Gala i, An onino; C escimanno, Ma ia; Tine ia, Sal a o e; Fagnani, F ancesco
A icle
Social media as a s a egic ma ke ing ool in he Sicilian
wine indus y: E idence om Facebook
Wine Economics and Policy
P o ided in Coope a ion wi h:
UniCeSV - Cen o Uni e si a io di Rice ca pe lo S iluppo Compe i i o del Se o e Vi i inicolo,
Uni e si y o Flo ence
Sugges ed Ci a ion: Gala i, An onino; C escimanno, Ma ia; Tine ia, Sal a o e; Fagnani, F ancesco
(2017) : Social media as a s a egic ma ke ing ool in he Sicilian wine indus y: E idence om
Facebook, Wine Economics and Policy, ISSN 2212-9774, Else ie , Ams e dam, Vol. 6, Iss. 1, pp.
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Wine Economics and Policy 6 (2017) 40–47
Social media as a s a egic ma ke ing ool in he Sicilian wine indus y:
E idence om Facebook
An onino Gala i, Ma ia C escimanno, Sal a o e Tine ia
n
, F ancesco Fagnani
Depa men o Ag icul u al and Fo es Sciences, Uni e si à degli S udi di Pale mo, Viale delle Scienze, Building 4, 90128 Pale mo, I aly
Recei ed 6 Sep embe 2016; ecei ed in e ised o m 20 Feb ua y 2017; accep ed 21 Ma ch 2017
A ailable online 14 Ap il 2017
Abs ac
O e he las ew yea s, many companies ha e in eg a ed social media, and social ne wo king si es in pa icula , in o hei communica ion and
media plan, leading o a deep ans o ma ion o he o ganiza ional models and changing he companies' ma ke ing dynamics. This s udy has dual
aims: fi s , o ecognize and alida e he fi m's social media (SM) e o s in i s use o he Facebook pla o m; second, o examine he ela ionships
among he fi m's SM e o s and some fi m and manage ial cha ac e is ics. In o de o achie e hese esea ch aims, da a on 45 wine ies we e
collec ed and analysed, using a model ha conside s h ee di e en dimensions o he fi ms' ac i i y on he social pla o m. The esul s show ha
mainly small fi ms, in physical and economic e ms, led by manage s wi h a highe educa ional le el, ha e become mo e in ol ed in SM as
shown by high alues o in ensi y, ichness, and esponsi eness. On he con a y, la ge companies' social-media e o s ha e been mo e modes .
The esul s o his s udy need o be in e p e ed wi hin he con ex o which ou esea ch was designed. Findings ha e some heo e ical and
p ac ical implica ions.
&2017 UniCeSV, Uni e si y o Flo ence. P oduc ion and hos ing by Else ie B.V. This is an open access a icle unde he CC BY-NC-ND
license (h p://c ea i ecommons.o g/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Keywo ds: Fi ms' social media e o s; Facebook; Wine indus y; I aly
1. In oduc ion
In ecen yea s, he apid sp ead o social media (SM) and hei
applica ion o he fieldo ma ke ingha ehadasignifican impac
on business s uc u es, leading o a deep ans o ma ion o he
o ganiza ional models and changing he companies' ma ke ing
dynamics (Wu, 2016;Kim e al., 2015). Kaplan and Haenlein
(2010, p. 61)define SM as ‘a g oup o in e ne -based applica ions
ha build on he ideological and echnological ounda ions o
web 2.0, and ha allow he c ea ion and exchange o use -
gene a ed con en ’. Indeed, h ough SM channels, in e ac ions
be ween indi iduals o among indi iduals and o ganiza ions a e
acili a ed and dissemina ed (Be hon e al., 2012).
Mo e and mo e fi ms oday adop SM as a communica ion
ool in o de o bo h conduc hei ma ke ing e o s and o
ex end hei adi ional ma ke ing (Dahnil e al., 2014;
Oz amu and Ka akadila , 2014). In pa icula , as shown by
T aino (2012), hey a e seen as key ools o c ea ing and
main aining cus ome connec ions, and o his eason hey
ha e become an impo an ins umen o cus ome ela ionship
managemen (Ka jaluo o e al., 2015, p. 3). Use o SM in
ma ke ing s a egies, as claimed by Paniagua and Sapena
(2014), is only inno a i e in i s means, no in i s goals, which
a e o inc ease sales and enhance he fi m's epu a ion.
