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Introduction
The wine market of today is characterised by an ever-increasing plethora of brands ([7] Bruwer, 2004). In this crowded marketplace it is therefore becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate a wine product from its competitors. [28] Thode and Maskulka (1998) contend that one of the underexploited business strategies of today is the product's place of origin. However, marketing a country or other place is complex and not well understood ([23] Papadopoulos and Heslop, 2002). In this sense wine is the "ideal" product for study as it is one of only a few products that are (legalistically) presented and marketed in terms of its place of origin. Wine industries around the world have therefore demarcated areas referred to as regions or appellations and derivatives thereof in order to denote this aspect. Furthermore, consumers will pay much higher prices for wines from a well-known region when they are uncertain about the quality ([26] Schamel, 2006). This means per se that regional wine brand image is becoming increasingly important.
There have been a few attempts to define or describe what a regional wine brand image actually is. For example, [36] Vaudor (2002, p. 119) described it as a "rich amalgam of characteristics" including much more than the region's environmental properties. None of these fit the approach adopted in this article to this construct. For some context and to provide the framework required to exposit the findings of this study, the following conceptual definition fits this purpose:
A held perception (or belief) about a bounded wine area space that is usually holistic and multi-dimensional in nature, the elements of which are "glued together" by inter-related winescape elements and/or the people and natural and physical attractions within it ([7] Bruwer, 2004).
The "winescape" in turn encapsulates the interplay of:
- vineyards;
- wineries and other physical structures;
- wines;
- natural landscape and setting;
- people; and
- heritage, town(s) and buildings and their architecture and artefacts within, and more.
[15] Johnson and Bruwer (2003) note that consumers rely on extrinsic cues such as brand name and country of origin when assessing product quality. However, the regions within a country also play a profound role. According to [23] Papadopoulos and Heslop (2002), regions and cities are to a country...