Browsing by Author "Gevers, Claudia"

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    Insights into South African wine consumer behaviour : a mixed methods study
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-04) Gevers, Claudia; Nieuwoudt, Helene; Pentz, Chris D.; Guetterman, Timothy C.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Agrisciences. Dept. of Viticulture and Oenology. Institute for Wine Biotechnology.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: South Africa is not considered a wine drinking nation. Wine is faced by competition, especially from beer and ready-to-drink beverages, for a larger share of the local alcoholic beverage market. Therefore, the wine industry is striving to increase wine consumption by becoming more consumer-oriented. However, published research on the South African wine consumer behavior is limited. During the planning stages of this study, discussions held with members of the South African wine industry confirmed that an understanding of the local wine consumer is lacking. Generation Y (born between 1981 and 1996) was identified as the emerging consumer segment that show potential for increased wine consumption. Therefore, the overall aim of this study was to gain insight into the behavior of South African wine consumers. Considering the complexity of understanding consumer behavior and the lack of studies in a South African wine context, the appeal of an exploratory sequential mixed methods design type was recognized. An initial qualitative phase was used to identify themes that should be investigated in the quantitative follow-up phase, to gain a deeper understanding of the South African wine consumer. In the first, qualitative phase of the research, seven semi-structured interviews were held with South African wine industry role-players. Thematic text analysis of the transcribed interviews was used to identify themes relating to factors that are of importance to Generation Y in making a wine selection. Six themes were identified, namely what is on or around the wine bottle is of importance, the wine’s sensory appeal is of importance, consumers want to connect to the wine personally and/or socially, consumers want to make an informed decision, consumers will look out for something they haven’t seen before, and consumers will consider the consumption and/or purchase situation. Generation Y was said to differ from older, more experienced wine consumers. The second phase of the research involved the design of a quantitative survey by building the qualitative findings into closed-ended questions and choice items for Best-worst Scaling. The survey was tested on Generation Y and their preceding generation, namely Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980). The four most important attributes (among a total of 13 attributes) in making a wine selection were the same for both generations, namely pleasant taste, followed by experienced it before, trust the brand and price. The study made a significant contribution towards validating the use of mixed methods for wine and consumer behavior research. The findings from both the qualitative and quantitative phases helped in gaining a deeper insight into the wine behavior of Generation Y consumers and highlighted generation-based differences.