Social and Attitudinal Influences on the Intention to Drink Wine

Abstract

In persuading people to drink your wine instead of someone else's it is essential to know what will make them change, and what will deter them from changing again. In their theory of reasoned action Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) developed a model designed to achieve just that Reasoned action theory starts from the premise that people make rational choices which are influenced by their attitudes towards (say) a product and by their response to social norms. In this study the model, which has a good record in identifying the determinants of a wide range of voluntary behaviour, was applied to wine drinking behaviour. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire administered to 142 respondents. Unexpectedly, the results showed that the decision to drink wine is influenced mostly by the expectations of other people, but that wine drinking is not ‘social’ in a formal sense. Attitudinal beliefs, specifically ‘taste’, were only secondary determinants of behaviour. Significantly, other than taste no attitudinal factors had any appreciable influence on wine drinking. These findings have practical applications which are discussed in the final section of the article.