Sustainability as “Value of Cooperatives”—Can (Wine) Cooperatives Use Sustainability as a Driver for a Brand Concept?

Barbara Richter and Jon H. Hanf
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Barbara Richter: Department of Wine and Beverage Business, Hochschule Geisenheim University, 65366 Geisenheim, Germany
Jon H. Hanf: Department of Wine and Beverage Business, Hochschule Geisenheim University, 65366 Geisenheim, Germany

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 22, 1-14

Abstract: Similar to the number of agricultural cooperatives in the European Union, the number of German wine cooperatives is decreasing. The main purpose of the wine cooperatives is to support the member businesses with the highest possible payouts for their grapes. Wine cooperatives can fulfil this purpose by implementing a differentiation strategy. On the one hand, brands can be used for differentiation. On the other hand, cooperatives can use particular values in the communication with customers that correspond to the target group’s values. Based on the definition of the International Co-operative Alliance, cooperatives are a sustainable form of enterprise. Therefore, the question arises whether it is possible to use sustainability as a value that corresponds to cooperatives as a form of enterprise as well as to a strong societal value that gains importance. Which role does social capital play in the context of social sustainability? The aim of this paper is to shed light on the understanding of brands, to show which cooperative-specific characteristics might pose a challenge to cooperatives in terms of brand management and to examine the understanding of the sustainability construct as well as sustainable management practices applied by wine cooperatives to date. Two exploratory, qualitative studies have been conducted.

Keywords: competitive strategy; differentiation; brands; cooperative values; sustainability; social capital; wine cooperatives; Germany (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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