The Role of the Appellation in Wine Marketing — Does the New Zealand Wine Industry Know What It's Getting?

Abstract

This paper examines the attitudes of the New Zealand wine industry towards the proposed New Zealand ‘Registered Origin’ appellation policy. Existing appellations are reviewed, including the motives for their establishment, their performance, and their relationship with the marketing activities of wine producers. The review concludes that existing appellations could be divided into two groups, the ‘active’ appellations of the Old World, and the ‘passive’ appellations of the New World. Passive appellations make assumptions as to industry behaviour. These assumptions are identified. These assumptions have to be both understood and supported by an industry if they are to adequately support a passive appellation policy. An interview survey of New Zealand wine producers examines the industry's understanding of the proposed passive appellation. The results suggest that the level of understanding is low, at around 25% of those interviewed, which has negative implications for the proposed appellation.

Citation

Hamlin, R.P. and Watson, V. (1997), "The Role of the Appellation in Wine Marketing — Does the New Zealand Wine Industry Know What It's Getting?", International Journal of Wine Marketing, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 52-69. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb008670