Connected wine packaging in retail: quantifying customer interaction and preferences for wine information
International Journal of Wine Business Research
ISSN: 1751-1062
Article publication date: 23 December 2024
Issue publication date: 27 January 2025
Abstract
Purpose
This research explores wine customer interaction with connected packaging in retail, offering insights for wine producers to enhance customer behavioural engagement strategies. The study aims to understand patterns of customer visual attention and information preferences in the context of connected packaging.
Design/methodology/approach
The research adopts an empirics-first (EF) approach, including a two-study mixed-method research design. EF is particularly suited to exploring emerging customer behaviours in innovative technological contexts. Study One uses Google Analytics and Tag Manager to measure connected packaging users’ visual attention and behavioural engagement. Study Two uses maximum difference scaling to assess user preferences for wine attributes in retail.
Findings
Study One reveals distinct patterns of user behavioural engagement. Highly engaged users exhibit deeper interaction with product, brand and sustainability information, often revisiting content. First-time users focus on top-of-page content before disengaging. Study Two results corroborate the importance of product information (grape variety, wine style and region of origin), with highly involved wine consumers showing greater interest in connected packaging.
Originality/value
This research advances the understanding of connected packaging user interaction and information preferences, an area previously underexplored. It demonstrates the potential of connected packaging for enhancing ongoing customer behavioural engagement and providing additional product information. The study’s innovative EF approach, combining real-world behavioural data with preference analysis, supports and extends existing research on wine attribute preferences while demonstrating the potential of connected packaging as an ongoing value co-creation tool.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Laava (Sydney, NSW, Australia), First Creek Wines (Pokolbin, NSW, Australia), Multi-Colour Corporation Australia (Mile End South, SA, Australia) and Tamburlaine Wines (Pokolbin, NSW, Australia) for their support. This work was supported by the University of Newcastle’s Business School.
Funding: This work was supported by the University of Newcastle 2021 UNIPRS, the 2021 Business and Industry Scholarship, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia and Wine Australia, with levies from Australia’s grapegrowers and winemakers and matching funds from the Australian Government. The opinions expressed in this manuscript are those of the authors and may not necessarily reflect the views or recommendations of the funders, or the authors’ respective affiliations.
Author contributions: Irma Francoise Jacqueline Dupuis Day: conceptualisation, methodology, data curation, formal analysis, writing – original draft, writing – review and editing; Jamie Carlson: supervision, writing – review and editing; Alexander Taylor: supervision, writing – review and editing; Fotini Delgado: writing – review and editing; Lisa Toohey: supervision, funding acquisition, writing – review and editing; Tamara Bucher: supervision, funding acquisition, writing – review and editing.
Citation
Dupuis Day, I.F.J., Carlson, J., Taylor, A., Toohey, L., Delgado, F. and Bucher, T. (2025), "Connected wine packaging in retail: quantifying customer interaction and preferences for wine information", International Journal of Wine Business Research, Vol. 37 No. 1, pp. 179-206. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJWBR-05-2024-0025
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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