Motivations, travel constraints and experiential dimensions of wine tourists' behaviour

The purpose of this PhD thesis is to deepen actual literature on visitors’ perceptions of destination attributes, their travel motivations and travel constraints, as well as their level of perceived authenticity in order to investigate their influence on wine tourist behaviour. The thesis adopts a three paper-based structure and is based on empirical data collected from visitors at ten Sardinian wineries in 2015. The aim of the first paper was to contribute to the current literature about the profile of wine tourists adopting a motivation-based approach. Specifically, it applies a cluster analysis to a sample of 267 wine visitors to classify respondents into sub-groups based on their wine-oriented travel motivations. Furthermore, a series of statistical tests (Chi-square and ANOVA tests) were carried out to explore whether significant differences do exist among subgroups according to their socio-demographics, previous wine tourism experience, their perceptions of wine tourism destination attributes and wine travel-related constraints. Findings of this study reveal that three different typologies of winery travellers visit the Sardinian wine region, with distinct push (i.e. wine-related and general travel motives) and pull motivations (i.e. wine tourism destination attributes) and travel barriers. Specifically, three clusters representing a specialist-generalist continuum were identified, i.e. ‘wine lovers’, ‘wine culture tourists’ and ‘casual wine tourist’. However, no significant differences were found in terms of their socio-demographic aspects. The second paper applies a factor-cluster analysis to profile a convenience sample of 261 wine tourists and to investigate whether visitors’ perceived authenticity (i.e. object-based and existential) can be used as a suitable segmentation variable in wine tourism. Specifically, two clusters were identified, namely ‘enthusiastic’ and ‘indifferent’, as a result of the different scores given to the authenticity-related items. Moreover, a series of Chi-square tests and ANOVA tests were run to analyse whether substantial differences do exist among segments based on their socio-demographics, buying behaviour at wineries, satisfaction and behavioural intentions. Findings reveal that there were no significant differences between clusters in terms of the socio-demographic characteristics and their actual and future willingness to buy Sardinian typical products. In contrast, the findings of the ANOVA tests show that significant differences exist among clusters as the respondents in the ‘enthusiastic’ group were more satisfied with their visit, more likely to repeat it and/or to recommend the wine destination to others through online and offline channels compared to those of the ‘indifferent’ group. The third paper aims to expand the scientific debate on the comparative role that servicescape (i.e. physical environment, facilities, and personnel interaction) and authenticity (i.e. object-based authenticity and existential authenticity) play in wine tourist behaviour, using a convenience sample of 267 winery visitors. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to test the influence of servicescape and perceived authenticity on overall satisfaction and three types of behavioural intentions. Based on our findings, the contributions of this thesis to the current body of academic knowledge and managerial implications are discussed, together with the limitations of the study and suggestions for further research.