(2014). Cooperatives, wine clusters and territorial value: evidence from an Italian case study. Journal of Wine Research: Vol. 25, Clusters, governance and territorial branding in the wine industry, pp. 45-61.

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to identify and discuss the web-marketing behavioural models adopted in the wine industry using as case studies several leading Italian wineries. It aims to propose a new methodology to evaluate the impact of web marketing strategies on online brand visibility and image.Design/methodology/approach– The paper is based on literature review and case study approach. The study uses six leading Italian wineries as case studies, selected by taking into account six strategic profiles: business size, business management, corporate brand reputation, competitive strategy, marketing orientation and marketing budget.Findings– The proposed structured methodology highlights new key elements that could be implemented in a marketing plan. The research results propose a conceptual three-dimension approach that integrates a business's strategic orientation with its digital-marketing strategy and its social media tactics. It also includes specific evaluation criteria to measure the impact on the business's strategic objectives.Research limitations/implications– The applied research approach should be extended to other business typologies and wine-producing countries to allow the generalisation of results. In addition, the monitoring period should be extended to confirm the reliability of results.Originality/value– The applied methodology can be adopted more broadly, and it underlines managerial implications that can be extended to the rest of the Italian wine industry, as well as to the parts of the wine sector that are dominated by the presence of SMEs.

The paper analyses the total amount and the redistribution of public support in a sample survey of 1888 wine farms operating in the Verona region. The impact of public policies has been crossed with the accounting movements subject to Value Added Tax (VAT) in the years 2006-2008. The paper discusses the possibility to modify the actual system in law proposing the use of the VAT clearing mechanism to co-finance wine business structural investments. The first results of the research show that the volume of funding recovered through VAT clearing mechanism are even higher than the amount of public support given to wine companies for promoting structural investments.

Social media have not only changed the way in which organisations and their brands interact with customers, it has also changed the way business gets done. Organisations are now able to reach consumers online and network with them. If these web communications are effectively managed, they become part of customer conversations. Despite that the Italian wine sector is characterized by a structural delay in the adoption of ICT, many managers are now trying to use social media as a low cost tools in their marketing strategies. The aim of this study is to explore the best practices adopted by Italian wineries in increasing wine brand visibility. Six leader wineries have been selected as case studies according to their business size, target market, product typologies and brand value. Wineries are compared in order to evaluate the relationships between wine brands, visibility, and social media strategies. Results show the existence of different development paths within the Italian wine sector. As a consequence comparative studies are required in order both to manage social media relationships and to reach higher levels of brand equity.

In times of crisis people are thinking how to make the best choice to be more profitable. Both the manufacturers and the consumers must choose the best solutions for them and their businesses. Making a choice between organic and conventional methods in times of crisis is even more difficult considering production costs and consumption patterns. What is the composition of production costs for an apple orchard, how they can be divided into homogeneous categories and why to choose green are the questions we have tried to answer in this paper.

The contribution of marketing to enhance typical local products has become essential for wineries and the territorial systems that want to promote their original products. Taking into account the perspective of the "experience economics" proposed by Pine e Gilmore (2000), the paper discuss the role of the Soave Wine Consortium marketing actions in improving the economic values of the local wines. The case study has been carried out via market research interviews with wine and grape producers, the managers of the wine cooperatives, the directors of local bodies and tourist associations who work in the D.O. region of Soave. The results highlight that the Soave Wine Consortium is consider to be a body that works efficiently, promoting the local products and informing the producers of wine legislation. The change in wine Common Market Organisation has made the Consortium anticipate the revolution, helping producers to create a local identity, opening new markets and re-enforce the links between business strategies and territorial marketing communications.

This paper aims to investigate if the legislation will allow the production of energy from winery by-products and how this can contribute to multifunctionality of the wine makers’ income. A medium size winery was selected and an anaerobic digestor process was simulated using the company’s data. The main methods of financial evaluation were studied to create information to see if the project concepts were valid. The results highlight the positive level of earnings that the project will generate due to the high level of methane included in the pressings that could be transformed in energy, the short period needed for obtaining methane and the recent substantial level of government support both in Green Certificates and financing of the initial cost of the investments.

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the level of internet marketing in use and the web marketing strategies models implemented by the Italian Speciality Wineries (ISWs).Design/methodology/approachThe paper surveyed a sample of 272 high quality wineries. The analysis of the existing web sites has been conducted through an adapted 7Cs model. The 7Cs model data analysis has been developed both at a univariate and a multivariate level. The entrepreneur's perception of internet marketing has been analysed through a market research questionnaire.FindingsThe use of internet marketing by the ISWs is at an initial stage. “Show‐case” is the main purpose while functionality is the most important web site characteristic. Five groups of wineries have been identified through cluster analysis. The web marketing approaches implemented revolve around the choice to effect online sales. The web marketing strategies map highlights that the future development of the ISWs web marketing models goes in two different directions. The entrepreneur's perception of quality of the web site is identified in navigability parameters.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to a greater knowledge of the strategic web marketing models utilized by Italian speciality wineries. It also discusses the entrepreneur's perception of internet marketing.

Purpose - This paper aims to investigate the level of internet marketing in use and the web marketing strategies models implemented by the Italian Speciality Wineries (ISWs).Design/methodology/approach - The paper surveyed a sample of 272 high quality wineries. The analysis of the existing web sites has been conducted through an adapted 7Cs model. The 7Cs model data analysis has been developed both at a univariate and a multivariate level. The entrepreneur's perception of internet marketing has been analysed through a market research questionnaire.Findings - The use of internet marketing by the ISWs is at an initial stage. "Show-case" is the main purpose while functionality is the most important web site characteristic. Five groups of wineries have been identified through cluster analysis. The web marketing approaches implemented revolve around the choice to effect online sales. The web marketing strategies map highlights that the future development of the ISWs web marketing models goes in two different directions. The entrepreneur's perception of quality of the web site is identified in navigability parameters.Originality/value - The paper contributes to a greater knowledge of the strategic web marketing models utilized by Italian speciality wineries. It also discusses the entrepreneur's perception of internet marketing.

The intangible factors are becoming more and more relevant in the consumer purchasing processes for premium and top wines. This study try to understand how emotions interact with preferences in the consumer choice process for two Italian denomination of origin wines: Amarone of Valpolicella DOC and Soave DOC. It tests a first-trial tasting method to quantify the weight of intrinsic factors considering consumer preferences. The data were gathered through four focus groups involving 50 people and they were elaborated by the nonlinear principal components analysis, the cluster analysis and the Independent-Samples T Test. Brand reputation proves to be a major intrinsic factor which influences the choice of the consumers in buying Amarone and Soave wines. The greater the knowledge of the consumer the less they are influenced by the brand reputation and viceversa. At the same time consumers are conscious of being influenced by brand marketing.