Abstract

Wine tourism can be considered as an effective distribution channel for sustaining direct sales and export markets. Hence, any research deepening our understanding about wine tourists is pivotal for scholars and practitioners. This study was carried out on 261 visitors at Sardinian wineries to investigate whether their perceived authenticity during the visit (i.e. object-based and existential) can be used as a suitable segmentation variable. Further, it seeks to analyse whether segments differ in terms of socio-demographics, purchasing behaviour, satisfaction and behavioural intentions. To achieve these goals, factor-cluster analysis, Chi-square tests and an Anova test were run. Two clusters were identified («enthusiastic» and «indifferent») with no significant differences based on their socio-demographics (gender, age, occupation, level of education and marital status) and on their buying behaviour while at the winery. However, individuals with the highest perceived authenticity expressed higher levels of satisfaction and more positive behavioural intentions. Contributions to the body of knowledge and managerial implications are discussed, and suggestions for further research are given.