An Empirical Confirmation of Wine‐Related Lifestyle Segments in the Australian Wine Market

Abstract

The wine industry has been criticised in the past for adopting a mass‐marketing approach but in the current ultra‐competitive wine market the inevitable outcome of a production rather than marketing orientation is almost certain failure. Whereas the Australian domestic wine market is currently experiencing a low growth rate, a precursor to any future growth strategy is a clear understanding of the market. Acceptance of market segmentation as a strategy to target consumers more effectively enhances the focus and differentiation essential to achieve growth in the wine market. Recently a new segmentation approach of lifestyle based on a cognitive deductive perspective that makes lifestyle specific to the area of wine consumption was developed by Bruwer et al. (2001). This process included the development of a wine‐related lifestyle (WRL) measurement research instrument and the identification of five wine‐related lifestyle market segments. In this paper, a study conducted in the Australian wine market on 363 consumers to empirically confirm or disconfirm the previously identified five wine‐related lifestyle segments is reported on. The further theoretically‐driven development and improvement of the WRL research instrument is also described.