Understanding Young Chinese Wine Consumers Through Innovation Diffusion Theory

Purpose – This paper aims to examine young Chinese wine consumers’ perceptions of the diffused wine information in China, and explore the factors that may influence their perceptions.

Design – A positivism paradigm was employed to design the research.

Methodology – Quantitative data were collected from a total of 507 young Chinese wine consumers via a self-administered structured questionnaire. Both descriptive and advanced statistics were employed to analyse the collected data.

Approach – Respondents were selected using purposive sampling technique. Deductive approach was used to reason data. Research ethics were observed.

Findings – Six dimensions (complexity, compatibility, relative advantage, observability, religion and ethics, and trialability diffused wine information) emerged via Principal Component Analysis. Young Chinese wine consumers’ perceptions of the diffused wine information were independent of their personal and professional backgrounds. However, consumers with different education levels and religions considered differently the expensiveness of wine to purchase. Their considerations of the expensiveness of wine to purchase were dependent on their awareness of alcoholic friends and family members, age, education levels and gender.

Originality of the research – This study is possibly the first of its kind to employ the diffusion of innovation theory to examine young Chinese wine consumers’ perceptions.