“Green” wine packaging: targeting environmental consumers

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to profile consumers who expressed an intention to pay more for environmentally friendly wine packaging and to elaborate marketing strategies that arise from this consumer profiling. Design/methodology/approach: The population under study was the general adult population of the USA. The sample was randomly selected from a consumer database and provided a link to an anonymous on‐line survey. Reliability and factor analyses were performed to identify whether the measurement items reflected the constructs of attitudes, behavior, values, and intention to pay more. To determine significant differences,t‐tests on each construct were performed, along with stepwise discriminant analysis. Findings: The results indicate that importance of being environmentally friendly, considering environmental issues when making a purchase, and collectivism were all very good predictors of consumers' intention to pay more for green wine packaging. Research limitations/implications: The intention to purchase does not always translate into actual purchase behavior when consumers are confronted with a purchase situation. Practical implications: This paper contributes to the understanding of environmental wine purchase intention by investigating relationships of consumer characteristics to environmental behavior. By segmenting consumers in this manner, it is possible to better understand the importance of environmentally friendly wine packaging, thus aiding wine producers, retailers, and packaging companies in directing their marketing and advertising efforts. Originality/value: This paper examines the significance of personality variables in detail using measurement scales that consider customers' perceptions and intention to purchase.