Checchina o, F ancesca; Fino o, Vladi; Mau ache , Ch is ine
A icle
Explo ing he online p esence o ood SMEs: a s udy on
con igu a ions and de e minan s in he no h-eas o I aly
Cogen Business & Managemen
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Sugges ed Ci a ion: Checchina o, F ancesca; Fino o, Vladi; Mau ache , Ch is ine (2024) : Explo ing
he online p esence o ood SMEs: a s udy on con igu a ions and de e minan s in he no h-eas o
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Explo ing he online p esence o ood SMEs: a
s udy on configu a ions and de e minan s in he
no h-eas o I aly
F ancesca Checchina o, Vladi Fino o & Ch is ine Mau ache
To ci e his a icle: F ancesca Checchina o, Vladi Fino o & Ch is ine Mau ache (2024)
Explo ing he online p esence o ood SMEs: a s udy on configu a ions and de e minan s
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Cogen Business & ManageMen
2024, VoL. 11, no. 1, 2398190
Explo ing he online p esence o ood SMEs: a s udy on
con igu a ions and de e minan s in he no h-eas o I aly
F ancesca checchina o , Vladi Fino o and ch is ine Mau ache
Depa men o Managemen , ag i ood Managemen and inno a ion Lab, Ca’ Fosca i uni e si y o Venice, Venice, i aly
ABSTRACT
his s udy in es iga es sMes’ online p esence and sheds ligh on he di e en digi al
ma ke ing app oaches o i ms in he ood sec o . an o iginal analy ic amewo k is
de eloped o pe o m a ine-g ained analysis o he a ious con igu a ions o online
p esence in a sample o 520 sMes in he no h-eas o i aly. a clus e analysis o he
empi ical da a ela ed o i ms’ online p esence allowed he ecogni ion o h ee
con igu a ions: p agma is s, lagga ds, and un ocused. he clus e analysis allows us o
p opose ha he de elopmen o an online p esence is a om being a unidi ec ional
p ocess ha i s all o ganisa ions; i a he depends on a a ie y o o ganisa ional,
s a egic, and supply-chain ela ed ac o s. o be e illumina e hese de e minan s and
hei in luence on explaining he obse ed con igu a ions, he s udy p oposes he
esul s o in e iews wi h en ep eneu s and manage s in a subse o i ms om he
sample. Quali a i e e idence poin s o he impo ance o con olled and low-cos
expe imen s, he in eg a ion o young alen s in he ma ke ing unc ion o he i m, he
exis ence o an explici ma ke ing s a egy in he o ganisa ion, and he in e ac ion
be ween dedica ed employees and ex e nal p o ide s o digi al se ices.
In oduc ion
he deba e on i m compe i i eness highligh s he signi ican ole o in o ma ion and communica ion ech-
nology (ic ). analys s and schola s welcomed i as an enable o e ec i e, lexible, and ligh o ms o ne -
wo ked o ganisa ions (Pankowska, 2019). consume s’ p opensi y o become in o med and shop online o e s
i ms he oppo uni y o se e hem be e h ough p ecise p o iling (li, 2016). Digi al communica ion is
ela i ely cos -e ec i e, cus omised, and s eng hens ies be ween i ms and use s (Fino o & Mau ache ,
2020; Olson e al., 2021). he cOViD-19 pandemic has con i med hese ends (Bi ona & c uz, 2021).
De eloping in o ma i e websi es, communica ing on social media, and managing online spaces ha
a ou in e ac ions and ansac ions wi h consume s p o ed o bene i i ms in nume ous indus ies.
Food is a ele an sec o o online communica ion because i s p oduc s appeal o consume s h ough
hei physical and symbolic cha ac e is ics ( usso & simeone, 2017).
P e ious esea ch on online and digi al ma ke ing has examined consume beha iou in digi al spaces
(calde on-Monge & ibei o-so iano, 2023; kapoo e al., 2018). esea ch on i ms’ adop ion and imple-
men a ion o digi al ma ke ing ools and s a egies is s ill agmen ed and ela i ely unde de eloped
(cano i & Puccia elli, 2019). i is only ecen ly ha he ood sec o has been conside ed in specialized
jou nals (Jia e al., 2022; aj idi & aj idi, 2021). as no ed by Fe nández-Uclés e al. (2023), s udies co -
e ing hese opics seldom o e a sys ema ic pe spec i e o unde s and how companies use di e en
ools and combine hem. hey o en ocus on single pla o ms and ins umen s (chau e al., 2020) as
s andalone elemen s a he han as pa o an in eg a ed s a egy.
