The Website as an Integrated Marketing Tool: An Exploratory Study of French Wine Producers

Abstract

Abstract Structural changes in global wine markets have created new challenges and opportunities for small wine producers. Forced to adopt an innovative marketing approach which offers enhanced consumer experience and value, many producers have implemented a combination of direct distribution, relationship marketing and wine tourism in order to develop a positive brand reputation and to become quality niche leaders. The development of the Internet has provided a unique possibility to combine and integrate these entrepreneurial marketing techniques in a complex value proposition. Using this framework of analysis, the study attempts to identify and discuss the features used in the websites of the French wine producers from the Languedoc-Roussilon region in order to improve the efficiency of combined marketing techniques. Based on the primary data collected through a survey of 102 websites, the paper analyses the online marketing approach adopted by the small French wine producers, and proposes a synthetic model of value co-creation which integrates the complex interaction between the producer and the customer in the online environment.