Consumer engagement with sustainable wine: An application of the Transtheoretical Model

Abstract

Sustainable wine is an important emergent wine category for which there is limited research on levels of consumer engagement and the multifaceted drivers of that engagement. Here, I extend prior research largely limited to organic wine, and apply the Transtheoretical Model of Behavioural Change (TTM) for the first time to determine consumer engagement around eight sustainable wine behaviours, and the role of purchase motivators, wine involvement and demographic factors in predicting those behaviours. The online survey of 727 Canadian wine consumers determined the action stage for each sustainable wine behaviour (precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, or action), and multinomial logistic regressions assessed the drivers of both action and inaction (precontemplation). Results show that most consumers are in a change stage with respect to sustainable wine behaviours (i.e., contemplation or preparation), suggesting the need for both education and sustainable certification initiatives. Generally, neither gender, income, province of residence, education nor the importance of price in wine purchase decisions associated with action stage for behaviours. In contrast, wine involvement and the importance of sustainability cues in wine purchase were the strongest and most consistent predictors of both action and inaction, while age and the importance of both taste expectation and perceived quality were predictive for some behaviours. I conclude that TTM is a very useful construct for assessing the nuances of consumer behaviour toward sustainable products, and the findings provide guidance for stakeholders interested in promoting greater sustainability in the wine industry through influencing consumer choice behaviour.

Keywords: Behaviour change; Sustainability; Taste; Transtheoretical Model; Wine; Wine involvement.