© 2024 he au ho (s). Published by in o ma uK Limi ed, ading as aylo & F ancis g oup
CONTACT Ch is ine Mau ache mau ache@uni e.i Depa men o Managemen , ag i ood Managemen and inno a ion Lab, Ca’ Fosca i
uni e si y o Venice, Canna egio 873, Venice 30121, i aly
h ps://doi.o g/10.1080/23311975.2024.2398190
his is an open access a icle dis ibu ed unde he e ms o he C ea i e Commons a ibu ion License (h p://c ea i ecommons.o g/licenses/by/4.0/), which
pe mi s un es ic ed use, dis ibu ion, and ep oduc ion in any medium, p o ided he o iginal wo k is p ope ly ci ed. he e ms on which his a icle has been
published allow he pos ing o he accep ed Manusc ip in a eposi o y by he au ho (s) o wi h hei consen .
ARTICLE HISTORY
ecei ed 11 Oc obe
2023
e ised 15 augus 2024
accep ed 23 augus 2024
KEYWORDS
Digi al ma ke ing; social
media; social media
ma ke ing; digi al
p esence; sMes; clus e
analysis
SUBJECTS
Business, Managemen
and accoun ing; indus y
& indus ial s udies;
Ma ke ing;
en ep eneu ship and
small Business
Managemen
2 F. checchina O e al.
esea ch and indus y expe s ag ee ha small and medium-sized en e p ises (sMes) a e slow o
adop digi al ools o ma ke ing and s a egy. Va ious analyses o e a agmen ed pic u e o he de e -
minan s o sMes’ hesi a ion in digi al ma ke ing. se e al misma ches ha e hampe ed he ela ionship
be ween digi al communica ion and small o ganisa ions. he clash be ween sMes’ ope a ional logic and
digi al ma ke ing s a egies has been well-documen ed in esea ch (colapin o e al., 2021). he absence
o necessa y skills (Bowen & Mo is, 2019) and insu icien human esou ces (casse a e al., 2020) con-
ibu e o delays in adop ing digi al ools o consume ou each. Fu he in es iga ions e ealed ha
ac o s like limi ed echnical o inancial esou ces and a coun e p oduc i e o ganisa ional cul u e we e
impeding he digi aliza ion o sMes (coco e al., 2024). he applica ion o s anda dized, ‘one size i s all’
app oaches in digi al ma ke ing migh be ano he ac o causing he di ide be ween sMes and up- o-
da e s a egies (se ku e & Dibb, 2022).
his esea ch con ibu es o he exis ing knowledge on digi al and online ma ke ing s a egies o
ood sMes in mul iple ways. Fi s , i o e s a g anula and a icula ed de ini ion o online p esence ha
migh in eg a e he agmen ed asso men o cons uc s in he cu en li e a u e. By conside ing he
mul i ude o ools and channels a i ms’ disposal, we expand he exis ing unde s anding o online p es-
ence. ins ead o p og essing h ough a ixed se o s ages, online p esence can di e among a ious
g oups o i ms. By u ilizing a dis inc da ase and an inno a i e analy ic amewo k, we dis inguish
be ween he a ious con igu a ions o i ms’ digi al p esence. Mo ing om a iables and models de el-
oped in ex an li e a u e and om ou da ase , based on a sample o 520 ag i- ood sMes, we p esen
di e en digi al p esence con igu a ions. second, ollowing he main p esc ip ions o he con igu a ion
app oach (ha ms e al., 2009) his s udy sheds ligh on he de e minan s o pa e ns e ealed by a clus e
analysis. hen, o unde s and he unde lying ac o s in luencing he obse ed se ups, we ely on mul iple
in e iews wi h manage s and owne s o ood sMes and de elop p oposi ions o u u e esea ch e o s.
he ollowing esea ch ques ions a e add essed. Which dis inc con igu a ions o i ms’ online p esence
in he ood sec o can be iden i ied? Which o ganisa ional, human, and s uc u al ac o s explain i ms’
online p esence?
