The underlying motivations of Chinese wine consumer behaviour

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discover the underlying motivations of Chinese wine consumption. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative focus group interviews were performed on 36 Chinese wine consumers and four focus groups were performed, with participants segmented into groups based on age and gender. Findings The main findings were that Chinese wine consumers are influenced by face and status. These issues may be affecting their wine consumption behaviours, particularly related to anomalous behaviours such as mixing red wine with lemonade and the rationale for the preference of cork‐closed wine bottles. Furthermore, the notion of wine consumption for health‐related purposes was uncovered and a linkage found with traditional Chinese medicine. Originality/value While research has been conducted on Chinese wine consumers, this paper attempts to uncover the underlying motivations for consumption and finds a linkage between wine consumption and traditional Chinese medicine. Furthermore, this paper links the traditions and beliefs of traditional Chinese medicine with a product category other than food or medicine.