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The traditional view of the process of value creation suggests that it occurs inside the firm through its activities or resources. However, there are special cases where firms create value using external shared resources, e.g. a territorial brand. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate how the combination of both internal and external resources co-create value in wine regions.

An in-depth case study of nine firms covering different co-creation processes in Champagne, France. The selection of interviews was designed to cover the diversity of firms within the area with different market positioning. Most firms in the region have been selling champagne for more than 50 years, so they have established long-standing relationships with their markets.

While there is only one value, Champagne, firms create many different values based on owners’ perceptions with diverse effects on the process of value co-creation in the territorial brand. Some firms have strategies which could deteriorate the value of shared resource. This threat needs institutional changes with unknown consequences on the territorial brand.

The research only involved one case study with a highly developed territorial brand system. There are multiple wine regions that have considered managing either implicitly or explicitly their shared strategic resources (e.g. a territorial brand). Consequently, the findings may not be applicable to all wine regions but it can provide a “gold standard” for regions and wineries that do not realize the impact that their value creation actions can have on the wine region.

Collective management of shared strategic resources, such as a territorial brand, can be a powerful action to sustain competitive advantage rather than individual actions to develop individual brands. However, it can work only with an institutional organization managing the collective process.

The paper offers lessons from a comprehensive and well-known case study where resource bundles co-create value with a territorial brand.

This paper reports on a project looking at consumer perceptions of terroir in the UK, using cheese as a stimulus for the data collection.

Data collection was based on a consumer survey using a discrete choice experiment which included a number of cues to, and stories about, terroir. Analysis of preferences produced three latent classes with varying attitudes towards terroir cues for cheese. There was also an open-ended question giving rise to a qualitative analysis of respondents understanding of the work “terroir”.

When faced with the terroir cues most used some positively to make their choices. A PDO label and stories about the production region and method and business structure all generally offered positive utility.

Terroir is a widely used term in the marketing of (especially) wine, particularly in Europe, offering a form of authenticity and has been very important in policies to sustain the economies of otherwise declining rural areas. It has been adopted by producers in the English-speaking world but is less widely recognised, by consumers. The significance of this study is that it is the first large-scale survey of British consumer perceptions around a key tool for rural businesses – terroir – and one of the first around a non-wine product, and it explores the stories which resonate most effectively with consumers.

The purpose of this research study is to identify differentiation factors Burgundian wineries use to distinguish their brand, and to determine whether these methods align or conflict with luxury marketing differentiation attributes.

A qualitative methodology of 23 in-depth interviews with various sized wineries, as well as Burgundy market experts, was used. In addition, document analysis of websites and marketing materials was carried out along with a comprehensive review of the luxury marketing literature.

Results show that Burgundian wineries have adopted some, but not all, of the luxury marketing differentiation attributes. Furthermore, there are a series of core tensions in the industry, including disagreement on using luxury marketing strategies. These findings contribute to the theory base in luxury wine marketing by illustrating how general luxury marketing attributes are used for wine brand differentiation.

This research is the first of its kind to investigate luxury marketing differentiation practices of Burgundy wineries. The results are relevant for new wineries in Burgundy, as well as those in different regions of the world who desire to emulate, and perhaps come close to achieving, some of the luxury price points that certain Burgundy wine producers achieve. The information is also useful to assist related industries, such as food and spirits, which struggle in implementing luxury marketing strategies.

Tasting experiments involving willingness to pay (WTP) have grown over the past few years; however, most of them occur in formal wine-tasting conditions, removed from real-world experience. This study aims to conduct experiments on wine appreciation and willingness to pay in both settings, to allow a comparison of how tasters reached conclusions in different situations.

The authors conducted two sets of experiments in Dijon, France, with knowledgeable wine drinkers, in 2014 and in 2016, to explore the relationship between wine ratings, WTP and objective characteristics (appellation, labelling and price). The first was in a formal wine-tasting setting (n = 58), and the second in the social setting of a restaurant (n = 52). The experiments involved deception: the tasters were presented with five wines, but in fact only three wines were involved, two of the wines being presented twice.

The results from the 2014 study showed that even with a group of experienced tasters, objective characteristics overwhelmed subjective assessment (taste, sensory perception) of the wine. Ratings and WTP were driven by the appellation or brand, labelling and price of the wines. The authors replicated the experiment in a social setting in 2016 which, contrary to their expectations, produced very similar results. In neither experiment did the experienced tasters detect the deception.

The social setting was a lunch in a restaurant with a group of students who were graduating together. The tasting was conducted by some of their professors, which may have influenced the results and raises questions about whether the setting was truly ‘social’. The sample size for the experiments was comparatively small and further research, including novice and expert tasters, might contradict these findings, or at least add nuances to them.

The study finds that, contrary to expectations, in the social wine consumption setting of a restaurant meal enjoyed with colleagues, objective wine characteristics over-rode subjective appreciation of the wine.

The aim of this study is to investigate and compare the engagement of Generation Y consumers with champagne and sparkling wine across five Anglophone countries.

A qualitative approach was adopted using focus groups with young consumers, including images and wine tasting as projective stimuli.

