Branding your identity online! The importance of the family dimension for Italian family wine businesses’ foreign turnover

Abstract

Purpose of the paper: Drawing on the resource-based view and moving from Devigili et al. 's (2018) framework on wine brand identity, the paper aims at investigating which brand identity dimensions family wine businesses are benefiting from in their foreign sales turnover. In particular, it focuses on the impact of the territorial identification (distinguishing between denomination, locality, region and country) and the governance attributes (looking at family, tradition, innovation and storytelling) on foreign sales turnover.Methodology: A unique database consisting of 120 family wine businesses has been analysed through an OLS regression model. Questionnaires were collected between 2017 and February 2019 through wineries' websites and phone calls.Results: Our results indicate that family wine businesses are hampered by and benefit from the adoption of specific brand identity's sub-dimensions. More precisely, the region of origin (territorial identification) and the use of tradition (governance attribute) have a negative impact on wineries' foreign sales turnover, while only the use of family (governance attribute) has a positive impact.Research limitations: The paper is built on a sample of Tuscan family wine business.Practical implications: The study demonstrates that wineries need to pay attention to their online brand strategies. More precisely, family wine businesses should better emphasise their family dimension, while being careful of the region of origin and tradition sub-dimensions.Originality of the paper: The paper contributes to research on the internationalisation of family businesses and brand management by illustrating the main brand identity dimensions that lead to higher foreign sales turnover.

Reaching for Customer Centricity—Wine Brand Positioning Configurations

“…The research stream on wine brand identity demonstrates high versatility, ranging from interviews to questionnaires to netnographic approaches [62,63]. Some wine brand identity literature relies on standard definitions of brand identity [6], while other authors go on to explore other, wine-specific brand identity variables [64,65]. This research stream has thereby confirmed the importance of places, both as names as well as images, in crafting strong wine brand identity [66,67].…”

The interrelationship of family identities, personalities, and expressions on family winery websites

“…The family brand – namely, the “set of associations identified with a particular family” (Parmentier, 2011, p. 218) – can positively affect customers’ perceptions (Blombäck and Brunninge (2016). This is especially true because family history and heritage create a competitive advantage (Gallucci et al , 2015) and market influence for the family wine business (Faraoni et al , 2020). Family wine businesses build on resources, such as the family name, family-owned real estate, and family heritage to develop their identity (Pucci et al , 2017; Rovelli et al , 2022; Vrontis et al , 2016).…”

“…They are internationally described as ubiquitous (De Massis and Rondi, 2020), impacting entrepreneurial and economic growth (Botero et al , 2018; Maguire et al , 2013). Consequently, South African wineries present a unique and relevant research context (Faraoni et al , 2020).…”

“…Because organisations like family businesses use websites to build and communicate their brand, they determine the identity aspects presented online and the elements included on the website as the senders of the message. The unique research context (Faraoni et al , 2020) and the extent of family ownership in this industry (Vrontis et al , 2016) provide research opportunities into the brand identity elements (Faraoni et al , 2020), their alignment and how these are communicated online.…”

Online branding strategies of family SME wineries: a Hungarian-German comparative study

“…Family businesses are very common in the wine sector, as they possess the tradition of longstanding family companies, as well as unique resources in the form of family name, real estate, heritage and country of origin (Casprini et al, 2020;Faraoni et al, 2020), which are essential elements for building strong brands in the wine industry. However, what are the real values and words used for branding the family SME wineries has still not been documented in the literature.…”