Lifestyle determinants of wine consumption and spending on wine

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the lifestyle determinants motivating wine consumption and the amount spent on it, as sales and profits depend largely on a sound knowledge of them. Design/methodology/approach Data were gathered by means of a postal paper‐and‐pencil survey sent out to randomly chosen addresses from the telephone book covering the German‐speaking part of Switzerland, resulting in a final sample size of 874. Findings Lifestyle determinants proved successful in explaining a great deal of the variance in the data. For wine consumption, knowledge about wine, drinking wine to relax, and sociability were the strongest determinants; for spending on wine, they were looking for bargains, visiting wine events, and regarding wine as a healthy beverage. Research limitations/implications The research was limited by being conducted for a specific geographic area, using explorative methodology. Practical implications The identified determinants are of practical use to wine marketers, who can use them to target potentially profitable consumers. They can also create marketing campaigns focused directly on a specific determinant and thus increase consumption, spending or both. Originality/value To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to analyze a broad range of lifestyle variables to predict wine consumption and spending on wine.