Winery Managers Research Articles

Spirals of knowledge in geographical indications: the brazilian wine sector case

Purpose: This paper aims to verify how the construction of spirals of knowledge of geographical indications occurs in the Brazilian wine sector and to identify the conversion of the knowledge of Geographical Indication (GI) from tacit to explicit according to the SECI model (the epistemological spiral). Additionaly, to identify how the ontology spiral occurs in the opinion of government agencies, associations and managers of wineries. Design/Methodology/Approach: This research was qualitative and exploratory.The study was delimited to the Brazilian wine sector. All interviews were conducted in person. Twenty interviews with interest groups: government agencies (5 interviews), associations (5 interviews) and managers of wineries (10 interviews). Purpose: This paper aims to verify how the construction of spirals of knowledge of geographical indications occurs in the Brazilian wine sector and to identify the conversion of the knowledge of Geographical Indication (GI) from tacit to explicit according to the SECI model (the epistemological spiral). Additionally, to identify how the ontology spiral occurs in the opinion of government agencies, associations, and managers of wineries. Design/Methodology/Approach: This research was qualitative and exploratory. The study was delimited to the Brazilian wine sector. All interviews were conducted in person. There were twenty interviews with interest groups: government agencies (5 interviews), associations (5 interviews), and managers of wineries (10 interviews). Findings: The Epistemological Spiral is constructed at the individual, group, and organization levels, within the wineries, converting tacit to explicit knowledge according to the SECI model. The Ontology Spiral is completed with the inter-organizational level that, in the case of Geographical Indications, is formed by the Associations. The Ontology spiral is produced in the context of GIs, and the wineries have the generation of knowledge in each one of them and, at the same time, interact within the Associations and form a representative body of GIs. Originality: Within the GIs, there is the generation of knowledge, which is shared between the coopetitors. Knowledge Management of Geographical Indication emerges, and the block that forms the body of the association produces knowledge that adds experiences and strengths of each individual, group and organization, culminating in the dissemination of superior knowledge. Originality: Within the GIs, there is the generation of knowledge, which is shared between the coopetitors. Knowledge Management of Geographical Indication emerges and the block that forms the body of the association produces knowledge that adds experiences and strengths of each individual, group, organization, culminating in a dissemination of knowledge superior.

Evolution and orchestration of clusters

PurposeThis study aims at identifying how the evolution of clusters influences orchestrations. It investigates the dynamic interplay between the developmental stages of clusters and the strategic orchestrations that occur within these structures. In this regard, this work explores cluster life cycle (CLC) approaches and orchestration, analyzing their relationship.Design/methodology/approachThis qualitative, exploratory research was conducted by using a case study method on the Serra Gaúcha Wine Cluster (SGWC), the leading wine region in Brazil. Data sources included 27 interviews with winery managers and managers of organizations supporting viticulture, as well as 29 documents relevant to the cluster’s activities and development. The study used content analysis to examine the collected data, providing an in-depth exploration of the dynamic interplay within the cluster through both direct stakeholder insights and documentary evidence.FindingsThe research results revealed that the SGWC is in its fifth stage of development; the five stages are the following: emergence, first growth, first renewal, second renewal and second growth. The findings generated four key propositions: positive maturations of clusters are capable of affecting the number of orchestrations, catalyzing exogenous factors of stage changes influence orchestrations, clusters and the content of orchestrations co-evolve and fluctuations in the number of orchestrations do not linearly follow the changes in the efficiency of clusters. The results also highlight the important role of representative organizations. This study also advanced on the thematic cluster maturation, which, according to this paper, can be positive or negative.Research limitations/implicationsThe study advances an approach of cluster maturation, which may be advantageous or detrimental. Additionally, this work investigates the connection between the CLC and orchestrations; in particular, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first to do so with an emphasis on cluster evolution and the quantity and nature of orchestrations.Practical implicationsThe findings emphasize the need to maintain associations and support organizations to ensure effective engagement and orchestrations within the cluster, even during crises. It is crucial for managers to understand the CLC to align decisions with the cluster’s development stages. Additionally, identifying exogenous factors that influence changes is essential for planning effective strategic actions.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the understanding of how cluster development stages influence orchestrations in industrial clusters, shedding light on the dynamics of this relationship.

