New Zealand Winegrowers Attitudes and Behaviours towards Wine Tourism and Sustainable Winegrowing

Abstract

There are significant economic, environmental, social, and marketing issues that exist from the supply-side perspective in response to sustainability. This study examines New Zealand winegrowers in terms of their attitudes and behaviours towards wine tourism and sustainable wine production. A national survey was conducted at the end of 2015, which was the fourth such survey to be undertaken as part of a longitudinal study of wine tourism in New Zealand. This survey drew on issues of wine and biosecurity, climate change, and eco-labelling, as well as wine tourism. These issues were examined within the context of three key drivers of sustainability: the physical aspects of sustainable wine production, the internal drivers within wine businesses for the adoption of sustainable practices, and the external regulatory aspects that govern the adoption of sustainable wine production practices. The findings indicate that there were substantial concerns with the perceived value provided by both wine tourism and sustainable winegrowing practices. These concerns exist at both the firm level and with the governing bodies that are responsible for implementing sustainable winegrowing initiatives. Unless this perception of the value of sustainability within the New Zealand wine industry is altered in the future, it appears that there will continue to be an ongoing issue as to how sustainable winegrowing initiatives are implemented.

Climate change and marketing: Stranded research or a sustainable development?

“…Although social marketing has tended to focus more on behavioural interventions in relation to climate change, commercial marketing has concentrated more on corporate marketing strategies (Božac & Tanković, ), and the commercial and consumer barriers to the adoption of new technologies, labelling or branding as part of adaptation and mitigation measures (Bocken, ; Ekelund & Spendrup, ; Finke, Gilchrist, & Mouzas, ; Fischer et al, ; Johnson, ; Koch, Sørensen, & Wildner, ; Radonjič, ). Sectors in which the role of commercial marketing has been examined include biofuel (Saravanan, Mathimani, Deviram, Rajendran, & Pugazhendhi, ), personal cars (Caperello & Kurani, ; Garland, Huising, & Struben, ; Saleem, Eagle, & Low, ), winegrowing (Baird, Hall, & Castka, ; Vink, Deloire, Bonnardot, & Ewert, ), property and real estate (Aune, ), and travel and tourism (Barr & Prillwitz, ; Cristobal‐Fransi, Daries, Serra‐Cantallops, Ramón‐Cardona, & Zorzano, ; Gössling, Scott, & Hall, ; Hall, ; Hoogendoorn & Fitchett, ; Scott, Steiger, Rutty, Pons, & Johnson, ; Tervo‐Kankare, Hall, & Saarinen, ).…”

Introduction of Renewable Energy in the Spanish Wine Sector

“…In this sense, the image of a sustainable product with a small carbon footprint can be appreciated. The perception of sustainability in other countries has been addressed [31,32], but this work is especially focused on the use of renewable energy. In another direction, there are studies [33] which question whether innovations in wine are well received by consumers, as they can break from the traditional product image associated with wines from the old world.…”

“…Regarding the wine sector, some studies [31,32,34,41] have shown limited adoption of environmental innovations, although with some regional differences. This coincides with the low adoption of renewable energy observed by the present study.…”

Consumers’ Perceptions of Sustainable Wine: An Exploratory Study in France and Italy

“…Spielmann (2017) found diversity in environmental sustainability attitudes and practices in the French wine industry that are causally related to business size and engagement in direct investment in foreign markets. Baird et al (2018) found that New Zealand winegrowers faced significant economic, environmental, social, and marketing challenges from the supply-side perspective in response to sustainability. They indicated substantial concerns with the perceived value provided by sustainable winegrowing practices at both the firm and governing-body levels.…”