Region of origin as choice factor: wine knowledge and wine tourism involvement influence

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify and examine key areas of the wine consumer's interaction with region of origin, specifically through access to wine information, wine knowledge, the auxiliary relationship with wine tourism involvement and the impact this has on the wine buying decision‐making process. Design/methodology/approach – A conceptual research “model” was developed to set the direction for the development of the research hypotheses and questions. A highly structured questionnaire was administered at a high‐end independent wine retail shop in Sydney, Australia using a convenience sample of 100 randomly selected respondents, all of whom were in the basic wine drinker category or higher. A series of quantitative and qualitative datasets were collected during timeslots spanning 8‐15 minutes per questionnaire. Findings – The results confirm that as wine knowledge increases together with wine involvement, it develops into a greater understanding of a wine's region of origin, impacting positively on the consumer's wine decision‐making process. A consumer's willingness to interact with wine‐related motivations through wine tourism visitation has a profound effect on the importance of a wine's region of origin, therefore attributing to greater recall of wine region in the wine buying decision‐making process. Research limitations/implications – Wine education and access to wine information have a strong relationship with increasing a consumer's awareness of wines' region of origin and offer scope to further investigate the importance of in‐store assistance and cellar door staff interaction with consumers. Although both these aspects are considered positively by a statistically significant percentage of the sample study, a relationship does not coexist with the importance of wine region as an aid or attribute for consumers when purchasing wine. Originality/value – Wine marketing strategies in Australia are beginning to incorporate a complementary product brand relationship with region of origin and the use of regional branding, not only as a point of difference, but as an extension of a wine product's attributes. This study aids in further identifying information regarding regional branding and its relative importance, which could lead to subsequent comprehensive research studies. The research findings may be utilized to provide small‐ to medium‐sized wineries an overview of how they may consider closer interaction between their individual brand and regional branding.