Research Topics: Food And Drink

PUBLIC RELATION OF THE FAST FOOD INDUSTRY – CHINA

Yes _____                               No _____   6. Is there a uniform corporate social responsibility program for all restaurant chains?                         Yes _____                               No _____ 7. Are the different restaurant chains allowed to develop its own corporate social responsibility program?                         Yes _____                               No _____               If yes, does your restaurant apply its own CSR?                         Yes _____                               No _____   8. Is there a corporate social responsibility program exclusively developed for China?                         Yes _____                               No _____     Application of Corporate Social Responsibility   Instructions: Choose your answer from the choices given below.   9. What segment of the population is targeted by the restaurant’s corporate social responsibility in terms of cultural background?             Local Chinese Customers _____                    International Customers _____                                                 Both _____   10. What segments of the population is targeted by the restaurant’s corporate social responsibility in terms of income? Check as many as applicable. Low Income _____                Middle Class _____               High Income _____   11. What segments of the population is targeted by the restaurant’s corporate social responsibility in terms of interest group? Check as many as applicable. Communities _____               Families _____                       Single Individuals _____         12. What segments of the population is targeted by the restaurant’s corporate social responsibility in terms of market?             Everybody _____                  Customers Only _____   Evaluation of the Restaurant’s Corporate Social Responsibility   Instructions: Choose your answer from the options given and/or answer the supporting questions.   13. Do you think that the restaurant’s corporate social responsibilities are effective in meeting the public relations goals of the business?                         Yes _____                               No _____   14. If Yes, what do you think is the corporate social responsibility that mostly accounts for the efficiency? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 15. If No, what recommendations do you have in changing the corporate social responsibility of the restaurant? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________     Appendix 2: Corporate Social Responsibility as Public Relations Practice   Question Answer   Yes No 1. Does the restaurant have a public relations strategy? 10 0 2. Does the restaurant have a corporate social responsibility program 10 0 3. Do these social responsibility programs address the public relations goals of the restaurant?   10   0 4. Are restaurant managers and employees informed of the corporate social responsibility of the restaurant?   10   0 5. Are restaurant managers and employees trained on the achievement of the corporate social responsibilities of the restaurant?   7   3 6. Is there a uniform corporate social responsibility program for all restaurant chains?   10   0 7. Are the different restaurant chains given room to develop its own corporate social responsibility program?   8   2 8. Is there a corporate social responsibility program exclusively developed for China?   0   10     Appendix 3: Application of Corporate Social Responsibility   <div align="center"> Questions on Target Population Segments Answer 9.  Cultural Background             Local Chinese Customers 0           International Customers 0           Both 10 10. Income             Low Income 5          Middle Income 10          High income 5 11. Interest Group            Communities 2          Families 5          Single Individuals 10 12. Market            Everybody 2         Customers Only 8 </div>   Appendix 4: Evaluation of the Restaurants Corporate Social Responsibility   <div align="center"> Question Answer   Yes No 13. Effectiveness of CSR in Meeting PR Goals 8 2 </div>   </div> Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

PUBLIC RELATION OF THE FAST FOOD INDUSTRY – CHINA

Yes _____ No _____ 6. Is there a uniform corporate social responsibility program f...