There were significant trans‐cultural similarities between consumption behaviour (sparkling wine is a women's drink, and a separate category from still wine, and that they will “grow into” drinking it) but also noticeable differences (responses to images and colours varied substantially, as did attitudes to price and the particular status of champagne).

Research into the behaviour of Generation Y as a cohort needs to take account of cultural as much as generational context. However, as a qualitative study the findings need further quantitative validation.

Marketers cannot view Generation Y as a single group; even within countries marketing strategies may need to be refined depending on where a product is being sold.

No trans‐cultural study on Generation Y has been carried out to date, nor has their engagement with sparkling wine been specifically explored.

In this paper, the authors argue that fine wines can be considered art and as such can be awarded luxury status. The authors discuss the processes of artification, through which such wines are recognized as art (Shapiro and Heinich, 2012), and heritagization, in which the cultural differentiation implicit in the concept of terroir (the various elements of a microclimate that contribute to a wine's specific attributes) connects a wine to its history and provenance. The investigation focuses specifically on fine wines from Bordeaux and Burgundy, which are renowned worldwide for their depth and flavors. What traits are intrinsic to the definition of art, and what social processes culminate in transforming an entity from nonart to art?

It is a conceptual paper that requires blending several viewpoints to present the authors’ own viewpoints.

This study aims to address the above questions and argues that fine wines, as a source of aesthetic pleasure, are themselves an art form.

The implications for producers of fine wines and other artisanal products seeking to elevate brand awareness are discussed.

The findings of this study are of interest to wine scholars as well as wineries. They provide evidence as to how artification occurs.

While there are papers that address the issue of artification and heritagization individually, the authors bring to bear the importance of both concepts on specific wine regions in France: Burgundy and Bordeaux.

The aim of this paper is to consider place as a value proposition, in the context of Resource-Advantage Theory, by analysing the concept of terroir, including its antecedents and consequences.

The authors conceptually analyse the role of place in marketing by contrasting terroir to three other approaches: “in the style of […]”; “made in […]” and Protected Designations of Origin. They explore the impact of terroir on a range of products, offering a series of terroir value propositions.

Versus other place links, terroir offers a more specific Resource-Advantage, operating at environmental, philosophical and commercial levels. It offers a unique form of value to both consumers (e.g. identity, authenticity, cultural rootedness) and producers (e.g. irreproducibility, potential legal protection).

Propositions address the antecedents and consequences of the terroir designation, the impact of consumer engagement, perceived authenticity and the added value offered to other regional goods. Additionally, how terroir may form a barrier to market entry, the relationship it has with the territorial brand, whether it offers greater product longevity and how it can be used as leverage for other related place-based brands and tourism are examined.

This is the first paper to address terroir as a marketing concept and to situate it within other forms of place marketing. It provides a definition, outlines the ways in which terroir creates value and provides a research agenda for future engagement with the concept.

This conceptual paper seeks to examine the issue of whether or not a brand needs to be consistent. Whilst this assumption often seems to be made within the marketing literature, it has not previously been examined.

The paper uses the example of wine to explore the consumer's desire for consistency. The paper is not based on a specific research project, but rather reflects the findings of a number of projects, and of an engagement with commentators on wine over a number of years.

The paper suggests that rather than wine invariably being the same it is necessary for it to offer a regular standard of quality within varying external constraints, and that consumers may actually search out such inconsistency. By extension, it is argued that this is relevant for other goods, such as a foods and fashions, and aesthetic and ludic products.

It may be relevant for managers to build inconsistency into product design in some cases to give consumers the chance of involvement in brand co‐creation.

The paper examines an aspect of brands (consistency) not previously considered, and moves on the current debate about consumer participation in the development of brand meaning.

Purpose: This paper uses performance theory to explore how wine-tourism experiences are orchestrated by wine tour guides to encourage engagement of consumers. It describes how such orchestration is built on material elements such as landscapes, architecture, vineyards, production facilities, and wine tastings.

Design/methodology/approach: A multi-layer ethnographic research on wine-tourism was employed. The interviews, observations, and field notes were analyzed through the lens of performance theory. A constant comparative method was used to identify emergent patterns, and a hermeneutic method was used to interpret the data.

Findings: The paper builds on performance theory and delineates the ways in which guides co-create intense experiences with participants. It portrays how tour guides often adjust their theatrical scripts to consumers’ unique needs through creative variations: surprise treats, activities, and personal stories. When guides take pleasure in tours, participants do as well, resulting in memorable co-created experiences. The tours feature processes such as pitching and relation-building techniques that call upon identity, morality, and materiality scripts, which ultimately build a sense of social obligation among participants toward tour guides and winery staff.

Originality/value: From a theoretical perspective, the paper adds value to the discussion of performance in tourism by suggesting that the service blueprint, architecture, and employee training are only part of the story. This paper shows how consumer engagement and interactions between participants, guides, architecture, and landscapes are essential elements of memorable experiences.

Research limitations: Like other studies, there are limitations to our study as well. Our study only included one-day wine tours. A broader investigation of strategic alliances between tour companies and wineries, and how wine tourists experience and sustain a sense of social obligations to the wineries they visit, will provide further insights into how wine-tourism functions as a co-creative emergent form of consumption involving individuals, products, and processes.