Despite its innovative and avant-garde reputation, the luxury industry initially began showing a very low commitment to new online marketing tools and it held a conservative approach to selling when compared to other sectors. Nowadays, the context has dramatically changed and luxury brands are approaching with an increasing interest social networks as well as the online selling. This research aims to clarify the current strategic approaches of the players in the different luxury markets towards the social commerce phenomenon, from both a theoretical and an empirical point of view. The purpose is to test a framework that can be used to classify luxury companies’ strategies regarding social media adoptions based on actual theories on social media. Four strategies related to the social media adoption by luxury brands have been identified: the Social brand ambassadors strategy class (low promotional content percentage and low social commerce score) includes those brands that use social media for entertainment and user engagement; the Social showcases strategy (high promotional content percentage and low social commerce score) includes those brands that use their social accounts as online catalogues; the Social infotainers strategy (low promotional content percentage and high social commerce score) includes those brands that scored high in social commerce, mainly because of the provision of informative content and brand–consumer interactions, but they were linked to more entertainment-oriented actions rather than product-related ones. Finally, the Social sellers strategy (high promotional content percentage and high social commerce score) includes those brands that have integrated social commerce into their online strategies and have subsequently exploited the potential of social media to drive online and offline sales. The database is built using original data from a content analysis of 100 luxury brands’ postings on five different social media platforms – namely Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest. The total final sample included 12,132 Facebook posts, 21,216 tweets on Twitter, 1,105 YouTube videos, 10,138 Instagram pictures/videos, and 117,359 Pinterest pictures. The main findings are the following: luxury brands adopt at this stage the Social brand ambassadors and Social showcases approaches; brands belonging to the perfumery, cosmetics, jewelry and watches markets show a more developed attitude towards the social commerce; in other luxury markets, such as wine and spirits, brands still adopt a Social Brand Ambassador strategy, while managers should increase the promotional content in order develop the social commerce. The Fashion & Accessories brands show a positive relationship between the percentage of promotional content and social commerce score. This means that social commerce adoptions depend on the single brand’s strategic choices, ranging from low adoption to best practices. In general, social commerce is still not widespread; many luxury fashion brands, while presenting new collections during fashion weeks, focused on fashion shows, backstage events, and celebrities, rather than really promoting the new product lines with materials, availability, and purchasing indications. This social media approach is mainly focused on increasing brand awareness rather than increasing social commerce. If managers aim at increasing social commerce they should add direct call to action and link the contents to e-commerce market place. Automotive brands are concentrated in the Social showcases area; This sector encounters natural limitations in the introduction of social commerce due to the difficulty of selling products through the digital channel; many brands have, however, devised strategies to approach their users during the purchasing process prior to the actual transaction to take advantage of the increasing ROPO phenomenon. Conversely, the Perfumes & Cosmetics sector shows a highly fragmented approach to social commerce. The content analysis based on single post contents has shown that actually the contents are based on pictures of the products, or the brand, information on events, and a large and increasing presence of video posts based storytelling about the history of the product and the brand heritage; the most social commerce oriented posts are picture or video focused on the product. The commercial contents that aim at developing the see now, buy now approach are mainly based on video shows.

This paper examines relationships between experience and behavioral loyalty in the wine sector drawing on 618 Greek and French respondents. Being a member of a group provides a sense of belonging that increases behavioral loyalty. Implementing communities and advertising them via a social media communication program may build behavioral loyalty.

Despite the sales increase of wine in Korea, still fewer Koreans consume wine with Korean food and many Koreans believe that Western food pairs well with wine (Goodman, 2009; Lee, Zhao, & Ko, 2005; Stephens, 2003). This could reduce the opportunities of wine consumption in Korea and critically influence the future growth of Korean wine market. Therefore, this study aimed to develop Korean food and wine pairing criteria. According to the literature review, there is no cultural difference in people’s taste perception, but from the daily diet, people develop different taste preference (Bertino, Beauchamp, & Jen, 1983; Druz & Baldwin, 1982; Laing et al., 1994; Prescott et al., 1993; Prescott et al., 1997, 1998; Yamaguchi, Kimura, & Ishii, 1988). The preference gap is more obvious for beverages than foods (Chung et al., 2012). Food and wine pairing have evolved throughout the Western culinary history. Therefore, the pairing criteria are deeply connected with Western cuisine. As Korean food has its own flavour profile and Koreans have had different dining culture, it is unclear if the criteria are applicable to Korean palates. However, there is scant previous research on Korean food and wine pairing. This is an exploratory study using sequential mixed methods. The qualitative study was done first by performing twelve one-on-one interviewees and one focus group interview. The features influencing Korean food and wine pairing were discovered from the qualitative study. Then, the quantitative study followed by a questionnaire survey of Korean wine consumers. 151 questionnaires were distributed and 138 valid responses were achieved. The qualitative results were tested and generalised from the quantitative study. Hot spiciness, strong flavours and hot food temperature were identified as three unique characteristics. They were all hindrances to wine pairing according to the Western criteria. Wine-friendly Korean dishes commonly did not include those features. However, Korean daily diet has developed Koreans’ different wine preference. There was a segment of Korean wine consumers who enjoy the burning sensation in the mouth and prefer to match tannic red wine to hot spicy dishes. As a result, nine criteria of Korean food and wine pairing were developed. Seven criteria were from the Western criteria that could be applicable to Korean food. Two criteria were newly identified from this research. This study demonstrates Korean food and wine pairing criteria focusing on Koreans’ five primary tastes (e.g. sweetness, sourness, saltiness, bitterness and hot spiciness). However, there are other elements such as textures and flavours generated from a variety of cooking methods, fermented seafood sauces and spices. Thus, further researches are required to complete the criteria. In addition, an experimental study could further confirm the result of this study.

This research compares the nature and effectiveness of different approaches to alcohol marketing regulation in Europe using the cases of UK and France. Both countries have well-established yet contrasting regulatory frameworks. This paper provides an analysis of the French (Loi Evin) & UK (ASA/CAP & PORTMAN GROUP) codes of alcohol marketing control. We critique the structure in the regulatory processes of each country in specific relation to the control alcohol marketing. Our research provides much needed insights into the relative merits and demerits of different regulatory systems in terms of codes of practice self-regulation, and alcohol marketing legislation. The findings are important in terms of policy and practical implications for alcohol marketers, regulators, health organizations and consumers.