Exploring key service quality dimensions at a winery from an emerging market’s perspective

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Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to uncover the service quality dimensions that influence satisfaction with wineries and future intentions to return among Chinese consumers. With the rapidly growing popularity of wine consumption among Chinese consumers, an increasing number of Chinese consumers are visiting wineries in Western countries. However, while substantial research about wine tourism in Western countries has been published, there is very little research available with respect to wine tourism in China and the Chinese winery visitors who visit them. Design/methodology/approach: A convenience sampling method was selected. Specifically, snowball sampling was used to collect the study’s data due to the limited number of Chinese consumers who drink wine and who have been involved with wine tourism. Research assistants who speak Chinese fluently used snowball sampling to recruit Chinese consumers in Yentai region who had participated in wine tourism in the past and asked them to complete the research survey. The research assistants distributed 200 surveys through a snowball sampling and collected a total of 179 responses. Findings: The study’s results suggest that wine tasting operations, such as a variety of wines at tasting room tastings, and the quality of the wines tasted, along with staff attitudes are critical components that influence Chinese wine tourists’ satisfaction and loyalty. Research limitations/implications: The major contribution of this paper is that it builds on extant wine tourism literature by providing insights into the characteristics of Chinese wine tourists. The paper also illuminates the linkage between winery service quality attributes and Chinese wine tourists’ satisfaction and loyalty. Practical implications: The results of the study provide a useful guide to both academics and winery operators interested in developing a competitive winery service quality strategy for Chinese wine tourists. Originality/value: Given the scarcity of literature linking winery service quality attributes and Chinese wine tourists’ satisfaction and loyalty, this study is one of the few studies to explore this relationship.

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