Copyright statement This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who ...

428 Pages·2016·3.8 MB·English

by  Hanne Kroeger

Copyright statement

This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is
understood to recognise that its copyright rests with its author and that no quotation
from the thesis and no information derived from it may be published without the
author's prior consent.
THE ROLE OF SUSTAINABILITY IN ENHANCING PLACE
PERFORMANCE THROUGH AN IDENTITY-BASED APPROACH TO
PLACE BRANDING
EVIDENCE FROM THE AUSTRALIAN AND GERMAN WINE INDUSTRY

By

HANNE KROGER

A thesis submitted to Plymouth University in partial fulfilment for the
degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Graduate School of Management

JANUARY 2016
Acknowledgements

Writing this thesis has been one of the most intense and equally enjoyable journeys I have
ever been on. Challenging at times, but overall the best experience one could hope for. There
are a number of people I would like to offer my deepest gratitude to.
First of all, I would like to thank Professor Mark Leenders, without whom I would not have had
the chance to come to Plymouth University.
I would like to offer my sincere gratitude to my director of studies, Professor Phil Megicks and
my supervisor, Professor Sheela Agarwal who have guided me with great passion through the
three years of my research. From the start of my studies, I enjoyed tremendous support from
both of you. Your encouraging words, knowledge and availability made the journey truly
enjoyable.
My deepest appreciation goes to Dr. Mohamed Haddoud who shared his incredible wisdom
whenever needed. No question remained unanswered and exchanging ideas was as enjoyable
as discussing methodological issues.
Many thanks go to my family and friends, especially my parents who have always believed in
me and supported me wherever possible. I would not be the person that I am today without
them and will be forever grateful for all the love and support I have experienced. I would like
to extent my warmest appreciation to my fiancé John Knight, who has been there throughout
this journey and somehow knew what to say in every situation. I can truly say that I could not
have done this without you.
Last, but most definitely not least, I would like to offer my greatest gratitude to Plymouth
University for funding my PhD. I will be forever grateful for this opportunity and will do my
best to represent the university as a strong academic.
AUTHOR'S DECLARATION
At no time during the registration for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy has the author been
registered for any other University award without prior agreement of the Graduate Sub-
Committee.
Work submitted for this research degree at the Plymouth University has not formed part of
any other degree either at Plymouth University or at another establishment.
This study was financed with the aid of a studentship form Plymouth University.
Publications
Kroger, H., Megicks, P., Agarwal, S., & Leenders, M.A.A.M. ‘The role of regional identity in
creating visitor loyalty though sustainability’ Journal of Travel Research (ABS4*) (Close to
submission)
Kroger, H., Megicks, P., Agarwal, S., Leenders, M.A.A.M. ‘The moderating role of place identity
in place branding strategies – a structural equation modelling approach’ Tourism Management
(ABS4*) (In progress)

Kroger, H., Megicks, P., Agarwal, S., Leenders, M.A.A.M. ‘The influence of channel strategy in
implementing sustainability practises – a cross cultural comparison’ Journal of World
Business (ABS4*) (In Progress)

Kroger, H., Megicks, P., Agarwal, S., Leenders, M.A.A.M. ‘The relationship between business
performance and the implementation of sustainability practices – does success
matter?’ Journal of Business Ethics (ABS3*) (In Progress)

Kroger, H., Megicks, P., Agarwal, S., Leenders, M.A.A.M. ‘Brand identification as a moderator in
the relationship of eco-branding and performance’ European Journal of Marketing (ABS3*) (In
Progress)

Conferences attended
Kroger, H., Megicks, P., Agarwal, & S., Leenders, M.A.A.M. (2015) ‘The impact of sustainability
in collective place branding strategies and individual place identities on place performance’,
Institute of Place Management, Poznan, May 2015.
Kroger, H., Megicks, P., Agarwal, S., & Leenders, M. (2015) ‘The role of place identity and
sustainability in place branding’, Doctoral Colloquium, Plymouth, June 2015.
Kroger, H., Megicks, P., Agarwal, S., Leenders, M. (2015) ‘Antecedents of place identity – the
role of place attachment and stakeholder involvement’, 3rd World Research Summit for
Tourism and Hospitality, Orlando, USA, December 2015.

Word count of main body of thesis: 87,949
Signed:
Date: 12th June 2016
THE ROLE OF SUSTAINABILITY IN ENHANCING PLACE
PERFORMANCE THROUGH AN IDENTITY-BASED APPROACH TO
PLACE BRANDING
EVIDENCE FROM THE AUSTRALIAN AND GERMAN WINE INDUSTRY
Hanne Kroger
Abstract

Preventing the environmental impacts of economic growth is an important goal in today’s
marketplace. This concern for a sustainable future incentivises marketing based around
sustainability. The food and beverage industry had its fair share of criticism as its production
uses more natural resources than most industries. One industry that has been ahead of other
food processors in adopting environmental practices is the wine industry. The close
relationship between wine and places is undisputable and so strong that people frequently
visit places of wine production in the form of wine tourism contributing significantly to
regional economies. For wine to be associated with sustainability, regional stakeholders would
be required to represent similar values. The branding of places is far more intricate than
branding of products and needs the support of those stakeholders involved. Such support is
often discussed as a shared place identity. Only limited previous research has addressed
whether the communication of sustainability enhances business performance. No research to
date has empirically tested whether a shared stakeholder identity influences the relationship
between sustainability branding and business success.