As no ed by Be hon e al. (2005) he fi ms u ilize SM in
h ee ways. A fi s app oach is adi ional and s uc u ed, in
which SM pla o ms a e conside ed as adi ional ma ke ing
channels and in which economic e u n on in es men (ROI) is
he fi m's main objec i e. A second app oach is adi ional-
expe imen al, whe e pu ely economic aspec s a e also associa ed
wi h social in e ac ions (social-ROI). And in a hi d, expe i-
men al app oach, he fi m in eg a es a human oice in o he
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h p://dx.doi.o g/10.1016/j.wep.2017.03.003
2212-9774/&2017 UniCeSV, Uni e si y o Flo ence. P oduc ion and hos ing by Else ie B.V. This is an open access a icle unde he CC BY-NC-ND license
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n
Co esponding au ho .
E-mail add esses: an onino.gala [email protected] (A. Gala i),
ma ia.c [email protected] (M. C escimanno),
sal a o e. ine [email protected] (S. Tine ia), [email p o ec ed] (F. Fagnani).
Pee e iew unde esponsibili y o Wine Economics and Policy.
social-media pla o m, aiming o a ec consume imp essions o
he o ganiza ion o i s b ands (Dijkmans e al., 2015).
Kaplan and Haenlein (2010), on he basis o media esea ch
(social p esence and media ichness) and social p ocesses (sel -
p esen a ion and sel -disclosu e), classi y SM acco ding o six
ca ego ies: blogs, social ne wo king si es, i ual social wo lds,
collabo a i e p ojec s, con en communi ies, and i ual game
wo lds. Among hese SM channels, social ne wo king si es
(SNS) a e applica ions ha allow use s o c ea e p ofiles,
h ough which hey can connec wi h o he use s, exchange
pe sonal in o ma ion, send messages, in i e iends and
colleagues o e en s, and sha e knowledge and in o ma ion.
Many companies in ecen yea s, ecognizing he g owing
numbe o eco ded use s o SNS, ha e in eg a ed SNS in o
hei ma ke ing plans; in doing so hey exploi an oppo uni y
o con ac end-use s in a imely and di ec way, a a ela i ely
lowe cos and highe le el o e ficiency han can be achie ed
wi h mo e adi ional communica ion and ma ke ing ools
(Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010). Mo e specifically, in acili a ing
and enhancing in e pe sonal ela ionships h ough he
exchange o in o ma ion on p oduc s and se ices, fi ms gain
an abili y o o ecas consume pu chasing beha iou , inc ease
b and awa eness, inc ease sales, and build consume loyal y
(Mozas-Mo al e al., 2016;Bianchi and And ew, 2015;
Dehghani and Tume , 2015;Cas ono o and Huang, 2012).
In ac , h ough SNS, fi ms can ob ain aluable in o ma ion
abou people, including hei p e e ences, social influence, and
ypes o social in e ac ions (Schniede jans e al., 2013).
Facebook, as he mos es ablished online social ne wo k,
egis e ed in he fi s qua e o 2016 mo e han 1.6 billion
ac i e use s (Facebook, 2016), which ep esen s an a e age
annual inc ease in use s o 194.3% since 2008. This confi ms
Facebook as he bigges social ne wo king pla o m in he
wo ld, ollowed by Qzone (p edominan in China) and
Ins ag am (Cosenza, 2015). The Facebook pla o m enables
he exchange o in o ma ion quickly, flexibly, and easily
(Mozas-Mo al e al., 2016). Today, fi ms a e willing o spend
a easonable pa o hei budge s o each po en ial cus ome s
h ough ad e ising on Facebook (Falls, 2009). This is con-
fi med by Facebook ad e ising e enue, which, acco ding o
Facebook's 2016 Annual Repo , was $17,928 million in 2015
compa ed o $1974 million in 2010—a 134.7% yea -o e -yea
inc ease (Facebook, 2016). Dehghani and Tume (2015) ha e
no ed ha ad e ising on Facebook significan ly a ec s b and
image and b and equi y, wo ac o s ha con ibu e o
consume buying in en ions.
SM and SNS in pa icula ha e majo implica ions espe-
cially o fi ms ha o e p oduc s such as wine, which a e
elian on a high le el o epu a ional c edibili y among
po en ial consume s, and o which sea ching o in o ma ion
is pa o he consump ion expe ience (Capi ello e al., 2014, p.
129). Wi h specific e e ence o he global wine indus y,
Cipolla (2013) has no ed di e en dynamics be ween ela i ely
newe and olde wine-p oducing coun ies. In he US, 94.0%
o wine p oduce s ha e a Facebook page, while in he
adi ional p oducing coun ies, such as F ance, he p opo ion
is as low as 53.0%.
Gi en his backg ound, he aim o his s udy is wo old.
