Maria De Salvo

Mining Social Images to Analyze Routing Preferences in Tourist Areas

Social media platforms provide a useful source of data for environmental planning. In the last years these data have been exploited to perform social behaviour analysis. This work uses the huge amount of georeferenced images publicly available on social media as a source of information to infer the behaviour of tourists. Visual analytic mapping tools combined with the Parzen-Rosenblatt non-parametric kernel density estimation give us visual clues to assess the attractiveness of tourist geographical areas. To investigate the preferred combinations of locations visited by the tourists within a time window of few days we propose to mine association rules using the Apriori algorithm. A prototype of an integrated system to visually perform the suggested analysis has been realized and the paper reports about some of case studies performed with it.

Estimating the economic benefits from outdoor recreation on a scenic route: the Ponale Road.

The Ponale Road features a spectacular panorama, consisting of one of the most beautiful mountain-top views of Lake Garda (northern Italy). In the past, it attracted large numbers of tourists from all over Europe, especially mountain bikers, due to its unique characteristics. However, it was closed at the end of the 1990s due to geological instability. In this study, we estimated the social benefit of the reopening of this scenic route using the contingent valuation method, focusing exclusively on its recreational use value. During 2002, we conducted face-to-face interviews with 675 randomly drawn potential users of the road and got a response rate of 96%. Our target population was all potential road users, both tourists and residents, because at the time the research was carried out the road was closed to any type of use. A hypothetical scenario proposed the reopening of the road conditional on users paying an access fee. We elicited willingness to pay (WTP) using a payment-card format. The Cameron and Huppert parametric interval regression method was used to analyze data. Benefits compared with annual cost of maintenance show the attractiveness of the project. The feasibility of a pricing policy was also evaluated.

How CS Can be Used for Producing Info that Can be Employed in Strategy Making

Abstract The aim of this chapter is to illustrate the case of the producers of a typical cheese (the Monte Veronese PDO cheese, Italy) who shared the idea to increase their knowledge on the local consumers, their main target audience. The chapter also aims to describe how market research outcomes have supported innovation in marketing and communication strategies, especially in the management of direct relationships with customers. The first part of the chapter discusses the results of a survey carried out by a sample of local consumers. Consumers’ perceptions were analyzed by means of a questionnaire applying Best–Worst Scaling. Different consumers’ perceptions are highlighted based on importance of product attributes and involvement with the product. In the second part, the CEO of a leading cooperative company illustrates how he manages the delicate balance between market research outcomes, innovation in marketing and communication strategies, market feedback, and relationship with customers.

Determinants of winegrowers’ profitability: evidence from an Eastern Europe wine region

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the main determinants of winegrowers’ profitability in Eastern Europe with the ultimate purpose to improve the wine industry competitiveness. Design/methodology/approach The research is focussed on the Moldova region (Romania), a little studied wine-growing area that presents potential for the future development of the wine industry. A hierarchical approach is applied to consider the simultaneous effects of climate aspects, vineyard features, winegrowers’ characteristics and management practices on vineyards’ profitability. The model is based on data from 274 vineyards managed by 64 winegrowers, where 32 different grape varieties are cultivated in different districts. Different scenarios are simulated and alternative policies are analysed. Findings Climate aspects and human factors, particularly the educational level and type of agriculture practiced, emerge as main determinants. Farmers’ climate change perceptions also have a primary role. The grape variety affects profitability differences across vineyards at a lower extent. Research limitations/implications The study suggests an approach easily replicable to other viticultural contexts. Practical implications Results are useful for policymakers in order to forecast the impact of policies devoted to improving the wine industry competitiveness in Eastern Europe. Originality/value The study presents a micro-scale analysis in which the effects of climate aspects, vineyard features, winegrowers’ characteristics and management practices are simultaneously estimated. It also produces new knowledge in a little studied wine region.

Razionalità e stabilità delle preferenze espresse negli esperimenti di scelta : una verifica mediante le alternative decoy

This paper reports on an empirical test aimed at verifying rationality of stated preferences in choice experiments. The test has been conducted by overlapping two applications of choice experiments. The former has been set up according standard practice. The latter has been set up and implemented by including choice tasks with decoy alternatives. The design of the test allowed to identify in the sample a signifcant proportion of respondents with anomalies in their stated preferences, to classify these anomalies, to search for their possible causes, and to assess their effects on willingness to pay estimates.