Li e a u e e iew
Online p esence
o in e ac wi h cus ome s and sell, businesses need o es ablish a p esence in online spaces. Despi e
many men ions in he li e a u e (checchina o & Zanichelli, 2016; k omidha & obson, 2020; lányi e al.,
2021), he ‘concep o online p esence is ill-de ined’ (cioppi e al., 2019). One o he de ini ional issues is
he e e -changing na u e o he in e ne . De ini ions p eda ing he so-called web 2.0 a e no longe appli-
cable since hey e e o websi es, in ane s, and po als wi hou conside ing social ne wo ks (Bush e al.,
1998). he e minology used o deno e online spaces is also di e en : e ms such as ma ke spaces,
hype media communica ion en i onmen s, o e-ma ke s we e used in he ea ly 2000s (Ozuem e al.,
2008). cu en ly, pla o ms, social ne wo ks, and social media domina e in e ms o usage and academic
esea ch.
he de ini ion o online p esence should acknowledge he op ions a ailable o i ms and how hey
a e in e connec ed (kim e al., 2013). in essence, no only one needs o ponde he mul iplici y o chan-
nels bu also how i ms can dwell in online en i onmen s: hey migh gain space (ea ned), con ol i
(owned), o pay o i ( h ough banne s o sponso ed campaigns) (colice e al., 2018; Jayson e al.,
2018). Fe oz & Wood (2017) de ine online p esence as ‘a mul idimensional cons uc encompassing sea ch
engine isibili y, social media p esence, he le el o incoming in e ne a ic o a e aile ’s websi e
(in-links) and i s di e si y (domain names), and he numbe o men ions a e aile ’s name ecei es’. hus,
hey mix owned and ea ned media. smi hson e al. (2011) classi ied p esence in o h ee dimensions: no
websi e, websi e only, and websi e wi h e-comme ce.
s udies o digi al p esence mainly conside ed owned media, de ec ing and measu ing 1) websi es, 2)
social media pages on a single ne wo k, and 3) he co-exis ence o a websi e and a single social ne wo k
page. De ining wha is being measu ed is a c i ical ques ion ha mus be add essed. i opening a social
media page is ela i ely s aigh o wa d and inexpensi e, consis en ly popula ing i is no (Valen ini,
cOgen BUsiness & ManageMen 3
2015). assessing p esence while including consis ency in con en c ea ion and engagemen is-à- is he
simple coun o exis ing p o iles challenges he exis ing knowledge base. Despi e ecognising he alue
o consume engagemen , b ands o en ace challenges when i comes o in es ing in social media p es-
ence and main aining consis en pos ing. hus, he chances o nu u ing a b and communi y diminish,
e oding he numbe o e u ning cus ome s (sande s & F ebe g, 2020).
Online p esence as a p ocess
O he iewpoin s cen e on he p ocess ha helps es ablish an online p esence. i is amed as a
s age-g ow h model, whe e businesses pass h ough di e en le els o digi al p o iciency o achie e
supe io ma ke ing pe o mances. se e al s udies ha e ep esen ed his jou ney by enume a ing he
online ools equi ed o s eng hen b and image and in e ac wi h consume s. One o he i s models
was de eloped by Bu gess and coope (1998), a Model o in e ne comme ce adop ion (Mica). i was
e ised a ew yea s la e in o an ex ended eMica (Da ies e al., 2018) o i he new digi al en i onmen s.
hey pos ula ed companies begin wi h a simple ‘p esence’ on he web and build on unc ionali ies o e
ime, na iga ing h ough a lea ning p ocess. Fi ms’ online p esence becomes mo e complex as i inco -
po a es new p ocesses and ini ia i es o igina ing om hei expe ience wi h, and knowledge abou , ic .
as ime passes, companies gain a be e unde s anding o hei cus ome s h ough inc eased in e ac ion
and access o abundan in o ma ion (k aus e al., 2019). his knowledge can be ha nessed o e amp
hei online p esence and o selec adequa e digi al pla o ms o each a be e alignmen wi h a ge
audiences. he model p o ides a oadmap showing whe e a business s ands in he p ocess o de elop-
ing e-comme ce applica ions, mo ing om a s a ic in e ne p esence o a mo e in e ac i e one. i com-
p ises h ee s ages: (1) p omo ion, (2) p o ision o in o ma ion and se ices, deno ing he le el o
in e ac i i y, and (3) ansac ion p ocesses.
