In the coming years, social media technology will have a crucial role in environmental involvement and in encouraging sustainable behaviors in the wine industry. Sustainable development is becoming a crucial topic for many consumers. Also, in the wine industry much research has been carried out to decrease the environmental impact, with a particular focus on renewable energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, pesticides reduction, water and waste management, biodiversity, soil and landscape preservation. In recent years, social media technologies have gained increased attention for their potential to amplify environmental concerns and encourage sustainable behaviors among people. This study aims to study the role of social media in the consumer purchasing behavior for wine between the millennial and non-millennial generations. A total sample of 2597 Italian wine consumer responses were collected and a structured questionnaire was used to test our hypothesis. The main results show that the greater the import the consumer places on the product/process dimension of environmental sustainability, the higher the self-selection in market segments. This is true for both millennials and non-millennials. The results show the power of social media to increase sustainability awareness and consecutively influence the consumer’s buying behavior for wine (higher price segment). From a marketing perspective, companies should improve their capacity to share and communicate their environmental activities through social media.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between firm capabilities, business model (BM) design, and firm performance.Design/methodology/approach: The study provides a quantitative assessment of the proposed model using a sample of 411 small- and medium-sized enterprises. Heckman’s sample selection model is employed as an econometric framework.Findings: The outcomes demonstrate that the adoption of a given BM is endogenous with respect to firm capabilities, different capabilities spur the adoption of different BM, and that different BM designs have variable impacts on firm performance.Research limitations/implications: Some investigated variables were operationalized using proxies, and firm performance was measured based on a self-assessed scale.Practical implications: Since different types of capabilities are at the bases of different BM designs that eventually reverberate on firm performance, SMEs should carefully balance their financial resources invested in the development of capabilities.Originality/value: This study represents one of the first attempts to investigate the relationships between firm capabilities, BM design, and firm performance.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence that social media usage has on the online purchases of wine and to examine whether objective and subjective knowledge moderates this relationship.Design/methodology/approach: A structured questionnaire was completed by a sample of 2,597 Italian wine consumers. A multinomial logistic model was used to assess how the investigated variables influenced online purchasing behavior.Findings: Social media usage was found to be positively related to online wine buying, and consumer’s objective and subjective knowledge moderates the relationship between social media usage and online wine purchasing.Research limitations/implications: Wineries should acknowledge the relevance of social media in favoring online wine buying and adopt integrated multi-channel marketing strategies. Given that knowledge moderates the relationship between social media usage and online wine buying, in order to optimize the channel management, wineries should segment customers and prospects based on subjective and objective product knowledge.Originality/value: The study represents one of the first attempts to investigate social media use and online wine purchasing behavior in Italy. In addition, it sheds light on previous research on the influence that objective and subjective knowledge has on consumer behavior.

Purpose: The study tests a model that considers online brand trust in different nonbrand-owned touchpoints as a multifactorial construct constituted by: social network influencers, bloggers, online retail platforms and brand-related user generated content. Furthermore, it examines the influences that offline and online brand trust exert on consumer buying intention.Design/methodology/approach: A convenience sample of 3,335 total individuals participated in the survey. Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypotheses.Findings: Online brand trust is significantly influenced by trust in all investigated nonbrand-owned touchpoints. Both offline and online brand trust positively influence buying intention.Research limitations/implications: Whereas brand trust is considered a multidimensional construct that includes both cognitive and affective aspects, in addition to individuals' personality traits, the present study only investigated the rational dimension of the brand trust paradigm. Moreover, this study examined the influence of brand trust on consumers' buying intention and not overt behavior. In addition, even though the extant literature suggests that the relation between trust and behavioral outcomes may vary across cultures, no test of the possible influences that culture exerted on brand trust and BInt was run. Finally, given the convenience sampling method used in this research, statistically significant surveys would provide a more solid basis for the investigated phenomenon, and they would enable an appropriate generalization of the findings.Practical implications: To build brand trust and favour buying intention, marketers should monitor and influence the online touchpoints that are partially under or totally out of their control, and reconceive and manage physical stores.Originality/value: This paper contributes to the stream of literature on online brand trust by proving that it is a multifactorial construct resulting from trust in different non-proprietary online entities and pointing out the prevalent role that physical stores play in shaping consumer buying intention. It also indicates that a trust transfer effect takes place between different online information sources and offline outlets.

Purpose: This study analyses the literature on artificial intelligence (AI) and its implications for the agri-food sector. This research aims to identify the current research streams, main methodologies used, findings and results delivered, gaps and future research directions.Design/methodology/approach: This study relies on 69 published contributions in the field of AI in the agri-food sector. It begins with a bibliographic coupling to map and identify the current research streams and proceeds with a systematic literature review to examine the main topics and examine the main contributions.Findings: Six clusters were identified: (1) AI adoption and benefits, (2) AI for efficiency and productivity, (3) AI for logistics and supply chain management, (4) AI for supporting decision making process for firms and consumers, (5) AI for risk mitigation and (6) AI marketing aspects. Then, the authors propose an interpretive framework composed of three main dimensions: (1) the two sides of AI: the “hard” side concerns the technology development and application while the “soft” side regards stakeholders' acceptance of the latter; (2) level of analysis: firm and inter-firm; (3) the impact of AI on value chain activities in the agri-food sector.Originality/value: This study provides interpretive insights into the extant literature on AI in the agri-food sector, paving the way for future research and inspiring practitioners of different AI approaches in a traditionally low-tech sector.