PUBLIC RELATIONS IN THE FAST FOOD INDUSTRY

Abstract   Fast food businesses of western origin implement public relations in their international operations. This concept is expressed through the corporate social responsibility of the company actualized through activities that develop good relations between the company and the community in which it operates and sells its food products. Among western food companies, corporate social responsibility has been used as a public relations strategy. However, in the case of traditional restaurants, there is a common perception that corporate social responsibility as a public relations strategy is not implemented since these are western concepts. This research seeks to arrive at a study of corporate social responsibility as a public relations strategy by looking at western fast food businesses particularly Pizza Hut and traditional restaurants. The research will focus on the manner that CSR as a PR strategy is practiced by Pizza Hut in China and assess the effectiveness of their specific CSR activities in achieving their marketing objectives while at the same time the research seeks to investigate the existence and manifestation of CSR as a public relations strategy in the case of traditional restaurants.               The research is an explanatory study that seeks to study the existence, manifestation and development of corporate social responsibility as public relations strategy in the food industry in China. The thrust of the research is to analyse and interpret the data gathered. Data will be gathered through the case study research strategy because of the specific focus on Pizza Hut in China by using semi-structured interview, telephone interview and questionnaire. Data requirements for the research cover both primary and secondary data.               Corporate social responsibility, as a public relations strategy, applies to both traditional and fast food businesses by linking the business with the public through community and customer focused activities. Corporate social responsibility practices are integrated into the value system of the business or the family managing the restaurant in cases of personal network-reliant restaurants while these are enshrined in the business plan of the restaurant directed towards mass communications as public relations strategy.               Based on the primary and secondary data, corporate social responsibility as a public relations strategy exist in both traditional and fast food restaurants in China comprising of both domestic and foreign companies. However, CSR is utilized and manifested by traditional and fast food restaurants in different ways. In the case of traditional restaurants, corporate social responsibility is expressed through the development by the family-owned business of personal networks in the community. In the case of fast food restaurants, their corporate social responsibility is based on international standards developed by the mother company to be applied by all its franchises so that the accommodation of community issues depends upon the discretion of the franchises. Results of the study showed that corporate social responsibility is applied by both traditional and fast food restaurants of western origin in China although differing in its manifestations. Reflections on Experiences during the Dissertation Completion Process               The world is full of information on everything within the capacity of humans to conceive. The bulk of knowledge prevents man from discovering everything there is to know so that people only select the information they need and want. It is the field of research the enables people to rediscover and utilize information in order to create meaning. Meaning is derived from research by providing people with information or by confirming or disproving what the person has already learned. Thus, research is the process of learning and unlearning information about every conceivable subject.               Regardless of the underlying purposes for conducting research, these may be classified under learning things or gathering evidence. In the first reason, the purpose is for the personal benefit of the researcher as means of enriching one’s knowledge base. This is important to every individual because it is through ones knowledge base that one is able to communicate with other people regarding a certain topic. If one does not have any knowledge of the topic then the person has nothing to share hindering further interaction. In the case of the second reason, this serves the benefit of people other than the researcher because it clarifies an on going debate or misunderstanding between different parties. Information can also be arranged, presented and shared to other people to enhance knowledge of more people about a subject, which may be helpful in decision-making and other purposes.                     Based on these reflections on the role of research in both academic and social venues, conducting research on corporate social responsibility as a public relations strategy stems from certain expectations of the researcher regarding the dissertation process. Initially, the perception covering the completion of the research is for academic purposes so that the topic should enable the researcher to apply information learned on public relations and corporate social responsibility in order to gain merit as an academic work on the particular course. The first expectation is that the dissertation would reflect the level of learning and understanding that the researcher has gained in studying the particular topic.  However, in the course of the development of the topic and especially during the completion of the research the expectation revolved around the objective purpose of research. The expectation covers a combination of trying to derive evidence from actual cases of the application of theories and concepts in public relations and corporate social responsibility as well as to rediscover information on the subject matter to add to the researcher’s acquired knowledge on the subject. In the end, the dissertation turned out not only as a mere academic requirement but also as the researcher’s contribution to the knowledge on the subject matter.               Based on the expectations that the dissertation completes the researcher’s academic requirements, enables the researcher to test theories in actual settings, and share gathered information to other people, the research process was viewed as a significant means towards these ends.                    One of the most important issues faced by the researcher in commencing the research process is the language for research presentation. Although the researcher has a wide experience with the English language, the researcher remains as an English as a second language (ESL) student. Articulating information through the formal academic English language involved a learning process in itself.               