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.

The present research aims to explore the determinants of (full) electric vehicle (EV) buying intention of Italian millennials focusing on the role that value co-creation initiatives might play in the buying decision-making process. Value co-creation initiatives in the EV domain are studied employing an enhanced version of the Theory of Reasoned Action which, in addition to the traditional variables of the model, also includes perceived importance of cars’ attributes. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is used to analyze the data collected though an online survey on 523 Italians aged 18–35. The outcomes provide recommendations to tailor proper initiatives to encourage millennials’ buying intention of electric vehicles supporting private companies in favoring the adoption of wide-spread pro-environmental behaviors among Italian youngsters.

This study focuses on hybrid consumption experiences that originate from encounters between the physical and the digital realms. The aim is to analyze brand-driven phygital environments to uncover the relationship between consumers and brands that is established within hybrid consumption spaces. Given its exploratory nature, the study adopts a mixed-methods qualitative type of research design; it includes a multiple-case analysis, a diary-based survey, and a focus group, and it concentrates on five phygital projects of four Italian luxury fashion brands. The analysis reveals nine relevant building blocks of phygital brand environments (PBEs) that pertain to the direction of experience, the environmental features, and customers’ reactions. Moreover, the study provides an early interpretative framework regarding the effects that these constituents of PBEs exert on the consumer-brand relationship (CBR). The work uncovers relevant managerial implications highlighting brand-driven phygital spaces as strategic tools for luxury fashion companies to provide consumers with additional relational value that is generated through encounters between physical stores, digital technology, humans and brands.