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City image has been defined as the sum of beliefs, ideas and impressions people hold regarding a city. While abundant literature has explored city image from tourists’ perspectives, few studies have explored residents’ perceptions, and even fewer have compared city image as perceived by tourists and residents. In addition, very few studies have compared tourists’ and residents’ perceptions of city image in small- to medium-sized destinations. Considering these research gaps, the purpose of this paper is to address city image in a medium-sized destination, Verona, in northern Italy with three specific objectives: to examine residents’ perceptions of the city of Verona’s image; to examine tourists’ perceptions of the city of Verona’s image and to compare the perceptions of the two groups.

The research was conducted through questionnaires collected among residents and tourists in Verona. Questionnaires were based on a multi-item scale addressing four dimensions of the city image.

The findings show that residents and tourists hold similar perceptions of city image regarding services and leisure, security and entertainment. The only significant difference in city image concerns the municipal facilities. Specifically, residents are more critical than tourists about this dimension of city image.

The research provides useful implications for policy makers and destination management organisations, and shows some strengths and weaknesses of Verona.

The study addresses the image of a medium-sized city that is typical in the Italian context, thus enhancing knowledge about city image. In addition, by testing and enhancing a scale previously used only to measure residents’ perceptions, the study provides a common measurement instrument to compare tourists’ and residents’ perceptions.

Previous research has shown that business-to-business (B2B) brand image has positive effects on customer loyalty. However, the results have been inconsistent because they have highlighted that B2B brand image has either direct or mediated effects on loyalty. Drawing on the framework of service transition, this study aims to develop and test a model that reconciles previous findings. This model suggests that goods-related and service-related B2B brand images coexist in customers’ perceptions and impact customer loyalty in different ways.

A model was developed and estimated using covariance-based structural equation modeling. The data used in the analysis were collected through a survey in the Italian health-care industry, focusing on the relationship between hearing aid manufacturers and audiologists.

Both goods-related and service-related B2B brand images have positive effects on loyalty. However, while the effects of goods-related image on loyalty are fully mediated by satisfaction, service-related image has both direct and mediated effects on loyalty.

This study reconciles previous work arguing that B2B brand image has either direct or mediated effects on loyalty by focusing on the transition from a goods-oriented logic for branding to service branding. In particular, the analysis focuses on the role of the brand in the co-creation process, suggesting that a service-related brand image reflects the value unfolding over time through co-created experiences. However, additional research needs to be conducted in other industries before the results can be generalized.

The findings provide managers with insights for the co-creation of their B2B brand images. In particular, the results urge managers to integrate the traditional goods-oriented approach to branding with service branding, showing that enriching B2B brand image with service-related aspects will have a direct and positive effect on loyalty. However, brand image cannot be created or changed unilaterally by the firm as it is determined by the customer based on co-creation experiences.

This is the first study to explicitly and separately consider the effects of goods-related and service-related aspects of B2B brand image on loyalty. It also is one of the first studies to apply service logic to B2B branding issues.

A food tourism destination can fully exploit its competitiveness if food-related attributes are consistently highlighted both in its promotion and in user-generated content. However, in the context of food tourism research, a possible image incongruence has not yet been studied. Tourism destination image incongruence occurs when different travel information sources reflect inconsistent representations of a destination's attributes. This study addresses this gap, focusing on Italian food and wine as drivers to attract visitors. This study examines whether food-related attributes are present in online travel-related conversations and are perceived differently by people with and without knowledge about the destination.

Content analysis based on a Bayesian machine-learning technique utilizing Leximancer software was applied to analyze questions and answers posted on TripAdvisor forums by potential and past visitors of four destinations in Italy (Naples, Florence, Parma and Ferrara). Questions and answers expressed by people with different knowledge in Italian and English were analyzed separately to gain deeper understanding.

Contrary to expectations, food-related themes were almost completely absent in the conversations analyzed, with only a few exceptions in Italian question sections. This situation depicts a sort of “cannibalism”, in the sense that the centrality of food-related attributes is engulfed by other, less sensorial, enjoyable and memorable aspects of the travel experience.

Analysis suggests that hype may exist in food tourism promotion related to destination image incongruence. However, while based on a large volume of conversations, the analysis covers only four Italian cities.

