Social media as a strategic marketing tool in the Sicilian wine industry: Evidence from Facebook

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. 40-47, h ps://doi.o g/10.1016/j.wep.2017.03.003 This Ve sion is a ailable a : h ps://hdl.handle.ne /10419/194530 S anda d-Nu zungsbedingungen: Die Dokumen e au EconS o dü en zu eigenen wissenscha lichen Zwecken und zum P i a geb auch gespeiche und kopie we den. 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I he documen s ha e been made a ailable unde an Open Con en Licence (especially C ea i e Commons Licences), you may exe cise u he usage igh s as speci ied in he indica ed licence. h ps://c ea i ecommons.o g/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ HOSTED BY A ailable online a www.sciencedi ec .com 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 www.else ie .com/loca e/wep 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 (h p://c ea i ecommons.o g/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). 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. Re e ences Adegbuyi, O.A., Akinyele, F.A., Akinyele, S.T., 2015. E ec o social media ma ke ing on small scale business pe o mance in O a-Me opolis, Nige ia. In . J. Soc. Sci. Manag. 2 (3), 275–283. Ang, L., 2011. Communi y ela ionship managemen and social media. Da abase Ma k. Cus . S a egy Manag. 18 (1), 31–38. 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