Do we really remember the view? The cellar door schema and its contribution to memorable experiences: Recommendations for cellar door practices

[Display omitted] •Brand attachment is created through genuine human connection not views or buildings.•Cellar door experiences extend beyond the winescape to include customer schema.•Mixed methods approach to experience research - memory work and Bayesian analysis. The importance of enjoyable, memorable cellar door experiences is well-established in the literature. The winescape, which incorporates views, building design, and ambience is recognised as a central motivation for wine tourism and the most repeated content in word-of-mouth communication, a valuable marketing tool. Recent research has prioritised human interaction, which develops a connection as the most important component of the cellar door experience (d’Ament, Nayeem, & Saliba, 2022). The current study expands previous research methodologies, adopting memory work and cellar door surveys in a mixed methods approach to explore the cellar door schema and its influence on cellar door expectations, assessments, purchases, and future positive word-of-mouth communication. A constructivist grounded theory approach was adopted to analyse participant memories. A Bayesian network was produced from 136 cellar door surveys to determine the influence of cellar door schema on purchases and intention to engage in word-of-mouth communication. The results supported recent findings that the human element is the most remembered and valued; it fosters a connection, strengthens brand attachment and creates enduring customers. The winescape, while important for grounding the memory, is less prominent in recollections. Additionally, the results demonstrate the importance of word-of-mouth as a contributor to cellar door schemas. Recommendations are made for cellar door managers and staff who strive to create memorable cellar door experiences for their customers.