Kathy Kelley, Ph.D.

Cooperative Extension Educational Focus

As consumer demand shifts and competitive forces intensify, it is essential to inform stakeholders about the strategies they should consider to effectively appeal to customers. The focus of my Extension program is to develop business and marketing educational resources (e.g., presentations, fact sheets, blog entries, and webinars) for wineries, tasting rooms, and other agricultural producers and retailers.  Additional marketing educational programs focus on food trends and specialty crops such as microgreens.  

The Penn State Wine and Grape Extension Team

Together, we inform Pennsylvania wine industry members (e.g., grape growers, winemakers, winery tasting room personnel, wine tourism organizations) about research-based strategies that will enhance their individual businesses and increase the overall presence of the industry in the Mid-Atlantic region.  Our team includes Extension Educators and Specialists from disciplines including agricultural economics, entomology, enology, marketing, plant pathology, and viticulture.  

Wine Marketing Research & Extension Articles

Several articles have been published on Penn State’s Extension's Grape and Wine Production, Business Management and Marketing Website. Articles focus on developing and enhancing cause marketing programs, tasting room sales techniques, interacting with and involving customers, providing an experience, and related. 

Teaching Responsibilities

• HORT/AGMB 455. Retail Horticulture Business Management (3 credits). The nature, operation, and management of retail garden centers, winery tasting rooms, and independent food retailers.  Overview of retail marketing principles and practices as they pertain to horticultural retail businesses.  
• HORT 410W. Issues in Landscape Contracting (3 credits).  This course aims to provide students with a perspective on business management, regulatory, and environmental issues impacting the landscape contracting profession.  

Current Research Focus

I conduct consumer and market research to learn what wine label information appeals to wine consumers, their preferences for bottle sizes and container materials, and what events and tasting room activities likely encourage consumers to visit.  Data are collected from consumers using a variety of survey methods.  Information is then shared with industry members to help them understand consumer attitudes and behaviors.

Refereed Publications Since 2020

• Kelley, K. J&  R. Govindasamy. (2025). Segmenting consumers’ interest in fresh produce delivery: A decision tree approach in the Mid-Atlantic United States. British Food Journal 127(8):2886-2910. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-08-2024-0814
• Wu, H., Hoffman, M., Wang, R., Kelley, K. M., & Adib, M. (2024). Revealing Public Perceptions of Biodiverse vs. Turf Swales: Balancing Enhanced Ecosystem Services with Heightened Concerns. Water 16(20). DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/w16202899
• Kelley, K. M., Hopfer, H., & Centinari, M. (2024). Evaluating white wine consumer interest in Grüner Veltliner, a potential signature varietal for Pennsylvania. International Journal of Wine Business Research, 36(6), 301–328. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1108/IJWBR-04-2023-0020
• Govindasamy, R., Ayeni, A., Kelley, K. M., Simon, J., Sciarappa, W., van Vranken, R., Nitzsche, P., Schilling, B., Komar, S., Arumugam, S. (2022). Ethnic crop consumption and marketing in the Eastern United States: Trends and prospects. Mediterranean Agricultural Sciences, 35(3), 155-165.
• Kelley, K. M., Todd, M., Hopfer, H., Centinari, M. (2021). Identifying wine consumers interested in environmentally sustainable production practices. International Journal of Wine Business Research. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJWBR-01-2021-0003
• Todd, M.J., Kelley, K.M., and Hopfer, H. (2021). USA Mid-Atlantic consumer preferences for front label attributes for local wine. Beverages 7(22):1-16. https://doi.org/10.3390/beverages7020022