In this study, market partitions were evident for selected brands, a wine region and a common grape variety, Sauvignon blanc. Such exceptions illustrate that consumer purchase patterns can deviate from predictions, for a small number of brands in a consumer goods category than would be expected given duplication of purchase law norms. Such anomalies to empirical generalisations help demonstrate boundary conditions and lead further research on the market conditions required for such anomalies to be evident. Implications suggest that further research should be conducted on the product features creating market partitions.

The findings suggest that regional wines can appeal to a more clearly partitioned customer group within the clientele, but that substitution is noted among brands within regions.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to use a large sample consumer database to determine the generalisability of two well-established empirical generalisations: the double jeopardy and duplication of purchase laws, to the wine retail market. Knowing these are applicable to the wine retail markets allows wine producers and retailers to predict expected repurchase and cross-purchasing norms.

This paper aims to provide further insight into factors influencing Australian consumers’ purchasing preferences for sparkling wine, including champagne.

Focus groups were conducted and thematic analysis was undertaken to identify factors influencing sparkling wine consumers’ purchasing preferences.

Personal taste was found to influence choice of a sparkling wine rather than another type of beverage, and selection of a particular style and brand of sparkling wine. Country or region of origin was found to be important, often linked to the product being champagne. Brand image, reputation and symbolism were found to influence purchase decisions (sometimes linked to consumption occasion), especially for purchases of gifts. Advice, recommendations and expert reviews, and consumption occasion also were found to influence purchase decisions. Price was found to influence style and brand of sparkling wine purchased. A high price was found to be a barrier for some participants, while other participants were found to avoid sparkling wines priced below some particular level. Thematic analysis enabled development of a preliminary model of purchasing preferences.

Being exploratory in nature, findings cannot be generalised. Further studies are required to confirm the preliminary model and to evaluate the validity and significance of proposed relationships.

Findings suggest a producer could benefit from marketing a range of sparkling wines to cater to different tastes, occasions and gift purchases. Findings also confirm the importance of marketers pursuing opportunities to obtain and promote favourable expert reviews for their sparkling wines, and of identifying and promoting regional distinctiveness.

The first comprehensive model of sparkling wine consumers’ purchasing preferences has been developed. Empirical testing would enable refinement and enhance understanding.

Buyer trust is needed to begin any purchasing relationship whether the exchange is to take place online or offline. In the online environment, instilling trust is critical to the formation of a purchasing relationship owing to the perception of increased risk on the part of the would‐be consumer. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the elements of trust that influence potential consumers differ between on and offline wine purchasing.

An interactive data collection tool was employed, in the form of an internet based questionnaire that focused on what influences a consumer of wine to trust enough to purchase online for the first time. This paper reports the findings based on a permission‐based email sample of more than 1,000 current consumers who professed to buy wine.

The findings demonstrate that there is a difference in the elements of trust that consumers use to determine whether or not to purchase wine online and offline.

The authors suggest that the services marketing mix holds relevance for those online retailers who wish to attract consumers of wine for the first time. The paper concludes with recommendations for marketers on how to influence the initial wine purchase.

This paper's value lies in the comparison between on and offline trust and initial buying behaviour. It provides insight into the initiation of trust and the formation of relationships between customers and providers by identifying the elements that instil trust.

This research aims to examine Chinese consumers’ wine consumption and purchasing behaviour.

The study, conducted during the Chinese New Year in early 2006, used in‐depth interviews with 15 consumers in Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.

The results suggest that Chinese consume Chinese spirits for all occasions, yet consume red wine only for special occasions such as Chinese new year and other holidays. A key point for selling red wine to the Chinese is its positive image; drinking red wine is considered trendy and shows good taste. Another key point is consumer perceptions of red wine as healthier than Chinese spirits because wine contains less alcohol. Two other findings are that most Chinese consumers assume all wine is red wine and have little wine knowledge. Most respondents did not know of white wine or that Australia produces wine. Finally, China's culture of face value, mianzi, plays a key role in purchasing and consuming wine. Chinese tend to purchase inexpensive wine for private consumption and public occasions, yielding more mianzi in front of others. In some important occasions, consumers will purchase a foreign (French) red wine to impress their guests and obtain even more mianzi. In most situations, Chinese purchase and consume wine for perceived health and symbolic – lucky or good face – values.

The small sample size is a limitation. Another limitation is that all the respondents lived in the urban area of Guangzhou, one of China's most developed cities. The findings do not generalize to China.

The findings suggest that wine is a symbolic product rather than a necessity product in China; therefore, image is an important attribute for selling wine in China. Furthermore, limited wine knowledge tends to make Chinese consumers rely heavily on price for their wine purchasing decisions, as price relates to mainzi. Chinese consumers’ high awareness of France as a wine making country and their deep‐rooted positive beliefs about French wines pose difficulties for marketing other foreign wines, such as Australian wines, in China.

This is perhaps the first academic study in English of Chinese wine consumption and wine purchasing. It offers important insights on the characteristics of wine consumption and purchasing in China.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the degree of consumer interest in an eco‐labeling program for the Ontario wine industry and determine whether there is a willingness‐to‐pay a premium for eco‐labeled Ontario wines.

The study was a quantitative survey of 401 wine consumers in Ontario, collected at Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) retail stores and winery retail stores. Results were analyzed using quantitative non‐parametric statistical analyses.

It was revealed that while most Ontario wine consumers do not presently purchase eco‐labeled wine regularly, the majority (90 per cent) are at least somewhat interested in purchasing eco‐labeled wine and that the majority would be willing to pay a premium of $0.51 or more (65 per cent). Consumers also indicated a preference for a seal of approval style label with multiple levels that contained a website from which they could obtain detailed information on certification.

These results provide valuable insights into wine consumers' purchasing behaviours and purchasing preferences with regards to environmentally friendly products. This information can be useful to those involved in implementing the Ontario wine industry's sustainability initiative, Sustainable Winemaking Ontario (SWO), and to wineries and winegrowers who are interested in promoting their actions taken to improve sustainability.

There is presently no published research investigating the potential role for an eco‐labeling and certification program for the Ontario wine industry, or any other Canadian wine industry. There is also a limited research on willingness‐to‐pay within the food and beverage sector.