Since the setting of the research is in China, the researcher knew that many local terms have to be accurately translated in English in the same way that some English terms have to be applied in the community setting. In the case of English terms or western concepts, which have to be applied in the Chinese setting, the concept public relations and corporate social responsibility are non- existent in the Chinese business culture. However, this does not mean that these concepts are non-existent. The researcher had to consider the in-depth definition of these concepts in order to determine whether the elements of these concepts exist in actual Chinese business setting. Part of the research is to find evidence of the existence and manifestations of these concepts in the food industry in China although these concepts may be regarded in different terms and utilized in various ways. In the course of the research, it was discovered that the acquisition of corporate social responsibility in traditional restaurants was expressed through their assumed responsibility of compliance with community norms, values and practices.  In the case of Chinese concepts, the term Guanxi was translated as networking connections to capture as much as possible the Chinese perception.               Another important issue relates to the conceptualization of the research problem and the write-up of the research proposal, particularly on the manner of balancing the selection and articulation of the topic so that it offers meaning but at the same time consists of a workable topic. The researcher had a general notion of the research topic that covers corporate social responsibility as a public relations strategy in the case of the food industry in China. Since the research setting is too general rendering it difficult to cover in a limited span of time, the researcher determined fast food business as the focus of the study, particularly Pizza Hut branches in Guangzhou and Shenzhen.               However, focusing only on the corporate social responsibility as a public relations strategy of Pizza Hut in these two Chinese cities belie the equal importance of the community relations of traditional restaurants. Due to the recognition of this important research issue and the contribution that studies on this subject would contribute to the knowledge-pool, the researcher decided to conduct a parallel study. On one side are fast food businesses of western origin established in China and on the other side are traditional restaurants. In relation to the fast food businesses of western origin, the corporate social responsibility of Pizza Hut was considered relative to McDonalds and KFC while with regard to the traditional restaurants, the case of Quanjude was considered to determine the existence and manifestation of the assumption of corporate social responsibility. In this way, the research is able to add more information to the body of knowledge on the subject matter in the context of modern China.               The data gathering aspect serves as an important part of the process because it is through this stage that the researcher is able to determine whether assumptions are validated and whether significant information is obtained. The methods and design of the research have been specified in the proposal so that the researcher is guided in the utilization of these tools.               Since the researcher has limited experience in the use of these tools, many lessons have been learned in the data gathering process. Conducting the interview involves more than just preparing the questions because the researcher has to prepare also for the manner of dealing with the managers during the interview process. Some of the managers were apprehensive about the interview because of the notion that their answers may have a bearing on their position with the company particularly since the questions include their assessment of the corporate social responsibility practiced by the company. For the researcher, building rapport proved difficult because one had to market the research. The managers wanted thorough information about the purpose of the interview and other specific aspects. Apart from this, they were also concerned about their identity.               This was a learning process for the researcher so that in succeeding researches, thorough preparation should be made in relation to developing fiduciary relationship with the research subjects and the application of techniques in earning the trust of the respondents to ease the flow of information.                 In the process of completing the dissertation, the researcher had to go through several revisions and rewrites before achieving a satisfactory write-up. In data presentation, the researcher faced the challenge of classifying primary and secondary information into topics and sub-topics and arranging these to create a flow of information that addresses the research problems.               Since the research process takes a long time to finish and the preliminary chapters of the paper are written ahead of the other chapters, it is important to have continuity between the preliminary chapters and the succeeding chapters after the data has been gathered. The preliminary chapters serve as background for accomplishing the research since the theories contained in these chapters comprise what the study seeks to investigate in actual cases. The topics and sub-topics have been arranged and rearranged several times to achieve a flow of information that meets the objectives set for the study.               Information and conclusions also have to be accurately processed and articulated in the paper in order to effectively share the research results. This involves the exercise of communication skills for the paper to have an academic tone by using appropriate language. The researcher had to be conscious in differentiating conversational and formal English since this would add to the integrity of the dissertation. The contents of the paper have also been written and rewritten to arrive at the best possible way of expressing information, data analysis and conclusions.             Overall, the researcher has learned a lot form the process of completing the dissertation not only in terms of the information obtained but also from going through the process of accomplishing this research. One important lesson learned from the process is to constantly apply the scientific method. This may seem to be a technical and complicated process but if applied, proves useful for any researcher. The scientific method requires the researcher to determine the problem, identify different options for solving the problem, choose the best option, and address the problem. In research, this process implies that the researcher should be organized in terms of ideas and the process itself.                  Apart from being organized, another important lesson is the necessity of being directed and guided by the research objectives so that the research will not stray from its intended purpose. There are a lot of information on corporate social responsibility and public relations available. However, the researcher had to choose only related secondary information to include in the dissertation and to analyze information according to the purpose of the research. The resulting paper comprises a different perspective on available information as contribution to the body of knowledge on the subject matter.                         Completing the dissertation offer several challenges but accomplishing this task also has its own rewards, fulfilment on the part of the researcher for accomplishing the task and adding to the body of knowledge as a research goal.   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

PUBLIC RELATIONS IN THE FAST FOOD INDUSTRY

Abstract Fast food businesses of western origin implement public relations in their international operations. This concept is express...