Fi s , we es ima e fi ms' social-media e o s on he Facebook
pla o m using he model p oposed by Chung e al. (2014),
which conside s h ee di e en dimensions: in ensi y, ichness,
and esponsi eness. Second, we analyse he ela ionships
among fi ms' SM e o s and some fi m and manage ial
cha ac e is ics. To achie e his aim, he s udy is ocused on
a sample o 45 wine ies ope a ing in Sicily, he hi d I alian
winemaking egion, whe e 2014 p oduc i i y s ood a oughly
4.5 million hec oli e s (ISTAT, 2016), and which includes a
high le el o e i o ial specifici y (as much as 70.1% o o al
wine p oduc ion has a designa ion o o igin). The Sicilian
success wi h wine p oduc ion is due o he ac ha nume ous
wine ies ha e ecen ly implemen ed mode nisa ion p ocesses
and a e paying inc eased a en ion o imp o ing p oduc
quali y, packaging, and ma ke ing (Giacoma a e al., 2016;
Gala i e al., 2015a).
The pape is o ganized as ollows. A li e a u e e iew on he
main ac o s a ec ing he adop ion o SM s a egies, and he
models adop ed in o de o measu e fi ms' SM e o s, is
p esen ed in Sec ion 2.Sec ion 3 summa izes he me hodolo-
gical app oach used. Resul s a e p esen ed and discussed in
Sec ion 4.Sec ion 5 con ains final conside a ions and some
concluding ema ks.
2. Li e a u e e iew
Many s udies show ha fi ms' adop ion o ma ke ing
s a egies based on SM ha e a posi i e impac ela ed o di ec
in e ac ion wi h consume s; he s a egies allow he fi ms,
based on consume eedback, o acqui e ma ke ing in o ma ion
and o lea n abou cu en pe o mance and p edic u u e
pe o mance (Kim e al., 2015;Gelb and Sunda am, 2002). In
his ega d, Paniagua and Sapena (2014) iden i y ou channels
h ough which SM a ec s he fi m's pe o mance: he ela ion-
ship be ween fi ms and socie y (social capi al), knowledge o
consume p e e ences ( e ealed p e e ences), ans o ma ion o
social-ma ke ing esou ces in o financial pe o mance capabil-
i ies (social ma ke ing), and con e sion o social co po a e
esou ces in o ope a ional pe o mance capabili ies (co po a e
social ne wo king).
Recen s udies show, on he one hand, ha he e has been eal
di ficul y in de e mining he e ec i eness o in es men s in SM,
assessed in e ms o e u n on in es men and e u n on sales
(Wu, 2016;Kim e al., 2015;Chung e al., 2014;Kuma and
Mi chandani, 2012), due o he complexi y o dis inguishing
cus ome s om online communi y membe s (Ang, 2011). On
he o he hand, s udies ha e shown he e a e many fi ms ha
ha e inco po a ed SM s a egies in an in eg a ed communica ion
and media plan (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010)bychanging he
way o doing business. Companies use SM pla o ms, such as
Facebook, in o de o inc ease b and awa eness and enlis
people's pa icipa ion h ough online commen s, pos s, and o he
ypes o engagemen (Wallace e al., 2014). In pa icula , o
p oduc s such as wine, he in e ac ion be ween wine p oduce s
and consume s, o among consume s hemsel es, helps o o ien
consume beha iou . As sugges ed by Leigon (2011),SMhelps
A. Gala i e al. / Wine Economics and Policy 6 (2017) 40–47 41
o ad ance wine sales due o SM pla o ms' abili y o sp ead
wine consume s' opinions o o he s; Wilson and Quin on (2012)
add also ha SM pla o ms allow consume s o exchange
in o ma ion and encou age o he s o y di e en wines.
Bughin e al. (2011) show ha companies inco po a e SNS
in hei p omo ional plans in o de o educe in e nal commu-
nica ion and ma ke ing cos s, as well as o imp o e he
e ficiency o hei communica ion p ocesses wi h ex e nal
pa ies, he eby helping o dec ease ansac ion cos s (in o ma-
ion, nego ia ion, and moni o ing cos s), which a e no
negligible componen s o o al company cos s (Gala i e al.,
2015b).
The sp ead o SM and SNS, in pa icula , has a ec ed bo h
la ge o ganiza ions and small- and medium-sized en e p ises.
