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The aim of the chapter is to highlight the limits and opportunities linked to the use of tools such as interactive marketing and communication in small creative businesses comprising Italian jewellery districts to achieve greater competitiveness of local systems on global markets.

From secondary data and the analysis of district websites, the specificity of Italian jewellery districts is analysed in terms of relational and learning differences. Starting from a circumscribed (isolated), experience of hands-on learning, it is suggested that systemic progress can be made within a collective local system of learning (i.e. a virtuous and widespread knowledge of the district system) by virtue of internet-based technologies (IBT). In this respect, the chapter evidences how the productive and creative specificity of Italian jewellery district systems can gain impetus, in terms of greater competitiveness, from the use of IBT.

The authors analyse narratives of Chinese consumers of Vintage Costume Jewellery to show how value is attributed to vintage items, often in direct contrast to contemporary luxury goods. Examining a range of factors in this process, including uniqueness, scarcity, historical specificity, social meaning and cultural legitimacy, authenticity is shown to be central to the positioning of jewellery and those who collect, trade and appreciate it as tasteful and discerning consumers.

This paper proposes a holistic, resource-based strategy framework for design-oriented industries consisting mainly of small firms. It consists of three main concepts: (1) sources of competitive advantage, especially core competencies, (2) competitive advantage, and (3) competitive strategy. The idea behind the framework is that sources of competitive advantage form the competitive advantages of firms, and these together influence the choice of competitive strategies. The proposed framework was developed on the basis of interview results from the jewellery industry in Finland. A total of 44 small firms each employing less than 25 people were interviewed. Respondents felt that the two most important core competencies were in the area of manufacturing. They were the abilities to design and manufacture products of high technical quality and to offer a broad range of products and attractive models. For the jewellery industry, competitive advantage was largely achieved through various aspects of design. The competitive strategy type most employed was the differentiation-based strategy. The proposed framework should be of value in integrating some of the diverse research in this area and suggesting specific relationships that might be the focus of future empirical studies.

In 2013, Chinese president Xi Jinping proposed the concept of “One Belt and One Road” economic cooperation. “The Belt and Road Initiative (B&R)” is the short of “The Silk Road Economic Belt” and the “21st-century Maritime Silk Road,” which has got a series of remarkable achievements and worldwide attentions in past five years such as Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, China–Pakistan Economic Corridor, B&R Forum for International Cooperation, etc. Especially, cross-border EC has greatly strengthened the trade links between countries along the way, which is a rare chance for Chinese Export-oriented Cross-border EC’s rapid growth. Thus, the authors take DHgate.com as a typical example to do a big data analysis. This chapter analyzes vast data from 2013 to 2017 about seven kinds of commodities including Fashion accessories, Jewelry, Sports & Outdoors, Security & Surveillances, Car accessories, Watches, and Hair & Styling by using data mining related software and algorithms. The authors do some monthly sale charts and find a few counter-intuitive but useful conclusions such as by taking association analysis, the study shows that sports products and jewelry products have strong association rules. In addition, for potential products (such as Fashion accessories and Jewelry), although their sales have a certain shock, the overall selling line keep rising. It is possible to put forward some practical suggestions for Chinese Export-oriented Cross-border EC that actively respond to the One Belt One Road Initiative based on these analysis results.

Several brands are striving in their endeavors to find new ways to improve their consumer engagement through social media. They are using different tools including influencer marketing through social networking sites (SNSs). Therefore, this chapter addresses a gap in the academic literature as it distinguishes between two types of online influencers. The researchers investigate the effects of celebrity endorsers’ and of micro influencers’ posts on a brand’s page on Instagram. They examine the number of followers, clicks, comments and likes that are generated following their influencer marketing. The results suggest that both influencers have generated varying levels and types of interactions. In sum, this exploratory study revealed that the chosen celebrity’s posts attracted more followers to the brand’s Instagram page, when compared to the micro influencer’s publications. However, the latter has garnered more clicks, comments and likes, thereby increasing the consumer-brand engagement through social media. In conclusion, this contribution identifies future research avenues relating to influencer marketing.

In this paper, we aim to understand why consumers often prefer products made using traditional practices even when products made using new practices are not of lower quality. We argue that this resistance, which we call “production process conservatism,” is heightened when the product is used in the performance of a social ritual.

We develop this argument in the context of diamond jewelry, as consumers have generally been resistant to diamonds that are produced in laboratories, i.e., lab-created diamonds. Hypotheses were tested using experiments conducted with an online sample (Experiment 1) and with an MBA student sample (Experiment 2).

In Experiment 1, we find that married female respondents significantly prefer mined diamonds to lab-created diamonds when they are used as part of an engagement gift as opposed to a more routine gift. In Experiment 2, we find the same effect among women; in addition, the perceived risk associated with the ritual is found to mediate this production process conservatism.

This paper contributes to the understanding of a macrosocial phenomenon – acceptance of an innovation – by examining microinteractive processes in groups.

This paper develops an original theory that when individuals deviate from traditional aspects of rituals, they risk signaling a lack of commitment or cultural competence to the group even when such aspects are not explicitly stated.

This chapter examines the selling practices of street vendors at a popular weekend market in Washington, DC. I discuss the role of social and moral norms in vendors' behavior toward one another, customers, and their work. Vendor success in this marketplace over the long term is influenced not only by their products and sales skills, but also by their understanding and acceptance of an ethical framework partly shaped by stories they tell about each other. As such, this study illustrates the embedded nature of sellers in marketplaces, as opposed to theoretical notions of how abstract individuals are supposed to act in a decontextualized “market.” Furthermore, stories that arise from encounters between vendors and customers add value to the products people buy. Objects in this marketplace, then, gain value not only through the interaction of supply and demand, but also through buyer and seller interaction, which provides a narrative base for future communication.

Klaus Reichardt grew up in Germany and moved to the United States in 1978 to study. He attended Pepperdine University in California, where he received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Business and Management. After completing his academic career, Reichardt was interested in working for himself, and therefore, he imported a line of fashion jewelry from Germany to sell in the United States. This was an attractive venture, because the product was of high quality and the U.S. dollar was low, and therefore, it could be purchased inexpensively. He set up a network of about 25 representatives across the country to help him sell the product to department stores as well as small boutiques. Reichardt sold the jewelry for five years. However, in the late 1980s, the value of the dollar fell and the product he was purchasing became very expensive. The dollar dropped so fast that Reichardt could not adjust his pricing for the market and eventually lost his business. At this point in his life, Reichardt had a family to support and therefore needed to find another form of income quickly.