MARKETING STRATEGY AND CONSUMER PERCEPTION OF ORGANIC WINE IN GREECE

Marketing Strategy and Consumer Perception of Organic Wine in Greece                                 Abstract                  Currently, organic wines in Greece are having a fair share in the market. In 1997 to 1998, the market share of organic wines in Greece was 10% (, 2002). However, even though this is a fair sign of increasing organic wine market in Greece, the problem is that there are special challenges that organic products producer face, not to mention the fact that conventional wines are still more in demand in Europe (, 2000). Marketing strategies in organic wines still lack investigation that is why there is little idea about its status in the Greek market. This paper proposes an investigation on the marketing strategies of organic wine companies in Greece and the perception of Greek wine consumers toward organic wines. The aim of the study is to descriptively present information about the status of organic wines in the market by analyzing if the marketing strategies of companies are aligned with the preferences and perception of consumers toward organic wine.  Both quantitative and qualitative research will used in the investigation. Other details are presented in the paper.                           Table of Contents     1. Introduction ………………………………………………………………………….1   1.1.           Aims and Objectives …………………………………………………..3 1.2.           Significance of the Study ……………………………………………..4 2. Statement of the Problem/Research Questions …………………………………5 3. Hypothesis …………………………………………………………………………..7 4. Literature Review …………………………………………………………………..8 5. Methodology ………………………………………………………………………..12             5.1.      Primary Data Collection ………………………………………………12 6. Results and Discussion ……………………………………………………………13 7. Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………….13 8. Limitations …………………………………………………………………………..14 9. Reflection ……………………………………………………………………………14   References …………………………………………………………………………….15   Appendices …………………………………………………………………………….17                                                     Marketing Strategy and Consumer Perception of Organic Wine in Greece     Introduction   Wine is one of the oldest products of Greece. This can be reflected from the texts of Greek mythologies where it is elaborated how humans and gods happily consume wine. Viniculture and wine production has flourished in the country and still flourishes in accordance with cultural heritage ( 1999). Ancient Greeks knew well the nutritional value of wine as well as its important role to the growth of the local economy ( 2005). For centuries, wine has been the drink of choice of popular and important people in history – not only in Greece, but in other countries as well. Today, wine is one of the highlights of the Greek economy. Greece is known to produce some high-quality wines that people from all over the world can enjoy. However, being known as a producer of some high-quality wine is not enough to become impressive in the global wine industry. Recently, production of wine in Greece has declined, and compared with other European wine producers, the country has the smallest produce (, 2003). This is in contrast with the high wine consumption of Greeks (, 2003). Because of this, the country depends on imports from other wine-producing countries. Marketing of the local Greek wine is even a problem because most consumers in the country are already taking interests on import wines, especially inexpensive imports ( 2003). Another issue that wine industry face is the growing trend of organic wine. People today can be assumed as more ethical when it comes to production of food and beverages. Currently, organic wines in Greece are having a fair share in the market. In 1997 to 1998, the market share of organic wines in Greece was 10% ( 2002). While this is a fair sign of the increasing organic wine market in Greece, the problem is that there are special challenges that organic products producer face, not to mention the fact that conventional wines are still more in demand in Europe (, 2000). Furthermore, consumers of organic wines are highly segmented.  (1993) stated that organic product purchase is a matter of lifestyle choice by environmentally conscious consumers ( 1993). Buyers of such products are known as the most fanatically devoted “green” consumers (, 2002). Basically, there is still a concern of effectively marketing organic wines to the general consumers. For instance, there is still a problem in the labeling of organic wines, with the addition of consumer preference for Chardonnay and Cabernet (, 2000).               This paper proposes an empirical investigation on the marketing strategies of organic wine producers in Greece. As mentioned, marketing organic products is still a challenge for most organic products companies because of the fact that its organic consumers are too little and that most wine consumers still prefer conventional wines. By exploring the marketing strategies of organic wine companies, their approach can be analyzed and new insights will be learned to produce useful recommendations. Investigation on the perception of the consumers regarding organic wine products will also be conducted so that strategies that companies implement can be analyzed and linked with the views of the consumers.   