Lifestyle determinants of wine consumption and spending on wine

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the lifestyle determinants motivating wine consumption and the amount spent on it, as sales and profits depend largely on a sound knowledge of them. Design/methodology/approach – Data were gathered by means of a postal paper‐and‐pencil survey sent out to randomly chosen addresses from the telephone book covering the German‐speaking part of Switzerland, resulting in a final sample size of 874. Findings – Lifestyle determinants proved successful in explaining a great deal of the variance in the data. For wine consumption, knowledge about wine, drinking wine to relax, and sociability were the strongest determinants; for spending on wine, they were looking for bargains, visiting wine events, and regarding wine as a healthy beverage. Research limitations/implications – The research was limited by being conducted for a specific geographic area, using explorative methodology. Practical implications – The identified determinants are of practical use to wine marketers, who can use them to target potentially profitable consumers. They can also create marketing campaigns focused directly on a specific determinant and thus increase consumption, spending or both. Originality/value – To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to analyze a broad range of lifestyle variables to predict wine consumption and spending on wine.