I assert ownership of it: repatronage intentions in wine tourism

ABSTRACT The current research aims to examine (1) the influence of psychological ownership on fostering commitment, (2) the influence of commitment in predicting repatronage intentions, and (3) the effect of quality of alternatives on the relationship between commitment and repatronage intentions in the context of wine tourism. Data collected from 574 Spanish and Portuguese wine tourists were analysed using a partial least squares method. Findings show that investment of self and intimate knowledge positively and directly affects psychological ownership and indirectly affects commitment towards the winery. The quality of alternatives was found to moderate and weaken the relationship between commitment and repatronage intentions. Winery managers are advised to develop emotional commitment with tourists and continuously monitor competitive services.

The Influence of Belief Systems and the Use of Financial and Human Resources of Scgs on the Orientation And Online Evaluation of Wine Tourism

Objective: The study aims to analyze the influence of the belief system and the use of financial and human resources from SCGs on the guidance and online evaluation of wine tourism. Theoretical Framework: Research grounded in Attention-Based Theory suggests that, due to cognitive limitations, only the most salient beliefs influence action (Ocasio, 1997; Kerr & Franco-Santos, 2023). Method: Data were collected from 123 Brazilian wineries registered on TripAdvisor. A questionnaire was administered to the winery management teams (TMT), and the responses were augmented with online review information. The data analysis was performed using structural equation modeling (PLS/SEM). Results and Discussion: The findings indicate that the formal structure of the belief system in the context of wine tourism positively impacts the use of financial and human resources. It was also discovered that human resource management is directly linked to the ability to meet the expectations of wine tourists, positively influencing online reviews. Research Implications: The results highlight the need for winery managers to adopt an approach oriented towards wine tourism, integrating a belief system and effective management strategies to enhance the experience and satisfaction of wine tourists. This shift in focus beyond wine production requires the development of new skills. Originality/Value: This research contributes to the debate by showing that, despite the challenges identified by Attention-Based Theory, adapting winery management systems to wine tourism can be crucial for improving online evaluations, reinforcing the orientation towards wine tourism.

Developing wine tourism experiences. A discrete choice analysis using best-worst scaling data

The aim of this research is to aid winery managers in bundling a plethora of different service features to meet the wine tourists’ expectations. A discrete choice model using best-worst scaling (BWS) data is estimated to obtain the relative importance of the attributes included in the analysis. Findings show that the most important aspects that make wineries attractive are: to offer wine tastings and “tour & visits”, to provide visitors with wine specialists/tour guides and, finally, to make the surrounding area and natural environment as pleasant as possible. Furthermore, the study highlights that wine tourists’ preferences are heterogeneous.

Reconfiguring an Established Wine Tourism Destination: A Dynamic Capabilities Approach

ABSTRACT This study examines how an established wine tourism subarea continues to adapt to an increasingly competitive wine tourism destination market from the perspective of wineries in Spain’s Rioja Alta subarea. Furthermore, aligned with the chosen inductive approach, the study develops a reflective model through considering the dynamic capabilities approach as a theoretical foundation to examine the various dimensions affecting wine tourism. Semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with predominantly winery managers, on-site observations were conducted. In addition, wineries’ archival information was examined. Strong alignment between wineries’ strategies and reconfiguration/transformation were revealed. This dynamic capabilities-related cluster was manifested through “customisation,” where wineries offered unique product/service elements, thereby adding value to the winery visitation. The developed model highlights important implications for the long-term competitiveness of a region’s wine tourism.

Effects of atmosphere on emotions and consumer behaviour at wineries

PurposeThe 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.Design/methodology/approachThe 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.FindingsFindings 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.Research limitations/implicationsThe geographical location of the study is limited to one state in Australia.Originality/valueIn 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.

The emergence of wine tourism in Ningxia, China

This paper outlines the development of wine tourism in the Ningxia wine region, primarily from the perspective of key wine stakeholders. Based on field observation and semi-structured in-depth interviews with 24 winery managers and owners, and 2 government officials in the region, it reveals that wine tourism development provides an opportunity to build a unique regional brand focused on high quality wine, to build brand loyalty with domestic and international visitors, and to provide a distribution channel for the wineries to enhance sales directly. To date, however, wine tourism in the region remains under-developed, and there is scepticism about the value of the activities, when other challenges are considered.