To close this gap, a sequential mixed methods procedure was specified using quantitative
questionnaires with 420 subjects and 20 qualitative interviews. A model with consequences of
sustainability branding and a shared place identity was established using extant research.
Mostly existing scales were adapted to fit this research context and tested with a structural
modelling approach among Australian and German wineries.
It was found that practicing and communicating sustainability significantly influences
performance on an individual winery and regional destination level. Furthermore, a shared
place identity has been established as a critical success factor in the relationship between
sustainability branding and place performance.

Both theoretical and practical implications can be drawn from this research. The results have
provided empirical evidence on the direct relationship between sustainability and
performance, in addition to the moderating role of a shared place identity. These findings
extend the tourism literature which states that businesses practicing sustainably, enhance
their own performance as well as the overall regional performance. It also extends stakeholder
theory by establishing that a shared place identity strengthens this relationship even further,
highlighting the need for regional management to initiate a shared sense of identification.
Practically, regional managers who are eager to enhance economic performance should be
actively involved in developing relationships between the individual wineries and the regional
management in order to foster a shared place identity. Furthermore, it is of major importance
to establish positive attitudes toward sustainability among winery owners. This can be done by
building the confidence of winery owners by offering infrastructures for learning and support
about sustainability.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. CHAPTER: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1
1.1. Contextual background to the research ....................................................................... 1
1.2. Defining the research problem ..................................................................................... 2
1.3. Aims and objectives ...................................................................................................... 5
1.4. Research approach ........................................................................................................ 7
1.5. Theoretical and practical contribution .......................................................................... 9
1.6. Thesis structure ........................................................................................................... 12
1.7. Summary ..................................................................................................................... 14
2. CHAPTER: PLACE BRANDING ............................................................................................... 15
2.1. Theoretical foundation of place branding .................................................................. 15
2.2. Place identity ............................................................................................................... 19
2.3. An identity-based approach to place branding theory ............................................... 20
2.4. Place attachment ........................................................................................................ 22
2.5. Criticism about place identity in the place branding process ..................................... 24
2.6. Co-creation of the place brand – a stakeholder approach ......................................... 25
2.7. Country-of-Origin branding (COO) .............................................................................. 29
2.8. Place branding in the wine industry............................................................................ 30
2.9. Summary ..................................................................................................................... 34
3. CHAPTER: SUSTAINABILITY IN THE WINE INDUSTRY AND ITS ROLE IN PLACE BRANDING . 36
3.1. Sustainability in the wine industry .................................................................................. 36
3.1.1. The meaning of sustainability ............................................................................. 37
3.1.2. Sustainability place branding in the wine industry ............................................. 42
3.1.3. Individual sustainability place branding .............................................................. 43
3.1.4. Management attitudes and norms towards sustainability ................................. 46
3.1.5. Drivers for sustainability consumption ............................................................... 48
3.1.6. Sustainability and performance .......................................................................... 50
3.1.7. Individual and regional place performance ........................................................ 53
3.1.8. Issues and barriers to branding sustainability in the wine industry ................... 55
3.1.9. Summary ............................................................................................................. 57
3.2. Regional sustainability place branding ........................................................................ 58
3.2.1. Wine tourism ....................................................................................................... 58
3.2.2. Benefits of sustainability place branding ............................................................ 60
3.2.3. Issues and barriers of sustainability place branding ........................................... 65
3.2.4. Overcoming challenges in using sustainability in place branding ....................... 67
3.2.5. Summary ............................................................................................................. 70
3.3. Place identity and sustainability in wine place branding strategies ........................... 71
3.4. Sustainability in old and new wine producing regions ............................................... 74
3.4.1. Wine tourism in old world producing wine regions ............................................ 75
3.4.2. Wine tourism in new world producing wine regions .......................................... 77
3.4.3. Sustainability place branding in new and old world wine regions ...................... 80
3.4.4. Summary ............................................................................................................. 83
3.5. Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 84
3.6. Theoretical framework ................................................................................................ 87
3.6.1. Research questions and hypotheses ................................................................... 90
4. CHAPTER: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ............................................................................... 94
4.1. Philosophical approach ............................................................................................... 94
4.1.1. Research philosophy ........................................................................................... 94
4.1.2. Paradigm of Inquiry ............................................................................................. 96
4.2. Research approach ...................................................................................................... 99
4.3. Research methodology ............................................................................................. 101
4.3.1. Quantitative and qualitative research methodology ........................................ 103
4.4. Research Design ........................................................................................................ 105
4.4.1. Strategy of inquiry ............................................................................................. 107
4.5. Research ethics ......................................................................................................... 108
5. CHAPTER: QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS .............................................................. 111
5.1. Rationale for the use of questionnaires .................................................................... 113
5.2. Questionnaire development ..................................................................................... 114
5.3. Scale selection ........................................................................................................... 115
5.4. Independent variables .............................................................................................. 116
5.5. Dependent variable ................................................................................................... 123
5.6. Control variables ....................................................................................................... 125
5.7. Geographical coverage .............................................................................................. 126
