An Exploration of Contemporary Marketing Practices in the New Zealand Wine Sector: Evidence from Three Cases Available to Purchase

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether or not transaction marketing is being employed together with various types of relationship marketing. A classification scheme of contemporary marketing practices (Coviello, Brodie and Munro, 1997) is reviewed, and the need to enrich earlier research findings is discussed. A case study methodology for conducting research into the New Zealand wine sector is then considered. The preliminary findings suggest that vineyards increasingly employ a pluralistic approach to marketing combining transaction marketing with relational types of marketing, and that the softer sides of marketing are becoming important, such as social bonding, networks and interactions. The findings also give insights into whether or not vineyards are driven by their product or market.