Decision tree analysis of wine consumers’ preferences: evidence from an emerging market

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the interactive and individual influences of socio-demographic and behavioural-cognitive factors on the frequency and quality of wine consumption, as well as importance of the brand and advertising on selection. Design/methodology/approach The survey was prepared on the basis of the selected factors. The research was carried out on a sample of 207 randomly selected respondents. The analysis was done using the classification decision tree. Findings The results show the dominant influence of socio-demographic factors, such as region, place of living (urban-rural areas), family size, age, income and education of consumers as well as behavioural-cognitive factors, such as the price importance, place of purchase and product characteristics, in all analysed target variables. Apart from the similarities with traditional wine markets, the specificities related to an emerging market have also been determined. Research limitations/implications The limitations of this research concern sample size as well as the research conducted over the period of one year. Practical implications The practical objective of this paper is to help wine marketers to develop more effective positioning strategies for a specific emerging market. Originality/value This research combines critical factors based on related studies, including the antecedents and outcome variables, to develop more comprehensive models for better understanding of the wine consumers’ behaviour. In major and traditional wine-making countries, the consumption of wine is fairly predictable. In emerging markets, the commercial strategies are, for the most part, based on certain specificities and are quite interesting for the surveys.