5.8. Back-translation of the questionnaire ...................................................................... 127
5.9. Quantitative sampling and survey population .......................................................... 128
5.10. Quantitative data collection .................................................................................. 129
5.10.1. Administering the questionnaires ..................................................................... 129
5.10.2. Pre-testing and piloting the questionnaire ....................................................... 130
5.10.3. Questionnaire implementation ......................................................................... 132
5.10.4. Sample size ........................................................................................................ 132
5.10.5. Survey limitations .............................................................................................. 133
5.10.6. Quantitative analysis ......................................................................................... 134
6. CHAPTER: QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS ................................................................ 138
6.1. Qualitative mode of data collection .......................................................................... 138
6.2. Semi-structured interviews ....................................................................................... 140
6.3. Qualitative sampling – selecting interviewees.......................................................... 140
6.4. Qualitative data collection – the interview process ................................................. 142
6.5. Qualitative data analysis ........................................................................................... 144
6.6. Interview constraints ................................................................................................ 148
6.7. Summary and conclusion .......................................................................................... 150
7. CHAPTER: QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS ................................................................................. 152
7.1. Descriptive statistics ................................................................................................. 152
7.1.1. Sample characteristics ...................................................................................... 152
7.1.2. Data distribution ............................................................................................... 170
7.1.3. Non-response bias............................................................................................. 170
7.1.4. Missing data ...................................................................................................... 172
7.1.5. Outliers .............................................................................................................. 172
7.2. Common method bias ............................................................................................... 172
7.3. The PLS-SEM Analysis ................................................................................................ 173
7.3.1. Measurement model specifications .................................................................. 176
7.3.2. Assessing results of reflective first-order construct measurement model ....... 181
7.3.3. Assessing results of formative second-order constructs measurement model 188
7.3.4. Evaluation of the structural model ................................................................... 193
7.3.5. Structural model path coefficients (β) .............................................................. 197
7.3.6. Coefficient of Determination (R² Value) ........................................................... 198
7.3.7. Predictive relevance Q² ..................................................................................... 202
7.4. Indirect effect – Moderation test .............................................................................. 203
7.5. Country comparison .................................................................................................. 208
7.6. Hypothesis testing ..................................................................................................... 213
8. CHAPTER: QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS .......................................................................... 216
8.1. Participant characteristics ......................................................................................... 216
8.2. Coding structure ........................................................................................................ 221
8.3. Findings ..................................................................................................................... 224
8.3.1. Sustainability meanings..................................................................................... 224
8.3.2. Sustainability practices ...................................................................................... 226
8.3.3. Sustainability in wine branding strategies ........................................................ 227
8.3.4. Sustainability benefits in wine branding strategies .......................................... 231
8.3.5. Sustainability challenges in wine branding strategies ...................................... 233
8.3.6. Sustainability in regional wine place branding strategies ................................. 237
8.3.7. Sustainability in wine regions’ and wineries’ place identity ............................. 238
8.3.8. Relationship with wine region and influence on performance......................... 239
8.4. Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 242
9. CHAPTER: DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS ................................................................................ 244
9.1. The role of sustainability in wine place branding strategies ..................................... 245
9.1.1. The meaning of sustainability in the context of the wine industry .................. 245
9.1.2. The role of sustainability in the wine industry .................................................. 250
9.1.3. Benefits of sustainability practices to the wine industry .................................. 257
9.1.4. Benefits of sustainability to wine place branding strategies ............................ 259
9.1.5. Sustainability challenges in wine place branding strategies ............................. 262
9.2. The role of place identity in the relationship between sustainability and place
performance.......................................................................................................................... 266
9.2.1. To determine the role of sustainability in wineries’ place identity and in regional
place brands ...................................................................................................................... 267
9.2.2. Direct effect of a shared place identity on place performance ........................ 269
9.2.3. Moderation between sustainability place branding and place performance
through place identity ....................................................................................................... 270
9.3. Differences between the old and new wine world ................................................... 272
9.4. Summary ................................................................................................................... 278
10. CHAPTER: CONCLUSION ................................................................................................ 280
10.1. Main conclusions ................................................................................................... 280
10.2. Theoretical implications ........................................................................................ 283
10.2.1. Contextual theoretical implications .................................................................. 284
10.2.2. Methodological theoretical implications .......................................................... 287
10.3. Practical implications ............................................................................................ 289
10.3.1. Policy makers .................................................................................................... 289
10.3.2. Management implications ................................................................................ 290
10.4. Limitations and future research ............................................................................ 294
BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................................................... 297
APPENDIX .................................................................................................................................. 324
Appendix A: Scale development table .................................................................................. 324
Appendix B: Complete questionnaire ................................................................................... 327