Market segmentation for wine tourism: Identifying sub-groups of winery visitors

Notwithstanding the steady development of the international wine tourism industry, accurate relevant information and comparative surveys focusing on primary research appear inadequate in various wine-producing countries. Understanding the wine tourism market is vital for sustaining its further development. In addition to existing typologies for wine tourists, distinctions of winery visitors may provide a valuable tool to help wineries design and implement appropriate marketing tools. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to identify segment characteristics and variations among international and inland wine tourists based on a multinational sample of winery visitors in Greece; differences between experienced and inexperienced visitors, first-time and repeat visitors at a specific winery, individual and group visitors, and men and women were also examined. The empirical study was conducted at 18 wineries in the most significant wine-making areas in Greece, through 1,400 questionnaires forwarded to wineries for distribution among their customers through self-completion. The results confirm the existence of significant dissimilarities between domestic and international visitors in relation to pre-visit behaviour, primary knowledge and loyalty levels towards the winery’s brands, visitation motives, spending attitudes, income, age distribution, perception of the winery experience and future behavioural intentions. Differences among these groups were also identified. The practical implications of the findings are discussed to assist winery managers and other wine tourism stakeholders implement a more customer-centric approach and improve strategic planning.

Creation and Implementation of Collective Brands: An Analysis of the Brazilian Wine Sector Challenges

This study aims to understand how the creation and implementation of collective brands can contribute to reducing the challenges of selling national wines in the domestic market. An exploratory qualitative research was developed through 36 in-depth interviews with wine collective brands’ stakeholders such as the managers of government agencies, associations, and wineries. Data analysis was performed using the content analysis technique. The results indicate that the creation and implementation of collective brands for the Brazilian wine sector can contribute to the reduction of the challenges faced by the sector, such as high taxation, low per capita consumption, and the Brazilians’ lack of knowledge concerning the product. The theoretical contribution occurs by highlighting the collective brands’ contribution to reducing the challenges presented in the Brazilian wine sector. As a practical implication, the present research provides examples of collective brands' implementation that might be used to facilitate the application of this resource in other sectors and countries. The study’s originality lies in linking the wine sector challenges with possible benefits that come from the implementation of collective brands, suggesting how they can contribute to overcoming the sector challenges.

Perspectives of wine tourism development in Rostov region

Wine tourism is an economically promising type of sustainable tourism for the region. Currently, the state has created favourable conditions for the wine-growing regions of the Russian Federation (one of them is the Rostov region) including financial support for the development of viticulture and winemaking. The article describes the forms of state support, explicates the status of the Rostov region among other wine territories since the latter, due to its natural and climatic features, has prospects for creating unique varieties of wine products with access to the level of world recognition. People’s awareness about wine tourism in the region and their intentions of future participation in visiting the Don vineyards and wineries was studied. Methods of content analysis, expert interviews with managers of wineries, and a mass survey of the population in this region, including more than 400 questionnaires were used in the study. The results show that there are three main factors for the successful development of wine tourism in the Rostov region: 1) a unique product of wine tourism in its taste; 2) the organization of wine production in the relationship between government and business, which opens up prospects for creating the necessary infrastructure for the development of enotourism; 3) potential wine tourists. Despite the low awareness of the surveyed residents of the region about the peculiarities of Don wines and wine tourism programs, 62% of respondents showed interest in participating in the tours. Some recommendations are given for organizing tourist routes that include an introduction to the cultural identity of the Don region in their program.

ДЕГУСТАЦІЙНИЙ СКЛАДНИК У КОМПЛЕКСНІЙ СТРАТЕГІЇ РОЗВИТКУ ЕНОТУРИСТИЧНОГО БІЗНЕСУ

The purpose of this paper is to study the place of the tasting component in the integrated strategy of not big wineries, depending on the stage of the trajectory of winery development the winery and highlighting practical recommendations for obtaining a positive experience of visiting the tasting room by tourists. The Ukrainian wine market is characterized by an increase in the number of small and medium enterprises, as well as family wineries. This is due to the cancellation in 2016 for small producers of the license for the wholesale of alcoholic beverages produced from their own raw materials. Ukrainian wineries operate in a very competitive environment. However, strategic planning for small wine producers to improve their competitive advantage is still marginal. They still lack a deep understanding of strategic behavior and the role of the tasting room in strategic planning, where wine tourism is a strategic lever. Building a competitive wine tourism business and winery management involves addressing several issues: from the production of quality wine, the provision of ecotourism services to the design of an attractive tasting room. Based on these considerations, the role of the tasting room is essential at all stages of the development trajectory of the winery. After all, knowledge of the additional capabilities of the tasting room will help determine the ways to obtain sustainable competitive advantages of the winery. The study considers the development of a winery as a cyclical process, and the formation of a strategy as a process of transformation, involving the life cycle of a winery in the formation of a strategy. This study examines three stages of the development trajectory of wineries, when it goes from a wine-producing enterprise to a winery as a structured system based on the logic of the dominance of wine tourism services. The trajectory of the winery's development goes through stages: wine production, wine sales and wine experience, revolving around the tasting room. It has been proven that a winemaking strategy depends on the stage of its life cycle, and the role of the tasting room in this strategy especially increases at the stage of providing wine tourism services.