The la e a e o en cha ac e ized by a ma ked eluc ance
owa d he adop ion o new echnologies and mode n com-
munica ion channels (Dahnil e al., 2014;Kaplan and
Haenlein, 2010). Ne e heless, as shown by some au ho s,
SM s a egies a e he mos sui able ools o small and medium
en e p ises; al hough such fi ms a e cha ac e ized by limi ed
budge s and low expe ise, hey can, hanks o hei g ea e
flexibili y, compe e wi h la ge companies (Adegbuyi e al.,
2015;Pen ina e al., 2012). Social media, in ac , p o ide
inexpensi e p omo ional op ions wi h ela i ely low cos ,
compa ed o he cos s necessa y o communica ion in non-
i ual media (B oekemie e al., 2015;Dehghani and Tume ,
2015).
As no ed in many s udies, fi ms' adop ion o mode n digi al
echnologies and o new and inno a i e ools, such as SM,
which enhance hei in e ac ion wi h cus ome s, is a ec ed by
fi ms' manage ial cha ac e is ics (Gala i e al., 2016). Gende ,
age, and educa ional le el a e conside ed he key ac o s ha
can influence manage s' openness and ecep i i y o adop
mode n echnologies in hei o ganiza ions. Pal ia and Pal ia
(1999) no e ha he adop ion o e-business is a ec ed by
owne s' age, gende , educa ion le el, and compu ing/In e ne
skills. Wi h specific e e ence o SM adop ion, Vlach ei and
No a (2014) and Fosso and Ca e (2014) no e ha younge
manage s a e mo e likely o adop SM ools, and manage s o
owne s wi h a highe le el o educa ion ha e he abili y o
c ea e a a ou able a mosphe e o he adop ion and imple-
men a ion o inno a i e ools.
Al hough nume ous fi ms adop SNS, only a small po ion
o hese is able o exploi he po en ial ha hese ools can o e
(Chui e al., 2012); he p obable eason o his lack o success,
as no ed by Hanna e al. (2011), is hei ailu e o iden i y he
indica o s ha can measu e hei e o s.
In he economic li e a u e, e y ew empi ical models ha e
been p oposed o measu ing a fi m's social media e o s.
Some s udies a e limi ed o assessing fi ms' SM e o s
(Vlach ei and No a, 2015;Öz amu and Ka akadıla , 2014);
o he s use his measu e o e alua e he impac o fi ms' SM
ac i i y on financial pe o mance and b and epu a ion (Hong
e al., 2016;Chung e al., 2014), o o assess he ROI o he
SM ma ke ing (Ho man and Fodo , 2010). In hese s udies,
he fi ms' engagemen is assessed in e ms o he numbe o
likes o ans ha , as no ed by Paniagua and Sapena (2014),
posi i ely influence he fi ms' sha e alue, bu also aking in o
conside a ion he numbe o commen s and pos s, he ichness
and quali y o he con en (pho os, ideo, links), and he
equency o upda es, which a e impo an aspec s o a ac
a ge cus ome s' a en ion (Hong e al., 2016;Mo o e al.,
2016;Ka jaluo o e al., 2015;Chung e al., 2014;Öz amu and
Ka akadıla , 2014). Chung e al. (2014) concep ualize fi ms'
SM e o s by aking in o conside a ion h ee dimensions—
in ensi y, ichness, and esponsi eness—which iden i y he use
o SN bo h in quan i a i e and quali a i e e ms. This app oach
has been adop ed by Vlach ei and No a (2015) in hei s udy
on G eek ood manu ac u ing fi ms.
Findings om hese s udies show ha he e is a posi i e
co ela ion be ween he numbe o people alking abou a
company on Facebook and he fi m's ne e enue and numbe
o pe sonnel, indica ing ha people a e alking mo e abou
hose companies ha a e la ge and mo e p ofi able (Ka jaluo o
e al., 2015). Simila esul s we e ob ained by Chung e al.
(2014), acco ding o which, in quali a i e e ms, social media
ac i i y on Facebook by Sou h Ko ean companies was
posi i ely and significan ly associa ed wi h an inc ease in fi m
pe o mance measu ed by financial e u ns. Howe e , as no ed
by Öz amu and Ka akadıla (2014), me ics such as he
numbe o page iews, isi o s, iends, o ollowe s do no
au oma ically ansla e o highe con e sions, o de s, o sales.
These au ho s, compa ing he SM ac i i ies o US and Tu kish
companies on Facebook and Twi e , sugges ha in o de o
a ac cus ome s' a en ion, Small and Medium En e p ises
(SMEs) mus spend ime o c ea e ich con en on hei SM
channels.
Based on he abo e discussion, his s udy explo es he
ollowing hypo heses in ega d o he Sicilian wine p oduce s
unde in es iga ion:
H1. Small fi ms a e mo e engaged in SM ac i i y han a e
la ge fi ms.
