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The purpose of this paper is to gain insights of the use of social media (SM) in the wine industry. The theoretical viewpoint is to analyse wineries’ SM segmentation, targeting and positioning (STP) to help the wine industry to improve the effectiveness of SM communication.

An observational study of Spanish wineries’ SM presence and traffic was carried out during a three-month period in 2013 and repeated in 2016. During this period, a questionnaire was distributed to 196 wineries. Logistic regression was used to model the dichotomous outcome variable of whether a winery “does” or “does not” utilise SM. Additionally, leader wineries were interviewed in April/May 2016 about SM STP.

The results show that most wineries are starting in SM without a well-defined strategy. The presence of a webpage is significantly related to the use of SM. SM wineries do not segment and can take advantage of digital targeting strategies.

Segmentation and targeting SM can improve the effectiveness of the winery SM activities as well as the winery competitiveness in the wine industry.

This paper is a first step in understanding the value of segmentation SM to reach millennial consumers and the importance of targeting to improve the effectiveness of winery on SM.

World imports of Italian sparkling wines fell by 9% in value and 5% in quantities. In view of this, the quality characterisation of these products is desirable to increase their market value and restore their global visibility.

For this purpose, in this paper, heavy metals (Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ga, Hf, Hg, Mn, Mo, Nb, Ni, Pb, Re, Sb, Sn, Ta, Th, Tl, U, W, V, Zn, Zr), rare Earth elements (REEs) (Ce, Dy, Er, Eu, Gd, Ho, La, Lu, Nd, Pr, Sm, Tb, Tm, Yb) and isotopes ratio (208Pb/206Pb, 207Pb/206Pb, 206Pb/204Pb, 208Pb/207Pb, 87Sr/86Sr) were analysed in Italian sparkling wines with Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) certification by High Resolution Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (HR-ICP-MS) and MultiCollector Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (MC-ICP-MS). The samples were produced in the Veneto region, and they were compared to white and red wines from the same area.

Sparkling wines present a characteristic elemental pattern compared to white and red ones, with lower content of heavy metals and higher content in REEs. The ratio 87Sr/86Sr resulted in a powerful micro-scale geographical origins marker while Pb ratios as winemaking process one, both useful to prevent possible frauds. Multivariate data analyses, such as PCA and PLS-DA, were used to develop a model of recognition of Venetian sparkling wines.

The good classification of sparkling wines was achieved (95%), proving the suitable use of these analytes as markers for recognising sparkling wines and their geographical origin verification. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study investigating heavy metals, REEs and isotopes in Venetian sparkling wine for their recognition.

‘Wine; for some it is a delicate craft, to be fine tuned and practised until it is perfect, for others it is an art form, to be contemplated and discussed until it is understood. For yet others it is just another agricultural product to be bought and sold. No matter what one's feeling about the subject of wine, all agree: the key is education (Reiss, 1999).’ To explore the ideal setting of education in wine and more specifically education in wine management a research programme was undertaken to supply an empirical foundation towards content and methods which could be employed in Higher Education. In the research a qualitative approach was adopted in which 24 F&B Managers of four and five star hotels were interviewed. Information was gathered about the perception of wine, the relationship between wine and culture and wine and health as they were perceived by the managers. The economical value of wine as part of the total offer of the hotel was calculated. Some of the methods used in hotels to train staff in wine management were described. The managers were also asked for their opinion about the level of knowledge on wines they find graduates to have in The Netherlands. Finally, ratings to the importance of different subjects within wine management were given by the respondents which indicates where the emphasis of wine management education should be in the future.

The purpose of this paper is to identify econometrically the determinants of wine consumption of US consumers.

In empirically identifying driving forces of wine consumption, we used 122 survey responses from Northern California consumers.

The study found that even knowledgeable or frequent consumers of wine purchase across all price points. Further, a significant positive correlation exists between knowledge and volume of wine consumed. All three regression techniques applied in this paper indicate that knowledge remains the most important determinant in wine consumption.

The results emphasize the need for US wineries to better educate and connect with consumers by developing compatible positioning strategies and marketing programs that are as informative as they are appealing.

As one of the few studies of the US wine market employing econometric analysis, this paper offers a fresh perspective on the consumption behavior of wine drinkers in the USA.

The purpose of this paper is to consider how German wineries can successfully diversify into wine tourism, in an effort to support their primary business activity of producing and selling high quality wine.

A survey questionnaire was created, collected and analysed using the software programme SurveyMonkey.

Results indicate that the implementation of wine tourism by German vintners will be a significant challenge as the respondents report a lack of marketing and tourism management skill and knowledge; most are small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) – which means they have little time or manpower available to devote to developing wine tourism; and there is a low level of reported co‐operation amongst stakeholders.

The research could have taken place over a longer period of time, in order to present more reliable data and also it could have included a more representative sample from other sectors of the industry, such as co‐operatives. The research is also limited in scope to Germany and further comparative studies could be carried out focusing on other wine tourism‐related countries, such as New Zealand, France or Italy.

