If only consumers knew: How sampling impacts wine innovation diffusion in the U.S. foodservice industry

ABSTRACT

A survey (n = 151) explored consumers’ experiences with wine-on-tap, a current trend in the U.S. foodservice industry. Wine consumers’ innovativeness (R² = .49) was explained by wine involvement, opinion leadership, and usage of information sources. Those who recently tried wine-on-tap (n = 43) were significantly more innovative (innovators) than those who never tried it (noninnovators). Furthermore, noninnovators expected to pay significantly less for a glass of wine-on-tap when compared with wine poured from a bottle. Contrary to expectations, the driving force for noninnovative behavior is lack of availability and awareness as opposed to a lack of interest in wine-on-tap.

KEYWORDS:

• Interpersonal communication
• willingness-to-pay
• wine-by-the-glass
• wine-on-tap

Funding

The authors gratefully acknowledge funding support from a grant administered by the Purdue Tourism and Hospitality Research Center on behalf of the Nanshan America Group.

Additional information

Funding

The authors gratefully acknowledge funding support from a grant administered by the Purdue Tourism and Hospitality Research Center on behalf of the Nanshan America Group.