H2. Fi ms managed by owne s/manage s wi h a high educa-
ional le el a e mo e engaged in SM ac i i y.
H3. Fi ms managed by younge owne s/manage s a e mo e
engaged in SM ac i i y.
3. Me hodological app oach
In o de o assess fi ms' SM e o s, wi h specific e e ence
o he Facebook pla o m, we adop ed he model p oposed by
Chung e al. (2014) and applied by Vlach ei and No a (2015),
which iden ified h ee di e en dimensions o fi ms' engage-
men in SM: in ensi y, ichness, and esponsi eness.
In pa icula , in ensi y is a quan i a i e measu e ha
cha ac e izes Facebook ac i i y, and is ob ained by di iding
he numbe o pos s and commen s on a fi m's Facebook page
wi h he numbe o ans o ha page (in o de o ake accoun
o he ne wo k size). A highe olume o pos s and commen s
could ep esen a g ea e oppo uni y, no only o imp o ing
use s' awa eness and engagemen wi h fi ms, bu also o
influencing he fi m's ma ke alue (Vlach ei and No a, 2015;
A. Gala i e al. / Wine Economics and Policy 6 (2017) 40–4742
Chung e al., 2014). The second dimension, ichness, which
exp esses quali a i ely he pos s made by fi ms and hus also
he quali y o hei SM ac i i ies, is de e mined by he a io o
he numbe o pos s con aining ideos, pho os, o links and he
o al numbe o pos s. The li e a u e sugges s ha messages
including ex s, pic u es, o ideos ha e a di e en abili y o
deli e in o ma ion (Da and Lengel, 1986). In pa icula , his
abili y is g ea e in messages con aining pic u es han mes-
sages ha con ain only ex because hey equi e less p oces-
sing e o (La kin and Simon, 1987). Addi ionally, messages
con aining ideos a e easie o unde s and and mo e
in o ma ion- ich han messages con aining s a ic pic u es
(Pa k and Hopkins, 1992). As sugges ed by Eme son (2012),
in mo ing om ex -only messages o hose ha con ain
pic u es and ideo, mo e in o ma ion can be communica ed,
and hey a e mo e likely o be no iced and sha ed by
consume s, because hey a e mo e engaging and in o ma i e.
Finally, he hi d dimension o SM e o s is esponsi eness,
which quali a i ely measu es he deg ee o in e ac ion be ween
fi ms and consume s; i is ob ained by di iding he numbe o
commen s made by fi ms by he o al numbe o commen s
(bo h businesses and use s). The g ea e he alue o espon-
si eness, o in e ac i i y, he deepe he exchange o in o ma-
ion be ween fi ms and use s, which is undamen al o fi ms'
su i al and o he building o social capi al on he social
media si es (Yo k, 2012).
The analysis o Facebook pages, necessa y o e alua e he SM
e o s, was ca ied ou s a ing om a lis o 208 wine ies
ope a ing in Sicily p o ided by he Sicilian Regional Depa men
o Ag icul u e. The lis was e iewed and co ec ed o elimina e
wine ies ha ha e ceased hei ac i i ies and o inse new wine ies
ha ha e launched since he go e nmen lis was compiled.
To acqui e he in o ma ion necessa y o calcula ions, Nex
Analy ics so wa e (nex analy ics.com) was used o e iew he
one-yea pe iod om June 2015 o June 2016. This so wa e
epo s on he numbe o likes, pos s, sha es, eac ions, links,
pho os, ideos, and commen s o each Facebook page,
whe he he ac ions a e aken by owne s o use s. Nex
Analy ics epo ed da a om 100 wine ies; da a om 56
wine ies could no be p ocessed, and an addi ional 52 wine ies
do no hos a Facebook page. The 100 wine ies wi h a ailable
SN da a we e con ac ed ia e-mail o phone in o de o solici
hei esponse o a ques ionnai e aimed a ga he ing in o ma-
ion on he wine ies and hei manage s. A o al o 45 alid
ques ionnai es we e ob ained ( egis e ing a esponse a e o
45.0%); hese wine ies ep esen he s udy sample.
