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A PILGRIMAGE to West Cornwall can be heartily recommended to any librarian in search of rest, fresh air, and complete change from the monotony of town life. Here he will find abundance of interest and novelty in connection with the habits and customs of the ancient Britons still extant, and derive many impressions of pleasure from the magnificent rock scenery with which the coast abounds. Dairy‐farming, tin‐mining, pilchard fishing, druidical monuments, and wild flowers can also be studied with profit; and even Public Libraries, in a condition of arrested development not uncommon in other districts of England. Cornwall is pre‐eminently the county for Public Libraries. Geographically it is remote from the populous parts of England, and the Great‐Western Railway Company, with commendable forethought, have taken enormous pains to maintain this seclusion by a most pitiful and inadequate service of trains. I was once assured by the Public Librarian of Penzance that no thief would ever raid his institution, for the simple reason that it was impossible to get away quick enough to avoid detection ! A place thus difficult to get away from, is manifestly one which requires strong home interests to make it attractive, and, as theatres, music halls, and other light diversions, find little favour in Cornish towns, the Public Library, with its wealth of varied reading, is practically the only after‐dark resource left. But there are other circumstances which make Cornwall an ideal county for a liberal provision of Public Libraries. The decline of the mining industry has driven many of the men away to other centres, such as South Africa, and it is well‐known that, at the present time, more money is coming into the county from exiled sons abroad than is being made locally. There is thus an enormous surplus of that great natural reader— woman—and to her should be offered in profusion plenty of romantic and other reading as a solace and compensation for the loss of her natural companion—man.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the consumer use of geographical information in the wine purchase decision. Consumers often rely upon the place of origin of a wine product in order to assess its quality. This research examines the importance of place‐of‐origin information and what level of place is meaningful to consumers, as well as which consumers utilize that information.

Data collection took place by means of a highly structured online survey of 409 geographically dispersed wine consumers across the USA. Respondents were recruited by Survey Sampling International and screened for at least occasional wine consumption.

Brand and place‐of‐origin information such as region, country and state were the most important attributes in the consumers' choice of a wine. One type of geographical indicator, appellation, was not well utilized. Core wine consumers and those with greater expertise utilized place‐of‐origin cues to a greater extent than less frequent and less knowledgeable consumers.

The study sample represents US wine drinkers and should not be taken as a general population sample. Potential respondents were required to have consumed at least one bottle in the last year in order to take the survey. The non‐probability sample includes participants from 46 states, 189 of whom are male and 211 are female.

Wineries in established regions should increase their efforts to promote regional identity at the county, state and national level, to enhance their existing product images. Regional information is more heavily utilized by consumers than appellation information, which allows producers to take advantage of pre‐existing levels of awareness. This research suggests that marketers develop strategies to increase sales that emphasize larger regions such as county or state rather than appellations.

This paper is of value to academic readers, wine industry practitioners and regional trade and tourism associations and other commercial entities that market their products with regional cues. The geographically dispersed sample provides results that generalize well to the wine consuming public.

The purpose of this research is to examine gender differences in information search procedures and selection criteria relative to purchase situation and social and financial risk aversion.

An online questionnaire was completed by 497 males and 877 females in the USA. A total of 88 percent of the respondents stated that they drank wine at least once per week. Participants were obtained by sending e‐mails to customer lists provided by wine‐related organizations.

Findings suggest that, if a consumer is unsure about making a wine selection, women are more apt than men to seek information from store personnel, a server, sommelier, or winery personnel. Labels and shelf tags are also significantly more important for women. While winery region is very important to both men and women, women rely on medals and awards more than men.

Consumers who are not necessarily comfortable with using the internet would not have had an opportunity to participate in this study.

The differences by gender in the importance of and the usage of various information sources could help retailers prioritize their communication methods in US stores. Store personnel, servers, sommeliers, and winery personnel should be well‐prepared to answer questions and make recommendations.

Women buy 80 percent of the wine sold in the USA. This study helps retailers understand their preferences and how to assist them more effectively in their purchase decisions.

This study empirically examines the impact that statements on wine labels directing consumers “to learn the health effects of wine consumption, send for the Federal Government's Dietary Guidelines for Americans” may potentially have on attitudes and wine consumption intentions in college students both over and under the legal drinking age. The results of the study suggest that directional statements on wine labels will not have a significant impact on attitudes toward alcohol, the wine brand, disease risk, label believability, or purchase intention. The results, however, do show that college students both over and under the legal drinking age perceived the winery with the directional statement on the label as more “socially concerned” than the winery that did not use the statement.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate and compare the perceptions of competitive advantage (cost leadership, differentiation, and performance) of those wineries which have implemented a clear business case for an environmental management system (EMS) and those which have not. Benefits and challenges of sustainability practices are also addressed.

Data were collected via self‐report web‐based survey. Of the 98 respondents, over 80 per cent were family‐owned, family‐managed.

Those respondents with a clear business case for EMS exhibited significant differences in cost leadership and differentiation advantages over those without a clear business case for EMS. Those with a clear EMS derived significantly greater supply chain optimization and operational efficiencies than those without a clear EMS. Those with a clear EMS also felt that they gained an enhanced ability to enter new markets to a much greater extent than those without a clear EMS. Results of this study demonstrate a significantly higher level of commitment by those respondents with a clear EMS when addressing sustainability initiatives during a current economic down turn over those who did not. Those respondents who had a clear EMS indicated that they had somewhat increased their sustainability commitments, rather than conducting business as usual with no change or somewhat decreasing sustainability commitments as those who did not have a clear EMS.

Activities that create competitive advantages for wine businesses are understudied; this research bridges that gap.

This purpose of this investigation is to compare the perceptions of competitive advantage through cost leadership and differentiation with sustainable practices of wineries from the USA, Italy and Spain.

Data are collected via self-report web-based surveys in California, Tuscany and Catalonia in 2010-2011 during a severe economic downturn in the wine industry.

Of the 260 respondents among the three country samples, over 75 per cent are family-owned and family-managed. Respondents indicate who has implemented a clear business case for an Environmental Management System (EMS) and who has not. Benefits and challenges of implementing sustainability practices are also addressed.

A comparable percentage of respondents across the three countries indicated a “clear business case for EMS”. Wineries in all three countries perceive that they have competitive advantage through implementation of EMS and commitment to sustainable practices. Top perceived benefits for respondents from the USA and Italy are focused on cost reduction strategies, while top perceived benefits for Spanish respondents are focused on differentiation strategies.

Activities that create competitive advantages for wine businesses in different countries are understudied; this research bridges that gap.

Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.

Index by subjects, compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.

Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.

Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.