The impact of purchase goal on wine purchase decisions

This paper aims to examine the impact of purchasing occasion on product value indicators for a selection of Australian and New Zealand branded wines, as evaluated by consumers. Value indicators were defined as conspicuous or inconspicuous. Conspicuous indicators include corporate advertising, such as the vineyard, region or brand, and are considered the same (or equal) for all recipients. Inconspicuous indicators are less visible and may differ from recipient to recipient, such as referrals. Purchasing occasions are either home (personal and private) or restaurant consumption (personal and public) or as a gift (impersonal and public).

An online survey was used to understand the changing importance of value indicators based on differing purchase goals. The snowball sample was comprised of marketing professionals, who are highly educated and likely to be of prime working age (25-55 years). Initial participants were then asked to forward the email invitation to their networks. The majority of the 298 survey respondents were Australian-born and described themselves as Anglo-Saxon.

Conspicuous indicators, such as advertising, are given more consideration for impersonal consumption experiences such as gifts or to drink in public. Less conspicuous, but more trustworthy, indicators, (personal recommendations), are more important for personal consumption experiences. These results offer insight into the indicators of product value that marketers could emphasise in their marketing mixes to target consumers buying with different purchase goals in mind and seek new markets.

This study was limited in geographical selection, and the methodology comprised an online survey. The nature of the purchase contexts was deliberately kept broad to highlight the overall impact of value indicators.

While there have been some studies centering on wine purchase and consumption in different situations, direct comparisons between contexts are rare. This paper addresses this gap in the literature by comparing consumer behaviour across wine purchase contexts. The value of this paper stems from deepening understanding of the role of context in purchase decision-making and the implications for marketing practitioners and clearly identified opportunities for future research.