Wine consumers in British Columbia, Canada: Towards understanding how Millennials differ from previous generations

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to redirect wine producer marketing strategies in British Columbia (BC) to better market their wine to the next generation of local consumers and compete against foreign imports.

Design/methodology/approach

This study was conducted using representative data collected from BC wine consumers through a survey of 500 participants and subsequent focus groups to better understand and interpret the findings.

Findings

The findings confirm that the growth of wine sales in BC is driven by the Millennial generation. This generation shows some different wine purchasing and consumption behaviours than previous generations. BC wine producers compete against foreign imports by using their direct-to-consumer sales channel (s) and could also use their superior understanding for the next generation of wine consumers to better sell their local wines across multiple channels.

Practical implications

To onboard the next generation of Millennial consumers to BC wines, BC wine producers are advised to use the tasting room environment to learn more about their local consumers and also sell via other channels. Some gaps in consumer needs across generations are identified and BC producers are advised to further target this new consumer and meet the needs of the local Millennials better than the competition.

Originality/value

The study is unique in its location. BC wine producers have often used US research or anecdotal data from their own tasting rooms to inform marketing decisions. The researchers argue that this carries significant risk, especially as the next generation of BC wine consumers displays different purchasing behaviours than those reported in US research.

Citation

Lembke, S. and Cartier, L. (2020), "Wine consumers in British Columbia, Canada: Towards understanding how Millennials differ from previous generations", International Journal of Wine Business Research, Vol. 32 No. 3, pp. 441-455. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJWBR-07-2019-0043