acco ding o shal oni & Wes (2010), a i m’s in e ne ma ke ing s a egy can lead o he ede ini ion
o i s o e all s a egy h ough h ee s ages: communica ion, ansac ion, and ans o ma ion. in hei
analysis o sMes in he ou ism sec o , naka a e al. (2012) ind ha in oducing social media in o hei
ope a ions igge s a pa e n whe e, a he beginning, i ms imp o ise and la e p oceed wi h ca e ul
planning and in eg a ion wi h he gene al ma ke ing s a egy. Focusing on social media, e ing and spil
(2016) p opose h ee ma u i y s ages ela ed o he adop ion and use o key elemen s o social media
s a egies: ini ia ion, di usion, and ma u i y (see also Pascucci e al., 2017). in summa y, conside able
esea ch has ocused on analysing web p esence o social media p esence. he cons uc lacks an in e-
g a i e and pa simonious de ini ion, while i s measu es a e he e ogeneous, making i di icul o capi al-
ise on he accumula ion o s udies.
Online digi al p esence: a concep ual amewo k
o analyse sMes’ digi al p esence in an in eg a ed and pa simonious way, we need o de ine i s cons i-
u i e elemen s. shi ing om he s ages o g ow h o Bu gess & coope (1998), we ansi ion o he
eMica amewo k. We analysed he online p esence o ag i- ood sMes, e alua ing websi es and social
media, measu ing he adop ion o one o mo e owned media and also he consis ency o i ms’ ac i i ies
and con en s. We posi ha publishing con en and c ea ing a an base can lead o a highe le el o
ma u i y.
he eMica model’s eliance on quan i ying spaces does no allow a ine-g ained assessmen o i ms’
online p esence and he ac ual le el o ma u i y: in ac , a p o ile (coun ed) migh be emp y o seldom
popula ed, le alone isi ed and engaged wi h by use s (Pascucci e al., 2017; shal oni, 2017). We main-
ain ha c ea ing a websi e o opening a social ne wo k p o ile a e he i s s eps; popula ing hem wi h
con en s o gene a ing and e aining a ic equi e awa eness and explici s a egies. Ou aim is o
imp o e he model by including da a on con en c ea ion equency and i s in luence on he use base.
his will p o ide a mo e accu a e depic ion o he o iginal model’s second s age. Mo eo e , in e ac ions
a e gained h ough he social media page, no a i m’s websi e; hus, we collec ed da a on he p esence
o websi es o social ne wo ks o moni o he s a ic p esence, equency o publica ion, and anbase
pe o mance o assess he in e ac ion.
4 F. checchina O e al.
as o he au ho s s a ed, no uni e sally accep ed me hod o e alua ing online p esence is a ailable
(Da ies e al., 2018). o de ine a ious online p esence con igu a ions and build upon p io esea ch
(chung e al., 2017), we ha e iden i ied i e key a eas. hese a eas encompass signi ican a iables: web-
si e p esence, social ne wo k p esence, pe o mance indica o s (including edi o ial ac i i ies and engage-
men ), in e na ional p esence, and e-comme ce. Desc ip ions o hese i e a eas, o he a iables, and o
hei oles in he amewo k a e epo ed in he nex pa ag aph.
Me hods
We adop ed a mixed-me hod esea ch design o unde s and how ood i ms con igu e hei online p es-
ence and explain he obse ed con igu a ions. We collec ed and analysed da a om a ious sou ces. Fi s ,
as in g une and Powe (2018), we collec ed da a om websi es, social media pages, and p o iles o a
sample o i alian ood sMes. he da ase we analysed was buil by coding he cha ac e is ics o he i ms’
websi es and online spaces, as illus a ed in he ollowing desc ip ion o he analy ic amewo k. no pe -
mission is equi ed o use such da a o esea ch pu poses. Following a con igu a ion app oach (ha ms
e al., 2009), we ea ed hese g anula da a o iden i y con igu a ions o online p esence in a clus e
analysis ha iden i ied h ee clus e s o i ms. applying a clus e analysis, he mos sui able app oach is
o disc imina e among se s o uni s. clus e analysis so s obse a ions in o simila g oups and helps
esea che s c ea e axonomies ha can alida e new heo ies (c um e al., 2022). nex , o iangula e da a
and ge mo e insigh s, we chose a sub-g oup o esponden s om i ms’ manage s and ep esen a i es.
