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The purpose of this research was to investigate Mid-Atlantic USA wine consumers' preferences for front wine label attributes for a lesser-known/unknown local wine variety. The wine consumer base in this part of the USA exceeds that of California. Although the mid-Atlantic is experiencing an increase in the number of wineries, there is a lack of region-specific consumer research that could be the basis for marketing strategies that may differ from those in more established wine regions, such as CA. We recruited 1011 mid-Atlantic consumers who drank wine (at least 1-/month) to view variations of a wine label, differing in wine tag, location description, font types, and images in a choice-based conjoint experiment. A greater percentage of consumers selected the "White Wine" tag and scripted fonts than the other options, with a generalized county text ("Proudly produced in Lehigh County, PA") being selected by more participants than the American Viticultural Area (AVA) ("Lehigh Valley AVA") or state ("Pennsylvania") texts; however, the location text had a lower importance than the wine tag variable. This study implies that a generalized county text that describes a more specific location where the grapes were grown may be more favorable to mid-Atlantic consumers in comparison to AVA or state texts, and that traditional images and generic wine labels are more preferable than wine labels they have not seen before and more contemporary label styles. Wineries in the mid-Atlantic region may want to add generalized county texts to their labels to appeal to the regional audience. As AVAs are used to promote specific wine regions in the USA, and only some consumers choose wines based on these designations, governments and marketing organizations may want to increase education on local AVAs to increase consumer awareness and interest. In addition, consumer differences in variety-seeking behavior and subjective as well as objective wine knowledge, but not attitudes toward locally produced foods, affected wine label choice: Consumers scoring higher in variety-seeking and wine knowledge preferred the specific wine varietal over the generic wine tag; similarly, consumers that indicated familiarity with the wine varietal also preferred the specific wine tag over the generic label. Differences in consumer psychographics appear to modulate front wine label preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intense social nature of wine tourism is widely acknowledged. Yet there is a paucity of research examining the nature of travel groups and, more specifically, the relationship(s) between the motivations that drive them to visit wine tourism destinations. Our study is the first to examine these relationships in combination with motivation-based segmentation. Utilising a sample of 994 respondents drawn from three states in the USA's mid-Atlantic region, and applying the ECHAID classification tree method, a robust segmentation solution is derived. Five segments merit further investigation of which three exhibit response rates of 80% plus and profile lifts of 1.32 or higher. These segments include respondents who: live in a household with at least one other wine drinker and either purchased mid-Atlantic wine and were a super core wine drinker (segment 2), did not purchase mid-Atlantic wine but did buy cases of wine (segment 4), or were single/the only adult in the household who drank wine, purchased mid-Atlantic wine, and were male (segment 6). We conclude that the relationship nature between members of visit groups influences motivation-based segmentation and socio-demographic group interaction effects exist in wine tourism. Practical implications of the findings are discussed and future research directions identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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A mail survey was conducted in 2000 to determine awareness and use of integrated pest management (IPM) practices by nurseries in Pennsylvania. Survey participants were randomly selected from the Pennsylvania Dept. of Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry, list of certified nurseries. Participants answered questions pertaining to awareness of common practices, frequency that IPM practices were employed, and specifics on monitoring and pest management decision-making processes. Responses were analyzed by Cluster Analysis (SPSS Inc., Chicago), which resulted in the formation of three distinct segments. The segments were labeled "IPM Savvy" (nursery managers who were more likely to employ IPM practices); "Part-time IPMers" (nursery managers who employed some IPM strategies and were interested in future adoption of IPM practices); and "Reluctant IPMers" (nursery managers who were least likely to employ IPM strategies). The "Part-time IPMers" and "Reluctant IPMers" segments represent a substantial part of the industry (51%), who continues to have concerns about the cost, efficacy, and implementation of IPM practices into their businesses. Overall, Pennsylvania growers are aware of IPM practices; however, maintaining permanent records of pests identified and pest management strategies employed remain low. Continued education is warranted to enhance pest monitoring skills and record keeping along with demonstrable evidence to the cost effectiveness and marketing benefits that the implementation of IPM practices offer the nursery operators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]