Unveiling the Influence of the Consumer Wine Appreciation Dimension on Purchasing Behavior

Abstract

Probably the most challenging task for marketers is to understand why consumers buy what they buy and avoid other purchases. To understand consumers’ predictions, judgments, and choice outcomes, researchers must first determine which inputs are required and what determines the weight of those inputs in the decision-making process (Lynch Jr. & Zauberman, 2007). The concept of perceived value has been studied by many scholars in the past and is still receiving extensive research interest at present (Sanchez-Fernandez & Iniesta-Bonillo, 2007). Some have suggested that the perceived value was just a trade-off between ‘give’ and ‘get’ (Zeithaml, 1988, Tellis & Gaeth, 1990), whereas others considered this view as too narrow to explain the complexities of consumer purchasing decisions (Sheth, Newman, & Gross, 1991; Babin et al., 1994; Woodruff & Gardial, 1996; Lapierre, 2000; Parasuraman & Grewal, 2000). Our paper takes the multi-dimensional approach to the perceived value concept, which describes the more complex perspective of what a consumer may think of how others perceive the product, whether the product reminds the person of a memory or whether the product is considered unique. This study extends Sheth, Newman, and Gross’ (1991) model of perceived consumption values by also integrating the unique consumption situations by the level of formalization. A sample of 202 consumers participated in the survey study. The age range of the participants was between 20 and 75, and there were 83 male respondents and 119 female respondents, which represents 41.1% and 58.9% of our total sample, respectively. In line with Anderson and Gerbing (1988), we estimated both the measurement model and the structural model using AMOS 6.0, and found that both models had surpassed all the goodness-of-fit thresholds. The results and findings of this research help determine precisely the intricate relationships between consumption values, consumption situations, and purchasing decisions, thus allowing marketers to better position the products and communicate the right message through the products. Essentially, our findings show that consumption values and consumption situations determine how consumers decide on a certain purchase simultaneously. Being knowledgeable on how consumers perceive value and how their perception is affected by different context cues will help marketers to effectively communicate and position their products. By understanding the importance of consumption values and how they could lead to potential sales would be very beneficial for marketers so that they can easily achieve their goal; serving the consumers in the best way and making profit for the firm. Additionally, it is very important for companies to deliver the intended message and help consumers perceive the value of the product easily so that their willingness to pay and purchase quantity increase.