THE MILLENNIAL GENERATION AND WINE PURCHASING BELIEFS IN CASUAL DINING RESTAURANTS by

The primary purposes of this research were to 1) use the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to assess Millennial generation wine consumers attitudes, perceived behavioral controls, and subjective norms related to purchasing wine in casual dining restaurants (CDR), and 2) use Conjoint Analysis (CA) to analyze Millennials ’ preferences for wine information on the restaurant menu. An instrument was designed based on the TPB and CA and was sent online to 216 consumers using the database of a market research firm (e-rewards) (n = 216). Independent variables (attitude, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norms) were analyzed to predict behavioral intentions to purchase wine. Exploratory factor analysis was combined with multiple linear regression to assess intention. Results identified attitudes and subjective norms as being significant in predicting behavioral intention, perceived behavioral controls was partially significant. Millennial’s believe ordering wine with their friends and family in CDR’s will make them feel smart and sophisticated and wine will increase the enjoyment of food. However, they do not believe wine consumption is appropriate in casual dining restaurants; they had strong perceptions that wine is purchased for special occasions an