1. EXPLORING THE INFLUENCE OF REGIONAL BRAND EQUITY IN AN EMERGING WINE SECTOR
Dr. Bonnie Canziani
UNC Greensboro
AAWE
PADOVA 2017

2. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY EXPLORE:
consumer-perceived regional brand equity in the context of an emerging wine region
respondent intentions towards NC wine and winery visits
influence of factors such as wine knowledge, as well as product/experience motives

3. rationale
Support the economic development of the NC wine industry (10 wineries in 2000; close to 200 in 2017)
Economic impact over $1.71 billion and supports approximately 8000 jobs
Understand factors that influence regional reputation of new wine region
Leverage the natural affinity between wine products and winery experiences

4. THEORETICAL BASES
Consumer-based brand equity – opinions and evaluations
Wine tourism – direct sales and visit motives
Place branding – geographical region, origin, buying local
Product knowledge – subjective knowledge measures
Outcomes-- intentions to buy NC wine or visit NC wineries

5. Theoretical relationships

6. method
23 NC wineries provide setting for winery intercept study (117 in sampling frame provided by the state)
Stratified across winery location, size in terms of annual case production, grape variety, American Viticulture Area (AVA), and types of on-site tourist services
658 usable surveys employed in the study (collected completed surveys/sample of 832 visitors represented an 81% response rate of visitors approached)

7. Demographic characteristics
N = 658
Gender
Male
33%
Female
67%
Education
High school or below 7%
Some college or 2-year college degree
29%
4-year college degree or higher
64%
Annual household income (USD $)
Below $25,000 5%
$25, 000 to$49,000
20%
$50,000 plus
75%
State of origin
In-state
74%
Out-of-state
26%
Mean age
45.6/13.5

8. Validity and reliability
AVE
Composite
Reliability
Cronbach’s
Alpha
Regional
Wine Knowledge
0.842
0.941
Regional Brand Equity
0.683
0.896
Experience Motives
0.554
0.831
0.834
Product Motives
0.714
0.833
Intentions for
Regional Wine
0.670
0.858
0.854

9. Notes: Critical t-values. **2.58 (P < 0.01).
Hypotheses
Beta
T Value
Decision H1
Regional Affiliation → Regional Wine Knowledge
0.195
4.544**
Supported H2
Regional Affiliation → Regional Brand Equity
0.060
1.805
Not supported H3
Regional Wine Knowledge → Regional Brand Equity
0.361
9.785** H4
Regional Brand Equity → Experience Motives
0.321
6.294** H5
Regional Brand Equity → Product Motives
0.517
11.531** H6
Experience Motives → Intentions for Regional Wine
0.022
0.416 H7
Product Motives → Intentions for Regional Wine
0.631
12.221**
Notes: Critical t-values. **2.58 (P < 0.01).

11. Conclusions
As regional brand equity increases, so do purchase and experience motives for visiting wineries and indirectly, intentions to buy NC wine and visit NC wineries
Product motives are still the greater draw, which is consistent with the literature in wine tourism, thus the role of experiences must be carefully analyzed against the operational costs of adding them to the market mix
Wine knowledge as measured was limited to NC wine; it may be beneficial to examine how general wine expertise and ‘buy local’ attitude influence brand equity of new wine markets