Is Mianzi the only Face of Chinese Consumers of Wine? A Typology of Chinese Consumers of Imported Wine

This paper describes a cluster analysis, using the K-means method, conducted on a quota sample of 1,260 Chinese consumers of imported wine interviewed via an online questionnaire . Agreement is broad that the Chinese market has great potential for many products, including wine . With its huge population of 1 .37 billion and its growing middle class, China is very attractive for winemakers, particularly the European wineries hoping to compensate for the decrease in domestic wine consumption by exporting to China . However, consumers of a product category are rarely homogeneous and market segmentation is needed to adapt the product appropriately to consumer groups presenting similar needs and wants . Studies on the segmentation of the Chinese wine market are nevertheless scarce in the academic literature . This paper aims to address that lack . The analysis described identified six clusters (indifferent occasionals, wine lovers, relaxed amateurs, social networkers, stay-at-home connoisseurs and infrequent money-minded) and provides winemakers with greater detail on the various profiles of Chinese consumers of imported wine . This should help them to make their offerings more suitable to their targeted segments .