Fourth International Conference on Tourism and Leisure Studies

Abstract

While wine tourism has received ample attention globally including in the United States, and especially in states where climatic conditions enable the growing of Vitis Vinifera varieties, e.g., California., Washington, and Oregon, little attention has been paid to how regional reputation affects wine tourism or how wine tourism affects regional reputation and how this, in turn, impacts consumer preferences, willingness to pay, and purchasing behavior. This becomes even more important in the lesser-known wine regions and/or those where non-traditional grape species may be used, such as New York, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Florida. This study follows a quantitative method approach to achieve the objectives of the study. Cross-sectional survey design is used to collect data from a large sample of US residents. A structured survey was developed on Qualtrics and applied on Amazon MTurk. Seven-point Likert-type scales were used to measure the components of wine region brand equity, namely Familiarity, Image, Quality, Value, and Loyalty. Results will be shared at the conference.