Special Issue "Generation Y and wine

Citation

Mueller, S. and Charters, S. (2011), "Special Issue "Generation Y and wine", International Journal of Wine Business Research, Vol. 23 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijwbr.2011.04323baa.001

Special Issue "Generation Y and wine"

Article Type: Guest editorial From: International Journal of Wine Business Research, Volume 23, Issue 2

About the Guest Editors

Simone MuellerSenior Research Fellow at Aarhus School of Business, Denmark and Adjunct Senior Research Associate Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia.

Steve Charters Professor of Champagne Management and Co-ordinator of the Reims Research Centre for Wine-Place-Value, Reims Management School, France and Honorary Senior Research Fellow Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia.

The last decade has seen an increasing series of studies of the consumption behaviour of Generation Y generally (Martin and Tulgan, 2001; Noble et al., 2009; Sheahan, 2005; Wolburg and Pokrywczynski, 2001) and of their wine consumption behaviour in particular (Celhay, 2008; Nowak et al., 2006; Ritchie et al., 2009; Thach and Olsen, 2004, 2006). Depending on the precise definition of when this age cohort begins, Generation Y consumers are now between legal drinking age and their early to mid-30s. As novice or potential wine consumers, they are becoming ever more significant as targets for wine marketers. It therefore seemed timely to us to focus particularly on this group as wine consumers, with the aim of exploring further their engagement with wine and how they may view the drink.

What are Generation Y (also called Millennials or Echo Boomers) like as a group? For a detailed analysis of the current literature, the reader can see the general introductions in the paper in this issue of the journal by Charters et al. (which summarises mainly American and Australasian literature) and Agnoli et al. – which gives an Italian take on the characteristics of the cohort. In summary, previous research suggests that this age group is dynamic, self-assured and broad-minded – but conversely over-confident, excessively demanding respect and overly fixed on their own aims. They are hedonically focused, expecting even the performance of responsibilities to be enjoyable and meaningful; there is a claim that they seek instant gratification. Crucially, they have been brought up in an age where consumption behaviour is seen as a core element of establishing personal identity. Nevertheless, a major caveat to this summary of previous research must be expressed; much of it is based on studies carried out in the USA, and not necessarily transferable to other cultures. We feel that is one of the strengths of this special issue that no paper focuses solely on US consumption, two studies concentrate only on other countries (Italy and New Zealand) and the other three include research in seven further countries across four continents (Australia, South Africa, the UK, Canada, France, Germany and Spain).

Additionally, unlike many other research studies on Generation Y, the papers in this issue generally do not focus primarily on university students; this therefore offers a much deeper analysis of what this generation is like – albeit in studies that are limited to alcohol consumption generally and wine in particular.

The first paper, by Joanna Fountain and Charles Lamb, commences with a longitudinal study, giving a temporal context for this generational cohort. The paper looks at Generation Y and their predecessors, Generation X, in one New Zealand city, comparing how their attitudes to wine and consumption behaviour may vary. This paper suggests that changing environmental and period contexts may result in varying consumption behaviour between cohorts, and that Generation Y consumers are drinking more than Generation X were at a similar age. The study also concludes that behavioural differences between both age cohorts are likely to be considerably smaller than differentials in their attitudes. This is then followed by two papers (Simone Mueller, Hervé Remaud and Yann Chabin and Tiziana de Magistris, Etiénne Groot, Azucena Gracia and Luis Miguel Albisu) which compare the views and behaviour of Generation Y wine consumers in a number of countries. Although they each take different approaches, they both conclude that Generation Y is not a homogeneous cohort, and there are substantial cultural differences. This point is reinforced by Steve Charters, Natalia Velikova, Caroline Ritchie, Joanna Fountain, Liz Thach, Tim H., Dodd Nicola Fish, Frikkie Herbst and Nic Terblanche in a study that specifically explores attitudes to sparkling wine and champagne. These three papers also reveal other useful insights into wine consumption practices, particularly the relationship of wine consumption to personal values (Mueller et al.), the wine choice cues that may be adopted (de Magistris et al.) and the symbolic role of wine (Charters et al.). Finally, Lara Agnoli, Diego Begalli, Roberta Capitello consider the general alcohol consumption behaviour of young Italian drinkers, shedding particular light on the situation in which different types of drinks may be consumed and noting that friends, rather than family, may increasingly be providing the social context for consumption within the home.

In the light of these papers, what can we say about the wine consumption of Generation Y generally? They are the most promiscuous drinkers of alcohol of any generation (Mueller et al. and Agnoli et al.), and they also may tend to favour white and perhaps rosé wines (Mueller et al. and Fountain and Lamb). This wide use of a range of alcoholic drinks reflects perhaps the fact that as novices Generation Y moves from general alcoholic beverages to a more specific focus, particularly on wine, suggested by Charters et al. and Fountain and Lamb. Indeed, Charters et al. suggest that Generation Y is self-aware enough as a cohort to realise that they will change and drink more wine in the future. Generation Y are often open-minded in their approach to drinking – for instance about imported wines (Fountain and Lamb) consumption situation (Charters et al.) and alternative packaging (Mueller et al.) – although there remains a difference between the expectations of those in North American and other Anglophone cultures and those in more traditional European wine cultures (Agnoli et al. and de Magistris et al.), with the later focused on more traditional cues such as region of origin and home-oriented consumption situations. They also see sparkling wine specifically as a distinct drink, with especially significant social implications and – for instance – symbolically functioning as a “women’s drink”.

However, there is one overriding inference that results from the studies. Despite certain superficial similarities between Generation Y cohorts across a range of countries, the most significant conclusion from these papers is that it is very hard to generalise about the wine consumption behaviour of the cohort across a range of countries, and there are distinct cultural and market developmental differences that are much more significant than the age-related similarities. This is most obvious between three broad groups, still growing wine markets in North America and saturated or declining wine markets in Europe (de Magistris et al. and Mueller et al.) and between the USA and other Anglophone cultures (Charters et al.). But differences also seem to operate between individual cultures in those broad groups (Charters et al. and Mueller et al.). Thus, for instance, we can question whether or not environmental issues really are a general specialised concern of Generation Y more than other generations. Based on the cultures that they have studied, Fountain and Lamb and Mueller et al. suggest not – at least in terms of differences with Generation X – and in Germany, they are less concerned about the environmental impact on the wines they consume than Baby Boomers.

Generation Y does not appear to be a homogeneous group across different cultures nor within specific markets (de Magistris et al. and Mueller et al.). Consequently, targeting Generation Y may be a useful part of a segmentation strategy, but must be subordinated to cultural and other demographic and psychographic factors. Marketers need to understand the culture that they are working within before they focus on the generational cohort they are targeting.

Simone Mueller, Steve ChartersGuest Editors