Wi h he aim o g ouping he wine ies in o homogeneous
ca ego ies on he basis o hei engagemen in SM ac i i ies,
we pe o med a hie a chical clus e analysis using SPSS
so wa e e sion 21. Among he clus e ing c i e ia, Wa d's
me hod was used bo h o minimize he in a-clus e dis ance
and maximize in e -clus e dis ance, aking in o conside a ion
he need o ob ain a simila numbe o obse a ions in each
clus e , wi h no ou lie s p esen among he a iables included
in he model. Dis ance be ween clus e s was measu ed using
he squa ed Euclidean dis ance. S a is ical and concep ual
c i e ia we e used o selec he mos app op ia e numbe o
clus e s. Following a dend og am analysis, which allowed he
wine ies o be g ouped in o clus e s, we pe o med h ee
i e a ions o Wa d's me hod wi h he numbe o clus e s se
a wo, h ee, and ou . Finally, we p oceeded o iden i y he
clus e s and p o ide simple in e p e a ions o he o ganiza-
ional models.
4. Resul s and discussion
4.1. Wine ies' Facebook ac i i y
Table 1 b iefly p esen s da a on he wine ies' Facebook ac i i y
be ween June 2015 and June 2016. In pa icula , he numbe o
pos s pe day eached a maximum alue o 1.485 wi h an a e age
alue o 0.244. Pos s ecei ed an a e age o 22.850 likes (wi h a
minimum alue less han he uni y and a maximum alue o
app oxima ely 135) and 2 commen s ( he numbe o commen s
pe pos a ied om 1 o 7). Finally, he wine ies we e ollowed,
on a e age, by 3690 Facebook use s; his eflec ed a ange o jus
o e 150 ans o mo e han 46,000 ans.
As indica ed by he li e a u e, he deg ee o ich con en in
pos s and messages plays an impo an ole in helping fi ms o
a ac po en ial cus ome s and o e ain exis ing ones. Table 2
summa izes he na u e o he pos s published by he wine ies
on Facebook. As shown, he fi ms in he sample p e e ed o
ans e in o ma ion o hei use s p ima ily h ough he use o
pho os, as on a e age he e we e 0.688 pho os o each pos
( anging om 0.364 o 1.000). Links o addi ional in o ma ion
we e p esen in 17.6% o he pos s. In only 3.8% o cases did
fi ms pos ideos o hei Facebook eeds.
As shown in Table 3, he alues o in ensi y we e e y low
(0.145 on a e age). Con e sely, he ichness dimension assumed
a highe a e age alue: mo e han 90.0% o pos s con ained
in o ma ion enhanced by pho os. Finally, he dimension o
esponsi eness s ood on a e age a a ai ly high alue: mo e
han 61.0% o he o al pos s p o ided on Facebook pages came
om he same wine y. As highligh ed by some au ho s, he
Table 1
Desc ip i e da a o Facebook e o o Sicilian wine cella s.
Sou ce: Ou elabo a ion on collec ed da a.
A e age Min Max S anda d de ia ion
Pos s/day 0.244 0.003 1.485 0.277
Likes/pos 22.850 0.968 134.753 27.142
Commen s/pos 2.075 1.054 7.000 1.411
Sha es/pos 4.689 0.227 19.227 4.472
Numbe o ans 3690.067 154.000 46,053.000 7832.578
Table 2
Na u e o pos .
Sou ce: Ou elabo a ion on collec ed da a.
A e age Min Max S anda d de ia ion
Pho os/pos 0.688 0.364 1.000 0.170
Videos/pos 0.038 0.000 0.429 0.067
Links/pos 0.176 0.000 0.487 0.139
A. Gala i e al. / Wine Economics and Policy 6 (2017) 40–47 43

exchange o in o ma ion be ween fi ms and consume s, in
addi ion o hefi ms' social p esence i sel , con ibu es o building
loyal y and b and awa eness, and influences ma ke pe o mance
(Mozas-Mo al e al., 2016;Bianchi and And ew, 2015).
4.2. Clus e analysis
Fig. 1 illus a es he clus e analysis esul s, showing he
alues o he squa ed Euclidean dis ance in he abscissa and
he iden ifica ion numbe o each wine ies g ouped acco ding
o Wa d's linkage me hod in o dina e. Each clus e includes,
espec i ely, 15, 2, 12, and 16 wine ies. In o de o decide he
numbe o clus e componen s, in addi ion o he dend og am
examina ion, sc een plo , and he VRC using he ANOVA
p ocedu e o each o h ee segmen solu ions, we pe o med a
wo-s ep clus e analysis, using he same a iables and
speci ying he mos p obable solu ion in e ms o he numbe
o clus e s. The ou pu sugges ed a solu ion o ou clus e s.
Fu he mo e, in o de o assess he solu ion's s abili y, we
epe o med he analysis using di e en clus e ing p ocedu es,
algo i hms, and dis ance measu es, as well as changing he
o de ing o objec s in he da ase . The ou clus e s show, o
each a iable, he a e age alues epo ed in Table 4.
