Consumer Desires in the Niagara Wine Industry: A Geodemographic Analysis of Customers at a Niagara Winery

Abstract

The wine tourism industry is a global industry. Here, the focus will be primarily on winery visitors in the Niagara Region. More specifically, I explore what motivates them to visit wineries and what they hope to experience during their visits. Given significant competition, wineries must cater their expectations to attract visitors to their cellar doors. The purpose of this thesis is to determine whether geodemographic factors (type of community, municipality, general location) in combination with the demographic (age, gender, education, income) factors have an impact on what motivates people to visit wineries and what they expect once they arrive. More precisely, this thesis aims to answer the research question: “Do visitor origin and associated demographics make a difference in motivation to visit a winery and visitor experience expectations?” While doing so, I examine the two sub-themes. First, and as noted above, I seek to explore whether there is there a correlation between expectations for winery experiences and residence of trip origin and other demographic characteristics. Second, I ask “What winery features are visitors hoping to experience?” Using the mailing lists of one small, recently rebranded boutique winery in Jordan Station, Ontario I distributed web-based surveys to collect data on October 3 and 20, 2023. The survey was distributed through two mailing lists (the general mailing list and wine club list to 1568 individuals. A total of 133 individuals responded. Following the data collection process, I used qualitative and quantitative data analysis including coding, cross tabulations, Chi-Square tests, and location analysis though ESRI Community Analyst to explore the data. The analysis did not provide conclusive answers that suggests that location and geodemographic characteristics were significant in determining motivations to visit the winery. The results did, however, allow me to reach the conclusion that visitors are attracted to the experience and social aspects of wineries over the wine itself. In sum, the data collected can provide valuable information, both practical and academic contributions, on how to cater experiences to a larger audience.