Lifestyle entrepreneurs in winemaking

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate non-pecuniary motivations and benefits of involvement in the wine business. Combining these motives with winery owners’ characteristics, attitudes and implemented strategies, the aim is to identify different winery owners’ styles in small-medium family-run firms.Design/methodology/approachThe applied method is a qualitative explorative study involving in-depth interviews with Tuscan winery owners. They have hands-on involvement in the winemaking process, own a family business and supervise all of the production phases, from grape growing to bottling.FindingsThe study highlights the key role of non-economic motivations for winery owners. Passion, independence and a desire to live close to nature are predominant compared to pecuniary motivations, such as profit maximization. Therefore, the “lifestyle-oriented” style, characterized especially by the achievement of non-pecuniary benefits, represents the prevailing style amongst the interviewed winery owners, in contrast to the “business-oriented” style, which features typical producers described by mainstream economic theory.Originality/valueThe findings of this study are pivotal because they can facilitate a better understanding of how family-run wineries make decisions related to, e.g. firm size, staff management, product quality, exports and sustainability.