Analysis o a iance be ween and wi hin clus e s, he esul
o he Fishe es (F) and he model significance, a e shown in
Table 5. The esul s show ha he ou clus e s a e s a is ically
di e en and ha all a iables a e significan a he 99% le el.
Fu he mo e, as can be seen, he esponsi eness a iable is he
mos influen ial a iable in he p ofile o he clus e
(F¼78.963), while in ensi y is he SM dimension wi h he
leas influence (F¼6.518).
4.3. Clus e desc ip ions
The fi s clus e consis s o 15 wine ies cha ac e ized,
compa ed o o he clus e s, by a low alue o in ensi y
(0.102) and esponsi eness (0.386), and showing, consequen ly,
a limi ed SM e o and poo in e ac ion wi h use s. In con as ,
hey a e cha ac e ized by a high alue o ichness (0.921),
hanks o he high numbe o mul imedia pos s published on
Facebook. These a e he la ges companies in physical e ms, as
hey ep esen he highes a e age numbe o fixed employees
(7.6) and he second highes a e age annual sales olume (€1.2
million). This esul is a odds wi h wha was ound by
Ka jaluo o e al. (2015), acco ding o which a high in ol emen
o use s is posi i ely co ela ed wi h he fi m's physical size in
e ms o numbe o employees. In pa icula , hese wine ies
alloca e, compa ed wi h o he fi ms, he highes sha e o hei
u no e o p omo ional ac i i ies h ough adi ional ma ke ing
channels (8.5% o annual u no e ), by pa icipa ing mo e
equen ly in in e na ional wine exhibi ions.
Less ep esen a i e is he second clus e , comp ising only
wo wine ies. These show lowe alues o in ensi y and
ichness (0.006 and 0.477, espec i ely). Compa ed o o he
clus e s, hese a e fi ms ha show he highes annual sales by
uni (a e aging 955,000 bo les) and alue (€3.1 million), as
well as he highes numbe o g adua es among hei pe sonnel
(employees and ma ke ing and sales manage s). Manage s who
lead hese wine ies a e on a e age younge and less expe i-
enced in he sec o . This esul is a ejec ion o ou hi d
hypo hesis, acco ding o which younge manage s a e mo e
likely o adop social media ools han a e olde manage s.
Clus e 3 has he highes alues o in ensi y (0.238),
ichness (0.938), and esponsi eness (0.866), showing a
high e o in p omo ion and communica ion h ough Face-
book channel and in pa icula on he Facebook pla o m.
This clus e includes mainly small wine ies, bo h in physical
e ms (2.3 pe manen employees on a e age and 111,800
bo les comme cialized annually) and in economic e ms
(a e age annual sales o €1.0 million). In his sense, he
esul s align wi h he findings o o he in es iga o s,
acco ding o which small fi ms, ha ing limi ed capi al bu
high flexibili y, use SM wi h a highe equency, being a
ela i ely low-cos ool (Adegbuyi e al., 2015;Pen ina e
al., 2012;Bughin e al., 2011;Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010).
In addi ion, i was no ed ha o he fi ms in his clus e ,
e en hough hey de o e a la ge sha e o hei u no e o
ma ke ing ac i i ies, compa ed o o he wine ies, hey ha e
he lowes pa icipa ion in in e na ional wine ai s. This
esul , in pa , could be jus ified by he abili y o hese
companies o o e come, h ough SM ac i i ies, spa io-
empo al limi s and financial cos s ha cha ac e ize adi-
ional means o communica ion (Gala i e al., 2016). The
esul s confi m ou fi s hypo hesis, acco ding o which
small businesses, ha ing limi ed budge s, a e mo e in ol ed
in SM ac i i ies, as hey cons i u e an essen ial ool o
imp o ing cus ome loyal y and eaching new clien s.
Finally, he ou h clus e , compa ed o o he clus e s, shows
medium o high alues o in ensi y (0.134), ichness (0.913),
and esponsi eness (0.662). Wine ies in his g oup ha e been
in ol ed in he wine indus y o he longes ime (43 yea s on
a e age) and a e managed by en ep eneu s who ha e he
longes expe ience in he indus y (25 yea s on a e age), which
p esen s he highes le el o educa ion and g ea es knowledge
o o eign languages. This esul pa ially confi ms ou second
hypo hesis, acco ding o which fi ms un by en ep eneu s wi h
a high le el o educa ion in he wine sec o will show a high
SM e o . Simila ly, p e ious empi ical e idence confi ms he
influence o en ep eneu ial compe encies on e-business and
SM adop ion (Gala i e al., 2016;Vlach ei and No a, 2014).
