Wine Tourism and Consumer Behaviors Related to Wine Purchases

Abstract

As the wine industry keeps growing there is an ever more pressing concern to understand not only who wine consumers are, but how different sets of wine enthusiasts purchase and consume wine. This research looks at a group of wine enthusiasts known as wine tourists. Furthermore, specifically it investigates consumer behaviors of wine festival attendees and their unique perspectives related to purchasing wine. It explored where wine festival attendees purchase wine, what types of wines they purchase, and what criteria they base their wine purchase decisions on. The results show that informed wine drinkers purchase wines from distribution centers more often than grocery stores. The research also shows that uninformed wine drinkers base their wine preferences solely on a certain price point, while informed wine drinkers base their consumption decisions on prior wine knowledge. 1 Barth and Salazar: Wine Tourism and Consumer Behaviors Related to Wine Purchases Published by ScholarWorks@GVSU, 2010 Journal of Tourism Insight s Vol. 1 No. 1 3 stereotypical “wine tourist”nor therefore, a unilateral definition of him or her (Charters and Knight, 2001). However, they segmented wine enthusiasts into four categories: wine lovers, the connoisseur, wine interested and wine novices. Common to segments was an appreciation for the setting of the winery. Consumer Behavior and Wine Producers sell wine trough three marketing channels: wholesale, retail sales, and consumer direct (Salazar and Burhmester, 2004). There are many characteristics that influence consumer decisions to buy wine. Lockshin, Spawton, and Macintosh’s (1997) research indicated that “choosy buyers’ that were more brand and product conscious tended to buy wine at specialty stores and wine shops, while “lazy involved shoppers” purchased low cost wines and wines in large volume casks at discount shops. Previous research has indicated the importance of price within the purchase decision making process, due to the fact that consumers may use it as an indicator to reduce the risk within the purchase decision and therefore as a product cue comparable to brand (Halstead, 2002). The number one decision-making reason for selecting wine in a retail store according to Thatch (2008) was prior experience in tasting the wine. This was followed by a recommendation from a friend or someone working in the store followed by varietal, then origin and brand. A medal on the wine was a reason for selection, and having read about the wine was listed next. Unfortunately for wine merchandisers, front and back label information, as well as shelf talkers and displays, did not score highly in terms of decision-making on selecting wine in retail settings (Thatch, 2008). However, Dodd, Laverie, Wilcox, and Duhan’s (2005) results indicated that wine guides, reviews, and advertising were used to make purchase decisions. There are many types and kinds of wines. Wines originate not only from traditional wine countries such as France, Italy, and Spain, but also from new world countries such as Argentina, Australia, Chile, New Zealand, and the USA. These countries produce expensive and inexpensive wines, young wines that are ready to drink as well as wines that improve even after decades of keeping, wines that are made of different combinations and proportions of grape varieties, and wines that originate from various sorts of soils (Lecocq and Visser, 2002). However, to predict wine demand by grape region and variety can require extensive economic modeling involving elastic and inelastic factors on both the supply and demand side. Specifically, Wittwer, Berger, and Anderson’s (2003) model had to account for the uncertainty of taste swings toward premium wines. While wine tastes change yearly, in 2007 the most popular varietals consisted of Pinot Noir (+89%), Riesling (+45%), and Pinot Grigio (+22.5%) according to Cyril Penn, (2008). Tourism destinations are increasingly reliant on festivals to increase tourism during shoulder and off seasons. In addition, festivals allow the destinations to target a demographic that compliments the destination. Hilton Head Island Hospitality Association currently hosts the Hilton Head Island Wine and Food Festival. The event is privately funded and local tax revenues sponsor a portion of the event. Hilton Head is not a region known for its abundance of local wineries, but the event continues to increase both its reach and its attendance numbers. The Hilton Head Island Wine and Food Festival was touted as one of the largest outdoor, tented public wine tasting on the East Coast. The festival offers connoisseurs and novices the opportunity to sample wines from around the world. Therefore, researchers explored the self-reported wine knowledge of wine festival attendees, and how that level of wine knowledge influenced the following four attributes: 1) the types of wine purchased, 2) where the wine is purchased from, 3) if it is normally purchased by the glass or the bottle, 4) and to which criteria they base their wine purchases on.