We conduc ed in e iews wi h hem o gain a deepe unde s anding o he o ganisa ional and s a egic
ac o s in luencing hei choices. his added dep h o he quan i a i e analysis and con igu a ions. We
selec ed he in o man s based on conside a ions o a ie y and he e ogenei y o he cases, as illus a ed
in he emainde o he pape . in o med consen by in e iewees was ob ained when hey we e ec ui ed
o he in e iews. in e iewees we e i s con ac ed ia email: he esea ch eam p esen ed he s udy, i s
objec i es and i s con ibu ion o p ac ice. hen, hey we e con ac ed ia hei publicly a ailable co po a e
phone numbe o hei p i a e phone i hey sha ed i in esponse o he o iginal email. a he beginning
o he call, he esea ch eam in o med in e iewees ha he ansc ip s o hei in e iews would ha e
been accessed and analysed only by he au ho s, and ha exce p s o he in e iews migh be used only
a e being made anonymous. con iden iali y o he da a was ensu ed o all he esponden s in w i en
and o al o m. a e hei o al ag eemen , he esea ch eam and he in e iewees p oceeded wi h he
con e sa ion, in o ming he in e iewees ha hey could wi hd aw om he s udy a any momen (as in
hasan e al., 2024). he ques ions o mula ed in he in e iew p o ocol aimed a collec ing in o ma ion on
i ms’ s a egies a he han abou people o hei hough s ega ding hemsel es; no ques ion del ed
wi h sensi i e in o ma ion o iden i iable pe sonal in o ma ion. Based on his, he au ho eam uled ou
e hical isks bu none heless hey ensu ed ha he esea ch was designed and execu ed acco ding o
e hical and egula o y guidelines go e ning esea ch in ol ing human pa icipan s, wi h a pa icula
a en ion o adap ing he WMa decla a ion o helsinki (WMa, 2022) o a social in es iga ion.
Online p esence da a collec ion and measu es
We analysed a sample o i alian sMes (10 o 250 employees) in he ag i- ood sec o in he h ee egions
o no h-eas o i aly (Vene o, en ino - al o adige, and F iuli Venezia giulia). a comme cial da abase,
he Bu eau Van Dijk’s eposi o y aida, allowed us o ex ac he s a is ical uni e se. We kep all i ms
whose da a on u no e and employees we e a ailable and comple e. his p ocedu e s abilised he inal
sample a 520 ood companies.
ega ding measu es, wha ollows is a desc ip ion o he indica o s deno ing he a iables o ou
model ( able 1).
Websi e p esence
o e alua e he basic le el o online p esence, we measu ed he exis ence o a company’s websi e
(dummy a iable).
cOgen BUsiness & ManageMen 5
Social ne wo k p esence
We collec ed da a on he p esence o he company on he mos used social ne wo ks: Facebook, wi e
(now enamed as X), ins ag am, linkedin, Pin e es , and You ube. Fo each, we c ea ed a dummy a iable
(1 when he i m had a p o ile o page on a speci ic social ne wo k, and 0 o he wise). We hen c ea ed
a a iable o sum up hese indica o s o p esence o p o ide in o ma ion on he numbe o social ne -
wo ks a company adop ed. Following he eMica model, we used hese a iables as measu es o he
in en ion o inc ease in e ac ion wi h consume s.
Social media pe o mance
since he simple p esence o absence o a page o p o ile in social ne wo ks measu es only pa ially a
i m’s p esence, we added ou mo e a iables o measu e sMes’ social pe o mance: wo ela ed o
Facebook and wo ela ed o ins ag am.
Fi ms’ ac i i y on social ne wo ks
ac i i y me ics measu e social media ou pu s in publishing con en ( u en & solomon, 2017). c ea ing
a company accoun on a social ne wo k does no deno e an ac i e pos u e by he company: i migh ,
in ac , emain silen . o measu e social ne wo k ac i i y, we ga he ed da a on pos ing equency on wo
main social ne wo ks: Facebook and ins ag am. We de eloped wo s a egies o da a collec ion because
o he di e ences in he algo i hms and da a a ailabili y. Fo he o me , we collec ed da a on he num-
be o pos s published in a six-mon h pe iod (July-Decembe ). Fo ins ag am, we c ea ed an index by
di iding he o al numbe o pos s by he numbe o yea s since he i s pos was published.
