What does ‘buying local’ mean to wine consumers?

Abstract

This study sought to understand what buying ‘local’ means to Ontario wine consumers and determine how local wine purchase behaviour varies with select demographic and environmental belief factors. Few studies concerning the perception of and reasons for purchasing local wine have been conducted, and none in the context of Ontario wine consumers. An online survey of Ontario wine consumers (N = 521) was carried out and results showed that perceptions of localness differed between food products (‘coming from within a 100 km radius of home’) and wine (‘coming from anyway in North America and Canada’). The most important motivational factors reported for purchasing local wine were directly linked to economic and hedonic factors, specifically; ‘support local vineyards and wineries’, ‘build the local economy’ and ‘taste and flavour’. High frequency purchasers of local wines also bought local foods more often and were more likely to seek information about the origin of their food than were lower frequency purchasers. A pro-ecological worldview is associated with higher purchasing frequency of Ontario wine. These results can assist Ontario wineries with respect to market segmentation and development of campaigns focused on local wine.