THE PORTUGUESE ONLINE WINE BUYING CONSUMER: CHARACTERISTICS, MOTIVATIONS AND BEHAVIOUR

«This paper seeks to investigate the main characteristics, buying habits, motivations, influences, and overall satisfaction of Portuguese online consumers of wine, as well as to assess whether this market segment can be considered a niche. The study uses a survey conducted in a Portuguese online wine shop during the last three months of 2009. The questionnaire includes questions about the consumers’ socio-demographic characteristics, motivations, buying habits and factors influencing online buying behaviour. The questionnaires were delivered by e-mail to regular and new customers when a transaction was processed online. Of the 82 questionnaires received, 74 were sufficiently complete to be used in the study. The online wine market can be considered a niche in Portugal. As our empirical work shows, this segment is mainly composed of young, male, well-educated, high-income consumers who buy wine online from home often less than once a month. They are motivated by convenience, a wider selection of wines, availability, and price. As decision factors, they value the origin/brand of the wine, the price, the recommendation of the online shop, and their own experience. A comparative analysis with international online wine consumers found differences based on profile and consumer buying behaviour (patterns and influences).»

J. Freitas Santos
J. Cadima Ribeiro

(resumo de comunicação submetido a Vinho Verde - História, Economia, Sociedade e Património: 2º Congresso Internacional, a decorrer de 9 a 12 Outubro de 2012, em Porto, Marco de Canaveses, Barcelos e Ponte de Lima)