Popula i y on social ne wo ks
in line wi h p e ious s udies (e.g. Baghi o e al., 2019; k omidha & obson, 2020), we use he numbe
o page/p o ile likes/ ans o measu e a i m’s abili y o a ac and engage use s.
Table 1. he analy ic amewo k.
Ca ego y Va iable ype o a iable
use o he a iable in he
model
Websi e p esence Websi e p esence Dummy a iable (1= p esence;
0 = no p esen )
Clus e ing a iable
social ne wo k p esence social media p esence on
Facebook (FB), ins ag am (ig),
Linkedin (LinK), wi e ( W),
You ube (Y ), Pin e es (Pin).
Dummy a iable o each social
ne wo k (1= p esence in he
social ne wo k; 0 = no p esen )
Clus e ing a iable
social ne wo k p esence numbe o social media (n_social) Coun ing a iable Clus e ing a iable
social media pe o mance Fi ms’ ac i i y on social ne wo k
based on equency pos ing on
Facebook (FB_pos )
Coun ing a iable Clus e ing a iable
social media pe o mance Fi ms’ ac i i y on social ne wo k
based on equency pos ing on
ins ag am (ig_pos )
Coun ing a iable Clus e ing a iable
social media pe o mance Popula i y on Facebook as numbe
o Facebook page likes
(FB_likes)
Coun ing a iable Clus e ing a iable
social media pe o mance Popula i y on ins ag am as
numbe o ig p o ile ollowe s
(ig_ ollowe s)
Coun ing a iable Clus e ing a iable
in e na ional p esence numbe o websi e languages
(n_language)
Coun ing a iable Clus e ing a iable
e-comme ce P op ie a y e-comme ce p esence Dummy a iable (1= p esence;
0 = no p esen )
Clus e ing a iable
expe ience in social ne wo ks
usage
numbe s o yea s since he
Facebook page o ins ag am
p o ile has open (FB_yea s;
ig_yea s)
Coun ing a iable Desc ip i e a iable
Fi m size u no e Coun ing a iable Desc ip i e a iable
Fi m size numbe o employees Coun ing a iable Desc ip i e a iable
sec o Mea , Fish, Vege ables, oil, Dai y
p oduc s,
Ce eals, Baked/pas y, o he s
Dummy o each sec o (1 = sec o ,
0 = o he wise)
Desc ip i e a iable
6 F. checchina O e al.
In e na ional p esence
We measu ed he numbe o languages used on i ms’ websi es; he highe he numbe o languages,
he highe he hypo he ical in e ac ions wi h consume s ( ang- aye & s anding, 2016). ansla ing he
si e also implies in es ing addi ional esou ces o each a wide audience.
E-comme ce
his is a dummy a iable ha measu es he p esence (o absence) o an e-comme ce websi e in an
owned space.
hen, we collec ed da a o desc ibe clus e s in e ms o size, subsec o s, and expe ience in social
ne wo k managemen .
Fi m size and Sub-sec o
We measu ed i m size in e ms o u no e and employees. a e age i m size, especially in a sec o like
ag i- ood, migh di e because o he speci ici ies o he alue chain. hus, ope a ional and ma ke ing
logics can di e .
Expe ience in social ne wo k use
Fi ms’ digi al ma u i y can inc ease as hei digi al senio i y on social ne wo ks inc eases. Based on his
assump ion, we conside ed he numbe o yea s o p esence in a social ne wo k as a p oxy o his
expe ience and accumula ed lea ning. as sugges ed by Michaelidou e al. (2011), he iming o social
media in oduc ion may a ec how companies use hem. Baghi o e al. (2019) used a simila measu e:
Facebook an page-opening ime. We wan ed o unde s and whe he ma u i y is a ma e o ime and
expe ience o i companies can begin hei jou ney wi h a mo e ma u e con igu a ion.
In e iews
as a as he in e iews a e conce ned, o add dep h o he di e en clus e s and o unco e po en ial
causal ela ionships, we in e iewed 18 ma ke ing and sales manage s in a sub-sample o i ms.
