Succeeding in the Chinese market of wine: a plan for Italian wineries

Abstrakt

Since initiating market reforms in 1978, China has shifted from a centrally planned to a market based economy and experienced rapid economic and social development. With a population of 1.3 billion, China recently became the second largest economy and is increasingly playing an important and influential role in the global economy (Worldbank, 2014). It is acknowledged that, alcoholic beverages have always been seen in China as health beverages and specifically certain kinds of wine are an essential ingredient of Chinese medicine. As in Western countries, wine is believed to reduce the risk of cancer and cardiovascular diseases (Eijkhoff, 2000). This project aims to analyze the barriers faced by Italian companies willing to export wine to China and finding solutions to these issues. The first section presents the methodology involved in the study namely, qualitative primary data collected during two interviews conducted in Italy and qualitative secondary data gathered from relevant interviews conducted for Wine Business International for instance. Occasionally, the use of quantitative secondary surveys is involved to integrate the research. The methods segment, briefly, presents as well, the two case studies that serve as an example along with justifications and limitations. The second section illustrates the theoretical framework used for the subsequent analysis of data, and the past literature regarding the topic. Afterwards, the third part analyzes data, based on microenvironment, mesoenvironment and macro environment surrounding companies, giving a strategic marketing management focus to this work. Companies commonly conduct this process, known as environmental screening, as it aids monitoring events in the immediate environments (Gimbert, 2011). The discussion explains the consequences of the previous findings and paths the way for the recommendations aiming to provide resolutions. Finally, the conclusion summarizes the project and the answer to the research question (RQ) beyond a few predictions on the future of wine export in China and possible future studies based on a few limitations of this thesis.