‘Business model and performance in the Spanish wine industry’

ABSTRACTUsing a business model as a means of analysis of competitive advantage is a new concept that includes classic elements, such as resources and strategy, adding the creation of value for customers and the appropriation of a part of it by the company. This paper studies the relation between the business model and performance in the Spanish wine industry. For this study, a survey was conducted of all the wineries in Spain; 339 responses were obtained, 14% of the total sample universe. In line with the recent literature, a business model is shaped as a consequence of the definition of the business strategy. To analyse the different business models, the core strategy and their interaction with the decisions of the company in the value chain have been analysed. The study empirically points out four successful business models in the Spanish wine industry, and notes the set of decisions in the value chain that each business model uses. The results and conclusions presented should provide a way for the managers of Spanish wineries to evaluate the congruence between their core strategies and their decisions in the value chain in order to achieve a better business performance. In addition, this can benefit wine sector firms in aligning their resources and decisions and in achieving greater efficiency. The study provides a global analysis that has not been made in the wine sector before and its conclusions allow one to know which core strategies are related to a better performance and which are not.

An importance-performance analysis of young people’s response to a wine tourism situation in Greece

ABSTRACTThe objective of this paper is to explore the desired wine tourism experience of young adults in Greece. While increased attention has been paid by researchers to age-related differences regarding wine tourism, young wine tourists in Greece have not received academic attention to date. This study addresses this gap in the literature, focusing particularly on the context of the winery visitation experience. More specifically, a list of attributes of the winery visit was adopted for testing and a sample of 156 higher education students participating in a field trip to a winery were asked to rate the importance and performance of each attribute. The study was undertaken within an Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) framework. As indicated from the empirical findings, the core product of the winery experience appears to have limited appeal to young consumers, who have other priorities when visiting a winery. These include enjoying the scenery and food, socialising, and undertaking non-wine related activities. They are also particularly price sensitive. The final section considers the implications of these findings for winery managers and future research into the wine-related experiences of young markets.

A consumer value approach to a holistic understanding of the winery experience

PurposeThe present study is part of a joint effort to gain a holistic understanding of the consumption experience. This paper aims to understand the essence of the winery experience through a better characterisation of the latter because of the consumer value approach and to define the main cultural differences between the Old World and the New World in this respect.Design/methodology/approachThe authors felt that netnography offered the most suitable qualitative method to capture the meaning of a winery experience in an international context. To this end, we collected 3,065 original tourist reviews for 35 wineries, written from January 2015 to June 2016.FindingsThe findings suggest that a winery experience is made up of the following values: “hedonic”, “economic”, “social” and “legacy”. In addition, the results indicate that social and legacy values are more important for the Old World, while the New World tends to put more emphasis on economic and hedonic values.Practical implicationsWineries need to deliver experiences that encourage tourists to explore what their enterprise has to offer. Given the importance of the customer experience to trigger wine purchases and positive word-of-mouth to promote brand loyalty, the findings can help winery managers to adapt their services in consequence.Originality/valueFew studies have applied a consumer value approach or used netnography to examine tourists’ experiences from a cross-cultural perspective.

A survey of internet marketing by small and medium-sized enterprises for placing wine on the market

This paper presented a survey of models for possible aspects of Internet marketing and online advertising. The aim of the survey was to improve the business of enterprises engaged in the wine production and wine marketing with special emphasis on the improvement of the sales process. By using the most recent literature and the data obtained, the survey deal with the Internet advertising, the advantages and disadvantages of the Internet as an advertising medium, the use of online advertising in the world and forms of internet advertising. Afterwards, the factors that influence the procurement of wine, as well as influential factors for making decisions on the purchase of certain wine varieties were examined. Decision-making process of consumers when buying wine was investigated as well. The paper consists of theoretical and empirical parts. The first part discusses the general overview of winemaking in the world. In the empirical part, the attitudes of consumers and managers of several wineries were examined, which are related to the application of internet marketing in the wine industry with key findings and new opportunities in the promotion of wine.

