Francesca Checchinato

Content and Feedback Analysis of YouTube Videos: Football Clubs and Fans as Brand Communities

The use of Web 2.0 tools has been transforming the interaction between companies and their clients, especially for those that are selling emotional products. Consumers are generating and sharing contents concerning their favourite products on the web. Even if this process has been widely acknowledged, only a few studies have been specifically devoted to the analysis of both the contents and the feedback the consumers receive from other users. This article analyzes the online presence of sport brands through contents that are generated by sport clubs (official contents) and their fans (User Generated Content, UGC) on YouTube. After a description and classification of video contents, it examines the factors that influence the performance of the videos in terms of passive (videos views) and active behaviour (any kinds of interaction with videos) among the viewers. In order to carry out this analysis, 125 YouTube channels were considered thereby accounting for a total of 375 videos. Results show that official contents are those preferred by the users/consumers and that if the video displays a passive/purely informative content, the chance of getting an active behaviour from the users tends to decrease. These findings may help companies manage their online presence, creating awareness about contents and information that should be spread and shared on the web.

Advertising in the luxury sector in China: Standardisation or adaptation? A comparison between China and Italy

Abstract: In the general framework of internationalisation, this chapter focusses on the advertising strategies adopted by top companies in the luxury sector. The chapter reports some of the findings of a study to determine the importance of local culture in advertising content by comparing Chinese and Italian ads. In particular, after an overview of the advertising market in China and in Italy, the content of ads from Vogue , one of the most popular and influential fashion and beauty magazines in both China and Italy, are analysed. The focus is on three industries: clothing, cosmetics and jewellery. This chapter contributes to the standardisation–adaptation discussion and shows that strategies are affected by both country and product category.

Web 2.0: un'indagine sulle società di calcio italiane

Web 2.0: a study about Italian football clubs - This study carries out an analysis about tools and features that characterize the Web 2.0 approach and the related opportunities for companies. The study is focused on the Football field in Italy and it analyses companies’ and consumer activities related to the Premier League and the Second Division. There are two main goals the analysis aims at: first, understanding actual trends and problems in adopting the Web 2.0 tools; secondly, the definition of eventual business developments both for the analysed sector and for close businesses. Keywords: Web 2.0, community, sport, tribal marketing, Internet

Le alleanze di marketing nelle imprese italiane

The purpose of this study is to understand how companies manage the different types of marketing alliances. A literature review was developed and an empirical investigation was then carried out submitting a questionnaire to companies involved in this strategy. The survey results, based on 35 alliances and 75 activities, confirm the presence of three types of marketing alliances - marketing alliance, co-marketing and co-branding - and show the main features of each one.

The Geox: The Shoe that Breathes

Geox is the largest shoe company in Italy in terms of sales and number of stores, making it one of the leading shoe brands in the world. In 2015, Geox made 874 million euros in net sales, more than 68% of which was accounted for by foreign sales. The brand is sold in 1161 retail stores, consisting of both directly operated stores and franchise stores, across 101 countries. This case study shows how new technology and continuous innovation can be implemented in a market in which fashion and design typically dominate. Describing and analyzing the company’s marketing activities in recent years, we demonstrate that Geox’s success rests in its ability to innovate, define and maintain a strategic position in the footwear industry. Recognized by consumers for its patented innovation, the “shoe that breathes,” Geox has the largest number of patents in the industry.

The challenge of publishing research about a never-ending subject for marketing scholars: The country of origin

Abstract The country of origin (COO) represents one of the main topics in the marketing literature and a large body of knowledge about it has already been published. This commentary essay tries to explain why it seems to be a never-ending subject for marketing scholars and the reason why the paper we published in this Journal few years ago contributed to the literature and has achieved the Google i-10 high citation-impact ranking. Analysing the effect of COO on a specific factor such as brand associations, the use of a methodology that cope with the critics of some scholars about the overstressed of COO in the past research, and the selection of an emerging market – the Chinese one – as country in which testing the COO have helped our paper to be cited. Based on these elements, some future research topics are also suggested.

How People Evaluate a Product in an Online Environment: The Role of Uncertainty and Liking Feeling

Although it is well known that travellers look at other travellers’ opinions and recommendations to plan their trips, and the number of people reviewing touristic attractions is increasing, little is known about how people judge them. Numerous studies have examined user behaviour in creating contents and participating in the online community using various methods, but research that investigates how consumers express opinions about hotel attributes is still lacking. In particular, since expressed preferences as well as ratings could be the result of both the uncertainty of consumers in evaluating an item and the liking feeling about the item (D’Elia and Piccolo 2005), the aim of this chapter is to understand the role of these components in the evaluating process, in order to segment the market and to define different users’ profile.

An analysis of factors influencing the online presence in distant countries: the case of italian fashion brands in china

The aim of the paper is to examine some of the factors that could potentially affect a firm’s online presence in international distant markets. More specifically, the study focuses on Italian fashion firms that operate in China, and examines the impact of firm’s size, experience, and positioning (luxury brand or not) on the adoption of a digital presence in this emerging country.

Do distributors really know the product? Approaching emerging markets through exports

Exports represent an entry mode into international markets that is less risky than more direct strategies, therefore it particularly fits SMEs (small-medium enterprises) that generally have a few resources to invest. In the case of emerging markets because of the high psychic distance, SMEs tend to rely on their distributors for the business operations in the new market. However, although this type of intermediary allows the access to the foreign distribution channel that is particularly complex in countries such as China, it can limit the market control and in some cases, the product expansion. Based on a qualitative research consisting of interviews and secondary data, we present two original case studies of Italian firms operating in the Chinese market. It is shown that in emerging markets, since distributors do not really analyze and know consumer expectations and behaviors, they may represent a barrier in the knowledge accumulation of foreign products in the new market. Managerial implications are discussed on the extent to which SMEs are not able to replicate marketing strategies used in other countries, but they should define a clear strategy that involves their distributors in the process of knowledge accumulation and brand value creation in the foreign market.