{"id":44505,"date":"2017-04-17T16:15:14","date_gmt":"2017-04-17T20:15:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=44505"},"modified":"2019-02-28T13:45:06","modified_gmt":"2019-02-28T18:45:06","slug":"keeping-the-faith-evangelists-are-good-for-the-wine-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2017\/04\/keeping-the-faith-evangelists-are-good-for-the-wine-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"Keeping the faith: \u2018Evangelists\u2019 are good for the wine industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

With sales of local wines steadily rising, and domestic vintages crowding the lists at more and more fine restaurants, Ontario is getting a legitimate rep as a world-class wine destination. But this rising pedigree may be due to more than just quality and value.<\/p>\n

Research out of Brock University\u2019s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI) strongly supports the notion that passionate \u201cevangelists\u201d play an important role in raising awareness and popularity of Ontario wines \u2014 which now control 31 per cent of the LCBO\u2019s wine market share.<\/p>\n

Expanding on their 2016 paper, \u201cEvangelism and the amazing spread of quality reputation of Ontario winemaking<\/a><\/em>,\u201d professors Maxim Voronov and Wesley Helms, from Brock\u2019s Goodman School of Business, helped lead a study examining years of institutional change in Ontario\u2019s wine industry, the steady improvement to the reputation of domestic wines and the development of a critical mass of support for the industry.<\/p>\n

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Maxim Voronov<\/p><\/div>\n

“Domestically, we\u2019ve seen a lot more acceptance and enthusiasm for Ontario wine and internationally, there\u2019s been a great deal more recognition of Ontario wines\u2019 high quality,\u201d said Voronov, who is a fellow of CCOVI.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you measured the acceptance of Ontario wines by the number of restaurants that have VQA wine lists, the number has jumped dramatically since 11 years ago when I first came (to Canada from the United States).\u201d<\/p>\n

Their article, \u201cEmotions Uncorked: Inspiring Evangelism for the Emerging Practice of Cool-Climate Winemaking in Ontario,\u201d <\/em>is published in the April edition of the Academy of Management Journal, and was co-written by Felipe G. Massa, from Loyola University in New Orleans, and Liang Wang, of the University of San Francisco.<\/p>\n

One focus of their research was the ritualistic behaviours that drive people to voluntarily spread the gospel, if you will, about local wines and wineries.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe key seems to be the creation of people who aren\u2019t simply content to buy a bottle of wine and leave it at that,\u201d Voronov explained. \u201cThey are not simply buyers or supporters, they really have this almost religious fervour that is going to drive them to advocate on behalf of Ontario wine, and they use whatever opportunity they can to convert their friends and family members.\u201d<\/p>\n

Preachers in the consumer space are not a new construct. In relentlessly progressive Silicon Valley, tech companies like Apple create actual \u201cevangelist\u201d roles within their organizations, people whose job is to be visible and vocal in imploring the appeal of a product or brand.<\/p>\n

What is less understood, Voronov argues, is how people develop into these passionate ambassadors in the first place \u2013 something they explored in-depth in their study.<\/p>\n

In the wine industry, he says this occurs through three specific rituals:<\/p>\n