Advanced manufacturing solutions, augmented reality, and cloud and big data are technologies pertaining to Industry 4.0. These technologies improve working conditions, create new business models, and increase both productivity and firm quality production. However, they can also improve life and society as a whole. This new perspective, oriented toward social and global well-being, is called Society 5.0. As has happened for all past industrial revolutions, Industry 4.0 will support the transition to a different society, i.e., Society 5.0. In this transition, open innovation and value co-creation can play an important role. The aim of the study was twofold: to examine how Industry 4.0 features and enabling technologies can support the transition to Society 5.0 and to investigate the roles of both open innovation and value co-creation within this transition. A conceptual framework was developed to jointly consider for the first time Industry 4.0, Society 5.0, open innovation, and value co-creation, which are all challenging issues that firms must cope with nowadays. Managers could profit from these insights to design ad hoc strategies in order to benefit from the opportunities emerging from this transition and overcome the main related challenges.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand how Open Innovation Digital Platforms (OIDPs) can facilitate and support knowledge co-creation in Open Innovation (OI) processes. Specifically, it intends to investigate the contribution of OIDPs-oriented to successfully implement all the phases of interactive coupled OI processes. Design/methodology/approach: The paper carries out an exploratory qualitative analysis, adopting the single case study method. The case here investigated is Open Innovation Platform Regione Lombardia (OIPRL). Findings: The case study sheds light on how OIPRL supports knowledge co-creation through its processes, tools and services as a co-creator intermediary. In its launch stage, the platform simply aimed at giving firms a tool to “find partners” and financial resources to achieve innovative projects. Now, however, the platform has developed into an engagement platform for knowledge co-creation. Research limitations/implications: One limitation lies in the particular perspective used to perform the case study: the perspective of the digital platform itself. Future research should focus on the individuals engaged in the platform to better investigate the processes, tools and services used to implement the OI approach. Practical implications: The paper suggests ways in which OIDPs could be used by firms for effective exploration, acquisition, integration and development of valuable knowledge. Originality/value: The study conceptualizes the role of OIDPs in shaping knowledge co-creation, assuming that the platforms act as Open Innovation Intermediaries (OIIs). Specifically, OIDPs can be observed to function as “co-creator intermediaries” that define, develop and implement dedicated processes, specific tools and appropriate services for supporting knowledge co-creation activities.

The paper purpose is to investigate the green consumption behaviour of the Millennials generation. The paper aims to understand if all Italian Millennials are similar in terms of green consumption and if there are differences in adopting and consuming green products. As Millennials are considered the driving generation of the sustainable movement, thanks to their lifestyle and behaviours, our study tries to comprehend whether these consumers can be considered the leading “Green Generation”. We performed a cluster analysis, using the non-hierarchical method by applying the k-medium algorithm, segmenting Millennials. The segmentation was performed according to the reasons underlying and against green consumption. Then, green values and green consumer behaviour of the segments were analyzed. The results of our research reveal the existence of different clusters of Millennial consumers in terms of green attitude. Some confusion about green issues in the Millennials generation emerges, contrasting with the literature. Our results do not necessarily imply a negative attitude towards green values by Millennials, but different green attitudes among the clusters.

Although many authors agree on the role of personal values in explaining the main determinants of eco-behaviour, disagreement about the effects of socio-demographic features exists, particularly about the effect of nationality. In an attempt to fill this gap in the literature, this paper contributes to the debate surrounding the main determinants of eco-behaviour, based on a cross-country analysis. To test the role of nationality and personal values in eco-behaviour, a linear regression model involving 353 Chinese and 333 Italian subjects was performed. A stepwise analysis was then conducted to identify the main significant effects. The explorative and stepwise analyses confirmed that nationality is significant when explaining individual eco-behaviour, for both Italian and Chinese people. Moreover, the linear regression model, as a stepwise analysis, showed that regulatory focus and universalism are the main personal values influencing ecological behaviour. Differences emerging from the analysis show significant differences in terms of eco-behaviour and eco-awareness, for the two countries involved in the analysis, that might lead companies to adopt different marketing strategies when promoting eco-products.