Aims and Objectives               The main aim of the study is to present descriptive information regarding the marketing strategies of companies producing organic wines. Marketing strategies of these companies can be helpful in revealing how effective organic wines are marketed in Greece and how consumers relate to these marketing strategies. This leads to the other aim of the study, which is exploring the views of the consumers toward organic wines. As mentioned, organic products consumers are small in numbers compared with the consumers of traditional products. The challenge for organic wine companies is to create an effective marketing strategy that would not only reach with the organic consumers, but to general consumers as well. Investigating the perception of wine consumers toward organic wine products can help companies re-evaluate their marketing strategies. For this study, consumer perception will be sought to analyze if the marketing strategies of the companies fit well or are effective to those perceptions.               With those aims, the objective of the study is to survey organic wine producer marketing managers as well as a fair sample of wine consumers. The objective is to collect their opinions and perceptions about organic wines. Basically, information about organic wines, marketing strategies of organic wines, and consumer preference on organic wines, will be collected as much as possible – from primary data and secondary data, which will be derived from publication materials such as online journals, books, marketing reports, etc.   Significance of the Study               The study will be significant to organic wine marketers because it will empirically compare the marketing strategies of organic wine producing companies and perception of consumers toward organic wine. Knowing the relationship of the two may open up many interesting facts about organic wine marketing in Greece. Furthermore, the fact that more and more people are becoming health conscious and environment friendly makes improvement for organic wine marketing more relevant. Evaluating consumer perception toward organic wines may give marketers ideas on how their strategies should be patterned with thee general consumers. For instance, findings of the study may be helpful in identifying the labeling preferences of wine consumers, or pricing, or packaging, or anything related with their positive attitude toward organic products. It may also reveal how consumers are knowledgeable with organic products, which will be help companies decide how much information they should share about their organic product in their marketing approach. On the other hand, finding out the current marketing strategies of organic products companies will descriptively reveal their current status. Furthermore, room for improvements might also be identified as well as new issues that deserve further investigation in the future. Overall, this study can be a significant contribution in the field of organic products marketing and consumer perception toward organic products. It is hoped that through this study, new and interesting issues about organic products marketing will be discovered.   Statement of the Problem/Research Questions                 The problem in the study is the effectiveness of marketing strategies of organic wine producing companies in relation with consumer perceptions toward organic wine products.  (2004) stated that the general Greek wine industry is “caught in a marketing vise” (p.50). There is a problem in pricing and branding.  (2004) stated: “Greek wines from international varieties are not lively sellers in retail stores abroad because of relatively high prices” (p.50). In Greece, organic wines can be purchased in organic shops, supermarkets, as well as specialized shops for quality wines (, 2000). However, there is little information on how they are being marketed by companies and how consumers perceive them in terms of the 4Ps of marketing – product, place, price and promotion. Furthermore, it should also be questioned on how they perceive organic wines in terms of quality and difference from conventional wines. Generally, the problem is that we know little regarding such information. This research will descriptively elaborate the current situation of organic wine products in Greece and at the same time evaluate the current marketing strategies of organic wine producing companies and recommend some ways on how those strategies can be improved and aligned with the perception of the consumers toward the product.               Looking at the problem explained above, the researcher formulated the following main research questions:   1.         What are the different marketing strategies that organic products companies utilize to market organic wines in Greece? 2.         What are the perceptions of Greek wine consumers toward Greek organic wines? 3.         Are Greek consumers knowledgeable about the benefits that organic products such as organic wines can give? 4.         Are Greek organic wine companies knowledgeable about the perception of Greek consumers toward organic wines? 5.         Is there a significant relationship between the marketing strategies of organic wine companies and Greek consumer perception toward organic wine? 6.         Are Greek organic wine companies’ marketing strategies effective for the modern Greek wine consumers?               Sub-questions are essential in the development of the study that is to specify the main questions into bits that can be easily researched. The following are the sub-questions in the study:   1.                  How do organic wine companies label their products? 2.                  What are the specific advertisements or promotions that organic wine companies use? 3.                  Compared with conventional wines, is there a specific standard pricing for Greek organic wines? 4.                  What are the special features and benefits of organic wines? 5.                  Do Greek consumers have positive attitude and preference on organic wines? 6.                  What types of people are usually into organic wines?   