We in e iewed in o man s using ques ions ha ocused on he decision-making p ocesses behind he
obse ed con igu a ions o ood sMes’ online p esence. We used a semi-s uc u ed sc ip . Based on an
analysis o he li e a u e (e ing & spil, 2016; li e al., 2021; Me gel & B e schneide , 2013), we ou lined an
in e iew guide ocusing on he ollowing mac o- hemes: he objec i es se o he online p esence, he
amoun o dedica ed esou ces, he me hods used o manage and assess he esul s o digi al p esence,
he ac o s in ol ed in publishing and in e ac ing online (e.g. in e nal eams is-à- is ex e nal agencies and
consul an s), and he ac o s behind op managemen decisions ela ed o digi al ma ke ing s a egies.
We p oceeded as ollows. Fi s , he selec ion o in o man s aimed a sec o al di e si y. Fi ms and
esponden s, in ac , we e selec ed ac oss he sub-sec o s ep esen ed in he sample. second, he esea ch
eam ensu ed ha i ms wi h a no iceable online p esence and o ganisa ions wi h a modes o limi ed
p esence we e conside ed. in e iews las ed app oxima ely 1 hou and we e ansc ibed and coded by
he au ho s and a eam o esea ch assis an s o alida e he in e p e a ion o he pa ag aphs (gioia
e al., 2013). he au ho s hen wen i e a i ely h ough he codes and li e a u e on digi al ma ke ing
p esence o c ea e o e a ching ca ego ies and o mula e esea ch p oposi ions.
Resul s
Sample desc ip ion
in ou sample, websi es a e qui e common (87% o he i ms ha e a leas one webpage). Facebook was
he mos popula social ne wo k (61%), ollowed by ins ag am (40%), linkedin (28%), and You ube (28%).
Only 15% o he companies ope a e owned e-comme ce websi es.
cOgen BUsiness & ManageMen 7
Fo y-one pe cen o web con en s a e w i en in i alian. eigh een pe cen o he websi es used wo
languages. he a e age numbe o languages used o he si e is equal o 1.6 and 1.9 o social ne wo ks,
wi h a ange be ween 1 o 6. On Facebook, he a e age numbe o likes is app oxima ely 5 housand,
while 20 is he mean alue o published pos s in he six mon hs conside ed ( able 2). he esul s show
a high s anda d de ia ion in likes on Facebook page because o he high he e ogenei y among he
companies. his alue is lowe o ins ag am: i is less used, and we assume i ms migh use i in a mo e
ocused manne , hus esul ing in mo e uni o m beha iou .
Clus e analysis
We analysed he da a o clus e i ms in o se s ha disc imina ed hei online p esence by pe o ming a
hie a chical clus e analysis. We used he s a is ical package. he clus e ing a iables a e lis ed in
able 1. hese a iables subs an ia e ou de ini ion o online p esence.
We used he unc ion Daisy: i p o ides a solu ion o compu ing he dis ance ma ix when he da a
con ains non-nume ic columns (mixed da a: he a iables a e quan i a i e con inuous and dicho omous).
among he di e en clus e ing c i e ia, we adop ed agglome a i e clus e ing, he mos common ype o
hie a chical clus e ing used o g oup objec s in o clus e s based on hei simila i y, known as agglome a i e
nes ing (agnes). he algo i hm ini ially ea ed each objec as a single on clus e . nex , i me ges pai s
o clus e s un il all o hem con e ge in o a la ge clus e con aining all objec s, esul ing in a ee-shaped
ep esen a ion (a dend og am, Figu e 1).
Table 2. Clus e ing a iables: desc ip i e s a is ics o each clus e (bold alues a e he highes o each ow, he mos
signi ican ).
C1 C2 C3 sample a e age
n = 121 (23%) n = 349 (67%) n = 50 (10%) n = 520
P agma is s Lagga ds un ocused
websi e 1 0.8 1 0.9
n_languages 2.2 1.4 1.7 1.6
FB 1 0.4 1 0.6
ig 10.2 0.7 0.4
W 0.3 0 0.7 0.1
Pin 0.2 0 0.4 0.1
LinK 0.7 0.1 0.4 0.3
Y 0.6 0.2 0.2 0.3
n_social 3.9 0.9 3.6 1.9
e-comme ce 0.5 0 0 0.1
ig_pos 67.6 7.3 39.3 24.4
ig_ ollowe s 2,106 96 720 642
FB_pos 51 8 27 20
FB_like 17,156 748 8,015 5,265
Figu e 1. Resul s o hie a chical clus e analysis.
14 F. checchina O e al.
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