Destination management organizations (DMOs) should develop their strategy and communication considering internal and external elements: their marketing targets on one side and the local culture and attractions' perceptions on the other. Standard marketing processes (segmenting, targeting, positioning) and theories should be put in place. The application of standard marketing dynamics and studies should push the DMOs to understand that the internally perceived cultural values of the touristic destinations could not be known or joint univocally by the global external customers and that a local promotional activity should start with branding and not commercial activities.

This is the first study to suggest the existence of hype in food tourism promotion of Italian destinations and to provide evidence supporting this argument.

Accommodation sharing is a major trend shaping the hospitality industry, and Airbnb is the most prominent sharing platform driving this growth. While price convenience is reported as one of the main strengths of Airbnb accommodations, only a few studies have examined price determinants. In particular, it is unclear whether hosts dynamically adjust prices for shared accommodation based on their experience with price management and on the level of market demand. The purpose of this paper is to fill this gap by suggesting and testing a comprehensive hedonic pricing model.

Data from all 1,056 Airbnb listings for accommodations available in the city of Verona, Italy on four booking dates in 2016 are collected and analysed through regression analysis.

The results highlight that price is significantly related to the level of the host’s accumulated experience and the level of market demand on a specific booking date. The findings provide support for the ability of hosts to dynamically adjust prices for their accommodations.

Drawing on the innovator’s dilemma theory, this study suggests some strategies that traditional hotels may adopt to react to the disruptive nature of Airbnb.

This is one of the few studies to address hosts’ pricing strategies and specifically consider price adjustments owing to variations in host experience and market demand.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of actual and ideal congruity in predicting the repurchase intentions of young women in relation to inconspicuous fashion items.

The research focussed on a non-luxury intimate apparel brand, typical of daily use and private consumption. Regression analyses were conducted on a sample of 308 young female consumers to identify the effect of actual and ideal congruity in determining repurchase intentions. A cluster analysis based on actual self-concept was employed to develop a typology for consumers.

Unexpectedly, the findings revealed that ideal congruity is a stronger predictor of repurchase intentions than actual congruity. Further, based on actual self-concept, three profiles of young women emerged: active romantics, self-assureds and reliables. The clusters differed in relation to perceptions of brand personality and the effect of self-congruity on repurchase intentions.

This study was conducted using participants from one university in Northern Italy. Thus, the main limitations of this study relate to sample size and selection. Additionally, this study only investigated the perceptions of young women.

This study suggests that non-luxury intimate apparel items, typical of daily use, are not merely functional purchases, but reflect young women’s self-expression motives. Accordingly, fashion marketers should focus on consumers’ ideal self-concepts to develop effective promotion strategies. Further, specific dimensions of brand personality should be considered in relation to the different clusters.

This study shows that repurchase intentions towards inconspicuous non-luxury fashion items are explained more by self-esteem motives (i.e. ideal congruity) than self-consistency motives (i.e. actual congruity).

This paper aims to contribute to solving the problem of communicating quality to service users. In particular, it seeks to focus on how to render quality tangible for the users within the health service, characterized by a high information asymmetry.

The method adopted is a case study, preceded by a rapid theoretical focus on the role of communication in a model for service quality (SERVQUAL). The case study refers to the Stroke Process at the Sacro Cuore Don Calabria Hospital in Negrar (Verona, Italy). Stroke Process represents an excellent health service reality, unique in the Italian National Health System, for the care of brain stroke, one of the most serious diseases in developed countries.

The main finding is a managerial tool – the Patient's Charter – in which the health organization explicitly expresses its commitments, its standards and makes quality tangible for users.

The research limitations are linked to the single case taken into consideration; moreover, findings are confirmed by other studies about health organizations.

The practical implications consist of direct suggestions useful in health service management, specifically in communication activity. As a result of this research, Patient's Charter adoption by health organization is recommended.

The study has a normative value and its indications can be extended also to other innovative health services (e.g. multidisciplinary practices).

The purpose of this paper is to verify whether gender traits of brand personality (masculinity vs femininity) are able to differentiate services brands belonging to the same service industry. Second, this paper intends to assess the validity of Grohmann's scale (that measures the masculine and the feminine dimensions of brand personality) among Italian consumers.