The same clus e p esen s he companies ha , compa ed o he
o he clus e s, ha e he hi d lowes alue, bo h by bo les
comme cialized and by sales, and ha alloca e a smalle sha e
o u no e o p omo ion and ma ke ing expenses.
Table 3
Measu e o Facebook e o o Sicilian wine cella s.
Sou ce: Ou elabo a ion on collec ed da a.
A e age Min Max S anda d de ia ion
In ensi y 0.145 0.004 0.413 0.110
Richness 0.903 0.455 1.000 0.115
Responsi eness 0.613 0.143 0.941 0.212
A. Gala i e al. / Wine Economics and Policy 6 (2017) 40–4744
Fig. 1. Resul s o hie a chical clus e analysis.
A. Gala i e al. / Wine Economics and Policy 6 (2017) 40–47 45
5. Conclusions
Wi h 1.6 billion global use s, o which 28 million a e in I aly,
Facebook is no only he mos popula social ne wo king si e
wo ldwide, bu also he one ha a ac s he mos subs an ial
in es men by companies, which, inc easingly, ecognizing i s
g ea po en ial, ha e in eg a ed i in hei communica ion and
media plans.
This s udy, using a model p oposed by Chung e al. (2014),
analysed he Facebook ac i i ies o a sample o Sicilian
wine ies and explo ed he ela ionships be ween hese engage-
men ac i i ies and some p ima y ea u es o he fi ms and hei
en ep eneu s. Resul s show limi ed SM ac i i y by Sicilian
wine ies, al hough Facebook pos ings exhibi ed a high le el o
ich con en , especially o pho os, and good in e ac ion wi h
use s. I is mainly small fi ms, in physical and economic e ms,
ha ha e become mo e in ol ed in SM as shown by high
alues o in ensi y, ichness, and esponsi eness. The low cos
o his communica ion ool, compa ed o hose ha a e non-
i ual, allows o i s adop ion and ep esen a ion as a s a egic
channel. In con as , la ge companies showed a mo e modes
e o in social media. The la e , in ac , in es ed g ea e
financial esou ces in adi ional ma ke ing ools, communica-
ion, and p omo ional ac i i ies, including pa icipa ion in
in e na ional e en s. Mo eo e , i appea s ha he wine ies
mo e engaged in SM we e hose un by manage s wi h a high
le el o educa ion, p obably because such manage s had
inc eased awa eness o he benefi s associa ed wi h he
in eg a ion o SM in hei ma ke ing plans, while, in con as ,
wine ies ha we e less engaged in SM we e managed by
younge manage s, e en hough younge indi iduals a e
gene ally mo e likely han olde indi iduals o use In e ne -
based inno a ions.
This s udy has bo h heo e ical and manage ial implica ions.
F om a heo e ical poin o iew, ou s udy, in addi ion o
alida ing he model p oposed by Chung e al. (2014),helps o
b idge he gap ela ed o he limi ed numbe o s udies ha use
models o measu e companies' SM e o s. F om a manage ial
pe spec i e, he p oposed ins umen ep esen s, o companies
ope a ing in he wine indus y as well as in o he sec o s o
ac i i y, a use ul ool o measu ing hei SM e o s, hus
p o iding he abili y o compa e hemsel es wi h key compe-
i o s. In pa icula , in ligh o he esul s, he e is clea ly a need
o indi iduals wi h specific social-media managemen expe ise
o c ea e and main ain epo s on hei fi ms' use o hese
pla o ms. In his sense, i is c ucial o ocus on he quali y o he
con en o messages and pos s, he s yle o w i ing (which mus
be iendly), and he imeliness o in o ma ion exchange—all
ac o s ha can inc ease consume awa eness and b and loyal y,
wi h he oppo uni y o inc ease sales.
This s udy is limi ed by he small numbe o wine ies
in ol ed in he analysis and he pe iod o da a analysis
conside ed. Wi h e e ence o his las aspec , da a a e subjec
o sudden changes, which could lead o di e en u u e esul s.
Fu he mo e, one unadd essed issue is manage s' pe cep ions
o he e ec i eness o SNS o business pe o mance. In o de
o deeply in es iga e wine ies' social media e o s, u u e
esea ch could inco po a e impo an in o ma ion such as fi ms’
in es men in social ne wo k ac i i y (in economic e ms, ime,
o use o qualified s a ), he le el o sa is ac ion in e ms o
e enue, isibili y, o epu a ion gene a ed h ough he use o
Facebook, and he main de e minan s and mo i a ional ac o s
a ec ing he adop ion o such ools in hei business models.
Conflic o in e es
None.
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