NoLo wine adoption in Spain: consumer motivations and segmentation in a traditional wine market

Purpose This paper examines consumers' predisposition towards NoLo (non-alcoholic and low-alcohol) wine consumption and identifies consumer segments in Spain, a mature wine-producing market. Drawing on health behaviour and innovation adoption frameworks, the study explores whether NoLo-related motivations form a unidimensional or multidimensional construct, and which consumer typologies emerge from motivational and behavioural profiles. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected via a self-administered online questionnaire on a specialised wine-sector platform, yielding 688 valid responses. Five ordinal variables related to consumption behaviour and motivations, alongside three sociodemographic variables, were analysed. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) assessed factor adequacy, followed by Principal Component Analysis (PCA) for dimensionality reduction. Consumer segmentation employed hierarchical clustering (Ward's method) and K-means clustering, validated through silhouette and fuzzy clustering analyses; group differences were examined using ANOVA and Kruskal–Wallis tests. Findings Results indicate that predisposition towards NoLo wine consumption is primarily associated with health-related motivations, prior consumption of non-alcoholic beverages and alcohol-reduction concerns. Two components were identified, explaining 61.7% of total variance, and cluster analysis revealed three consumer segments: social/trendy consumers, characterised by trend orientation and price sensitivity; traditional consumers, showing higher alcohol consumption and low acceptance of NoLo alternatives; and health-driven consumers, displaying strong health motivations and greater openness to NoLo alternatives. Originality/value This study contributes contextual and configurational insight into an emerging category within a mature wine market, applying established techniques (EFA, PCA and cluster-based segmentation). It clarifies the NoLo motivational construct, provides theoretically grounded consumer typologies, and offers practical implications for industry stakeholders, policymakers and future research.