Empirical research was conducted on a sample of 200 consumers. Participants were asked to rate their perceptions of the masculinity vs femininity dimensions of four different service brands (two brands of food retailers and two brands of airlines).

The findings show that Grohmann's scale reaches high levels of validity in the Italian context, as well and that femininity and masculinity measured by that scale are able to register differences in services brand positioning for brands belonging to the same service industry.

The services category includes very heterogeneous services with different degrees of interaction and consumer's involvement. Further studies are needed to isolate the impact of the perceived MBP and FBP associated either with the service industry/category or with the specific brand.

Marketing managers can actively try to influence consumer's perceptions of FBP and MBP through the brand logo colors, brands slogans, masculine or feminine spokespeople, etc. to obtain their desired positioning.

The paper is the first to specifically study brand personality's gender dimensions within services environments. The paper also supports the validity of Grohmann's scale outside the German context.

The purpose of this paper is to report on research on the sensory perceptions that patients and bystanders experience during hospitalisation. Sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch influence both clinical outcomes and satisfaction. The paper offers suggestions to hospital management on ways to improve receivers’ sensory perceptions.

Considering services as social interactions, a subjectivist view of reality is adopted and, accordingly, a qualitative research approach implemented. Data are collected through participant observation. Desk activity includes reasoned literature review, categorisation and model adaptation.

A simplified system model for service provision in the hospital ward is proposed. A management tool is provided in the form of a check list that the ward management can employ to assess its service-provision system from a five-senses perspective.

The paper is affected by judgements subject to cultural biases. The validity of the management tool is still to be tested.

Once up and running, the model and the check list will be able to guide health managers towards improvements of satisfaction, clinical outcomes and working environment.

The paper represents an original effort to adapt tools already used in the commercial field to influence health service receivers’ perceptions positively. While the positive results of improvements to a single sensory perception have been well documented, an integrated approach has not been put forward previously in the health industry.

To counteract increasing competition and satisfy evolving customers’ needs, many firms are changing the positioning of their product concepts, from being product-based into service-based. Despite the increasing relevance of this shift, it is still unclear if this choice has a differential impact on customer perceived value. The purpose of this paper is to analyze customer perceived value for a firm’s product concept being positioned either as service-based or goods-based.

An experiment was conducted using stimuli for two different product categories (hearing aids and bicycles) and measuring customers perceived value through the PERVAL scale’s four dimensions (quality value, emotional value, price value and social value).

The results show that presenting the product concepts as service-based instead of good-based can enhance customer perceived value (in particular: quality, emotional and social value), but only if customers are not familiar with the product.

The study is based on one experiment and considers only two product categories. Further studies are needed to corroborate findings.

The findings suggest that, under specific circumstances, the firm may improve customers’ attitude toward the product by emphasizing a service-based instead of a good-based positioning of the product concept.

To our knowledge, this is the first research to evaluate the effects on customer perceived value of repositioning a product which has been traditionally goods-based (such a hearing aid and a bicycle) into service-based.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effectiveness of social couponing campaigns for hotels. In particular, the perceived effectiveness related to four specific objectives is explored (acquiring and retaining new customers, building brand awareness, balancing seasonality and stimulating demand among existing customers).

A questionnaire-based survey was conducted that involved 108 hotels, each of which has run at least one social couponing campaign through Groupon in Italy. The importance-performance approach was applied to analyze the data.

Overall, the perceived effectiveness of social couponing for hotels is quite low. Social couponing is useful to increase brand awareness but does not encourage customer behavioral loyalty. Larger hotels can successfully use this marketing tool to balance demand seasonality.

The sample size is limited but includes approximately one-fourth of all Italian hotels that have run social coupon campaigns through Groupon. Only social couponing campaigns run through one daily deal site (Groupon) in one country (Italy) were considered.

Social couponing is not perceived as equally effective for all hotels. This study provides hotel managers with suggestions for deciding whether to allocate a share of their marketing resources to social couponing.

To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to present field data to complement the available theoretical knowledge on social couponing for hotels.