Wine tourism is a crucial element of both the tourism industry as well as the sector of viniculture. Wine tourism marketing strategies fail to meet the expectations of either the vintners or the tourists. However, wine tourism is vitally important for vineyards as it helps to create brand loyalty and to establish customer relationships.

There is a strong need to create marketing strategies which strike a balance between developing and promoting wine tourism and the core activity of the vineyards, which is to produce and sell wine.

The availability of literature in English on German wine tourism is scarce and this study is significant, especially because wine tourism in Germany is a relatively new phenomenon. The development of appropriate marketing strategies is therefore required to successfully improve wine tourism.

Despite its potential as a new source of competitive advantage, the performance implications of social media (SM) marketing (SMM) are not well understood. This study aims to investigate how and when SMM matters to firm performance, analysing the mediating role of product innovation (PI) and moderating the role of marketing innovation (MI) in business to business (B2B) small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

This paper used structural equation modelling analysis in STATA, using the Australian bureau of statistics data set of 4,956 SMEs which operate in the B2B environment.

The results reveal differential moderating effects of MI on the direct SMM–performance relationship. MI positively moderates internal SMM and SM use for promotion and branding on firm performance. MI also negatively moderates SM use for customer communication on firm performance, underscoring SMM constituting a double-edged sword. The indirect effects of internal SM use and SM use for promotion and branding, and customer involvement in new product development on performance via PI are significant when MI is absent.

Hence, B2B SMEs benefit from PI and existing SMM but do not benefit from dual PI and new MI.

By disaggregating SMM and explicating the mediating mechanism and moderating effects of MI, this study reveals how and under what conditions SMM matters to firm performance in B2B SMEs.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the emergence of microbreweries in Italy over the last 20 years (period 1993-2014) and assess its main determinants.

The recent intense growth is expressed by the increasing number of entries in the sector actually accompanied, in most recent years, by an increasing number of exits. The paper proposes a quantitative assessment of this entry-exit dynamics through a sequence of econometric models known as survival models.

Together with two other orders of possible determinants (idiosyncratic characteristics and the exogenous evolution of the beer market), the paper assesses the role played by specific geographical and local factors within these dynamics. Estimation results show that, whereas market force and individual features unquestionably affect entry and exit choices, geographical and local factors are of limited relevance, especially for the recent entry dynamics.

Although the literature on the so-called craft beer revolution is already vast and increasing, the novel contribution of the paper concerns the specificity (if any) of the Italian case and the role of spatial factors in this respect. This investigation is performed adopting an advanced quantitative approach and this attempt is also quite original within this literature.

The aim of this research is to explore content, traffic and visibility on four social platforms to boost social visibility.

The study explores content, traffic and visibility in the context of Spanish beer brands. A sample of 3,332 beer brands' social media (SM) sites, specifically the four most commonly used platforms amongst Spaniards, was analysed. An inductive content analysis by a panel of experts identified the main contents. A cluster analysis then divided the significantly different beer brand SM sites, and a Kruskal–Wallis test confirmed the significant differences by content and traffic. To determine and predict SM visibility, a binary logistic regression was conducted.

The findings reveal that traffic is not significantly correlated with social visibility. Moreover, the SM sites with the highest traffic show significant leisure content. Twitter is significantly different network in traffic and content, whilst YouTube is the best for boosting social visibility.

The study's findings constitute valuable information in understanding how content, traffic and visibility are correlated and help in managing brands' public presence and exposure on SM.

This study contributes to the existing literature by exploring four SM platforms (Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook), two dimensions of SM interactions (traffic and social visibility) and three main focal points of contents (leisure, product and promotion). This research bridges the gap amongst content, traffic and social visibility and ascertains how to gain traffic and boost social visibility.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the differences in international student mobility (SM) in two contrasting countries: UK and China, at national, institutional and individual levels. Both are countries in transition in a greater global context. The objective is to identify what these countries can learn from each other about the issues and policies surrounding the management of educational mobility.

An inductive approach was employed to understand real-life experience via multiple case studies. Participant observation and semi-structured interview methods with a variety of stakeholders were used to collect data which were then subjected to a thematic analysis to identify in which areas countries had developed good practice.

Over-arching themes were developed through comparing national findings. These reveal that national policy and family support are most influential in China, while British universities largely drive SM at an institutional level.

The significance of this knowledge lies in the potential for social impact and reform of successful mobility schemes. International mobility equates to social mobility through global employability of those who engage. Global citizenship is regarded as one of the paths to world peace and understanding. Mobilising a younger generation can contribute to better regional integration and international stability as part of an idealistic approach to geopolitics.

Concluding that neither country has a comprehensive and complete approach, this study proposes the areas in which all both could develop and details good practice. The value therefore emerges from the comparison and contrast and the practical focus of the research.