Environmental commitment and its drivers in the Australian wine industry: a behavioural approach

ABSTRACTEnvironmental commitment (EC) has been defined as the organisational engagement with environmental practices oriented to prevent and diminish waste and pollution burdens caused by the organisation. EC has been addressed from economical, technological, regulatory and organisational perspectives, but little has been said about the role of individuals’ perceptions in the organisational adoption of an EC. Based on the theory of planned behaviour and on data collected from 184 Australian winery managers, we test the effect of managers’ attitudes, their perceptions of control, stakeholder pressures and information on shaping EC in their organisations. Results indicate that winery managers consider their own attitudes towards the environment and their perceptions of control as the most important factors when adopting EC in their organisation, while stakeholder pressures were not found significant.

Impact of Infrastructure and Production Processes on Rioja Wine Supply Chain Performance

This paper presents a structural equation model for analyzing the relationship between four latent variables: infrastructure, production processes, transport benefits, and economic benefits within the supply chain for wine from La Rioja, Spain, by incorporating 12 observed variables. The model proposes six hypothesis that were tested using information gathered from 64 surveys completed by managers of several wineries in the region. The WarpPLS v.5® software (Version 5.0, Script Warp Systems, Laredo, TX, USA) was used to execute the model and analyze the direct, indirect, and total effects among latent variables. The results show that the control of production processes is a direct source of economic and transport benefits because of its higher explanatory power of those variables. Similarly, infrastructure is a direct source of transport and production benefits, and some of them are given indirectly. In addition, infrastructure does not have a direct effect on economic benefits; however, there were indirect effects given through production process and transport benefits. Infrastructure is a very important variable because of its influence in the final performance, but also because of its high environmental impact. Finally, economic benefits were explained in 43.8%, 19.1% belonging to production process, 21.1% coming from transport benefits, and 3.7% from infrastructure.

Larger and better

PurposeWineries today are faced with the prospect of having to include environmental sustainability into their practices but implementation can be hard, complicated or even undesired. This research aims to examine firm features, specifically winery size and foreign direct investment, as potential sources of variability regarding environmental sustainability attitudes and practices.Design/methodology/approachQuestionnaires were administered via telephone interviews with 63 wineries in France. Production surface and wine activities in other countries were the independent variables examined as potentially predicting environmental sustainability attitudes and practices, leading to competitive positioning and perceived firm success.FindingsThe findings clearly show that bigger wineries are more likely to practice environmental sustainability, but they do not necessarily have more positive attitudes toward environmental sustainability. For winery managers, firm size and environmental sustainability practices interact because they are perceived to lead to competitive advantages such as augmented product quality and better innovations. Larger firms are also more sensitive to micro pressures emanating from customers, competitors and distributors regarding environmental sustainability. Finally, wineries engaging in foreign direct investments have more positive attitudes toward and engage in more environmental sustainability practices than firms that remain domestic.Originality/valueRather than comparing firms that are environmentally sustainable versus firms that are not, this research examined actual firm characteristics that may influence management’s propensity to engage in environmental sustainability practices. This research provides explanations for why there are augmented environmental sustainability practices by larger wineries and the sources of subjective norms encouraging larger wineries, versus smaller wineries, to practice environmental sustainability.

Daily prediction of seasonal grapevine production in the Douro wine region based on favourable meteorological conditions

Background and Aims The cooperative wineries of the Douro demarcated region (DDR) have a major socio-economic role within the winemaking sector. The existing network of regional wineries provides an organisational basis for the wine market of the DDR, contributing to the sustainability of the sector. Given this strategic importance, the present research aims to develop an innovative grape production model (PGP) targeted at regional wineries. Methods and Results For the development of the PGP model, the relationships between daily historic meteorological conditions and grape production for three wineries within the DDR (Mesao Frio, Favaios and Freixo de Espada a Cinta) were analysed. The model runs on a daily time step, comparing the thermal/hydric conditions in a given year against the average conditions in high and low production years. Results establish site-specific linkages between favourable (unfavourable) weather conditions and high (low) grapevine production. Relatively, cool pre-flowering temperature and relatively warm conditions during berry development tend to favour wine production. Furthermore, higher production is typically found in years with higher than average precipitation level until flowering. The correlation between PGP model outputs and grapevine production at the three wineries ranges from 0.68 ≤ r ≤ 0.84. Conclusions Decision makers from the DDR may indeed take advantage of the information provided by the PGP model. Daily updated knowledge of potential grape production enables wineries to timely plan and optimise harvest and postharvest procedures. Significance of the Study The PGP model may be regarded as a useful tool to implement cost-effective winery management, thus bringing added value to stakeholders and decision makers of the Portuguese winemaking sector.