Hypothesis                 The main idea in this research is to prove a relationship between two variables – marketing strategy of organic wine companies; and perception of wine consumers toward organic wine. With this idea, the study will have four hypotheses:   H1:      Organic wine companies use a variety of marketing strategies related with product, pricing, promotion and place. H2:      Wine consumers still prefer conventional wines from organic wines because of a variety of reasons related to the marketing of the product. H3:      Marketing strategies of organic wine companies are not patterned with the perception of consumers toward organic wine. H4:      Organic wine companies’ marketing strategies for organic wines are not effective for the general Greek wine consumers.     Literature Review               (2005) conducted an investigation regarding the regional trends and national distribution of wines in Greece. The research identified the regions in Greek where quality wine production is prevalent. The researchers mentioned , (, 2005). With the source of data coming from basic surveys of area under vines of years 1989 and 1999 and the intermediate statistical surveys of area under vines for the rest years, the study found that a downward trend effect exists in holdings with area under vines in total country from 1989 to 2003 (, 2005). Furthermore, decreases are also evident to the area under vines and the wine production for the same period. However, an upward trend effect of area under vines was present in region . In general, their study found that in the last five years, there has been an improvement to the cultivated area under vines and to their wine production.  (2005) explained that this is due to implementation of high-level agricultural technology and systematic methods used by most producers, showing that there is a high possibility that organic wines are being given priority.               On the other hand,  (2000) stated that organic agriculture started in Greece in the 1970s – at the time of environmental concern and the desire of Greeks to have more quality living. In the 1990s, big wine firms such as  show their interest and start conversion trials in some of their vineyards (, 2000). From here, outstanding progress in wine making and marketing of products were achieved by organic wine producers both in Greece and towards the Mediterranean Europe ( 2000).  (2000) also mentioned that quality of organic wines meets the high standards in Greece.                (2000) found that Greek organic wine growers rely on traditional Greek wine varieties such as: . Furthermore, French varieties such as: are also used in organic growing. Organic wine growers market currants and raisins, fresh grapes and wines in bottles.  (2000) stated that some of the challenges concerning organic wine growing are soil fertility and plant protection.               According to  (1997) consumer decision making with respect to food is a four-stage process, which are: need recognition, search for information, evaluation of alternatives and choice. The two researchers examined and compared in their study the wine attribute preferences within and between two different Spanish regions, Aragón and Navarra, through of the weighted least squares approach for conjoint analysis. Three attributes have been use in the conjoint design: geographical origin; price; and grape vintage year. Both Navarra and Aragon consumers considered the origin of the wine as the main determinants of their preference. Furthermore, through the comparison of the attribute levels, the study found that consumers from Aragón preferred locally produced and cheaper wines, while consumers from Navarra placed more importance on Rioja and more expensive wines. Basically, they found that two regions may have different behavior toward wine purchase.               Similar with ’ study, (1999) also investigated consumer perceptions about wine and wine attributes, but the location is Greece. They utilize both qualitative and quantitative research. For the qualitative research,  (1999) interviewed 41 consumers and found that for them, wine is considered as “communication” and “warmth”. They also found that most of the respondents prefer the traditional method of wine making, but seem to ignore the origin of the wine. Another significant finding from the qualitative research was that consumers believe wine promotion in Greece is ineffective because they usually consult friends and families when it comes to choosing which wine to drink. On the other hand, (1999) used a questionnaire for the quantitative research. They found that the most characteristic wine attributes expressed by the majority of consumers are “full taste”, clarity, appelation of origin, aroma and attractive label. Secondary attributes are: price, place of purchase and advertisement.    (2002) explored the purchasing motives and profile of the Greek organic consumer. Their country-wide survey shows an alarming result that three consumer groups exist, with the aware non-buyers as the highest: the unaware (18.5 per cent); the aware buyers (8.1 per cent); and the aware non-buyers (73.1 per cent). For the aware buyers, four clusters are identified: the motivated, the price sensitive, the explorers and the “greens”, making our knowledge on the organic buyer clearer and complete.  (2002) concluded that low real awareness, consumers’ contradictory perceptions, lack of any educational/communication activity, low availability and high prices are the major causes of the observed low penetration of the organic products in the Greek market.    (1991) stated that the benefits of wine should be communicated to the consumers through several tangible and intangible processes. The tangible process should appeal to the senses of sight, touch and smell through: quantity of packaging and the materials used; bottle shape; label and information (e.g. variety, region, appellation, vineyard or brand, vine maker’s note, etc). On the other hand, the intangible factors involve: price; outlets where the products are sold; the image of the winery; the personality of the winemaker; the respectability of the agent or distributor; and the communication mix used by the wine company.               (2003) suggested that providers need to consider the adoption of technology by consumers and how this impacts of strategic wine marketing planning.  (2003) reported that the wine-sector is under-utilizing the potential of the Internet as a marketing tool as well as other new technology medium approaches such as: direct and database marketing; telemarketing; email; internet marketing; digital TV; and mobile marketing.   Methodology     The research design to be used is the research process onion (e.g. see Appendix A). The study will be descriptive and will conduct both qualitative and quantitative research. A descriptive research intends to present facts concerning the nature and status of a situation, as it exists at the time of the study ( 1994). It is also concerned with relationships and practices that exist, beliefs and processes that are ongoing, effects that are being felt, or trends that are developing. (, 1970) In addition, such approach tries to describe present conditions, events or systems based on the impressions or reactions of the respondents of the research (, 1994).   Primary Data Collection Methods                 Data will be collected through interview and survey questionnaires. Interviews are to be conducted with organic wine companies. They will be asked about the different marketing strategies they use for organic wines. Interviews will be audio-recorded. On the other hand, surveys will be conducted with wine consumers in several areas in Greece. A 5 point Likert-scaled structured questionnaire will be used for the survey. The Likert Scale will help measure the level of the respondents’ agreement with each available statement (see Appendix B). Results and Discussion               Based on the literature reviewed in this paper, wine marketing in general and consumer perception towards wine purchase are complex issues. Consumers come in many groups and some prefer other brands from the others, while some prefer origins, price and other factors. In the case of organic wines, it seems that the problem would be the knowledge of consumers on such products as well as their strong preference on conventional wines. Basically, there is much to learn about marketing of organic wines and perception of consumers toward it. This study might just as well present findings that are new in the field of wine marketing study.   Conclusion                 The study will investigate the marketing strategies of organic wine companies and the perception of wine customers toward organic wine. The setting will be in Greece, perhaps on one or two areas where winemaking is prevalent. The study will answer questions and prove hypothesis about the relationship between the marketing strategies of organic wine companies and the consumer perception on organic wine. A descriptive qualitative and quantitative research will be utilized in the study. The study will be significant to organic wine marketers because it will empirically compare the marketing strategies of organic wine producing companies and perception of consumers toward organic wine. Literature shows that wine marketing linked with consumer perception is a complex issue that requires deep investigation. Limitations               Perhaps the greatest limitation that the study will have is the number of samples it will cover. Respondents will not be country-wide, but instead will be concentrated in two areas, possibly 5 to 10% from their total population of wine consumers. Another limitation of the study is that there are only few organic winemakers per area in Greece. Thus, such respondents to be interviewed will be limited only to the minimum. In terms of analysis, the study will be analyzed both statistically and interpretatively. Only SPSS and ANOVA will be used for the statistical analysis.   Reflection                 There will be difficulty in obtaining respondents for the study. For instance, there is a difficulty in traveling from one place to another interviewing organic wine producer marketing managers. Thus, if possible, special arrangements will be requested such as online interviews. On the other hand, another difficulty will be pinpointing wine consumers. The plan here is to ask the respondents firsthand if he or she is a regular wine consumer before surveying them. Ethical considerations will be ensured to the respondents. Confidentiality of the respondents answers and identity will be assured. Another concern in this study is the time. Research process will be scheduled and organized thoroughly to avoid conflicts in time and schedule.     References:                                                                   Appendices:     Appendix A: Example of a Research Process Onion       Range                                                            Interpretation             4.50 – 5.00                                                    Strongly Agree             3.50 – 4.00                                                    Agree             2.50 – 3.49                                                    Uncertain             1.50 – 2.49                                                    Disagree                      0.00 – 1.49                                                    Strongly Disagree Appendix B: 5 Point Likert Scale                                                                       Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

MARKETING STRATEGY AND CONSUMER PERCEPTION OF ORGANIC WINE IN GREECE

Marketing Strategy and Consumer Perception of Organic Wine in Greece Abstract Curren...