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The purpose of the present study is to investigate travel agencies' social media usage and its perceived effectiveness by small- and micro-Italian travel agencies; the pre-pandemic period is compared to the forecasts for the post-Covid-19 period and different characteristics of firms and entrepreneurs are considered. Furthermore, the study analyses the expected benefits in terms of marketing objectives, such as improving brand image and/or personalizing the offer.

The research was developed through a questionnaire administered electronically to travel agents (282 respondents). The resulting data was analyzed by applying the McNemar test, a pairwise t-test and the multivariate analysis of variance.

The results show that social media are strategically significant for travel agents, even though their adoption is influenced by different agency aims; the perceived effectiveness results are diversified according to varying agency typologies.

The two main limitations of the study are its focus on the Italian context only and the missing consideration of the consumer's point of view. The latter prevents an exhaustive assessment of future trends regarding the use of social media in the client–agency relationship.

The study, which focuses on a little debated topic concerning the relationship between social media and SMEs, organically explores various dimensions related to the adoption of social media by small agencies, also considering the impact of the Covid-19 on the perception of travel agents. As a further element of originality, the research takes into consideration the main social platforms separately rather than the set of tools as a whole.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a new management approach to analyse the processes of museums in the experience logic and, on the basis of such a model, to study the management processes of the National Gallery of the Marches in Urbino, one of the most important museums in Italy.

This study adopted a qualitative methodology and a descriptive-exploratory approach. The proposed model, which aimed to create and manage experiences and transformations in museums, was tested in the National Gallery of the Marches by adopting the case study method.

The empirical research underlined the partial application of the proposed model in the museum under examination and the potential for the museum to improve the offering value to its visitors.

Although a single case was investigated, the present work offers a preliminary theoretical contribution, which is useful for perfecting the conceptual framework and applying it to a wider number of cases.

The management of the National Gallery of the Marches should first plan a greater number of more detailed experiences and transformations around the theme of the Renaissance, and promote the active role of visitors. Second, it should improve the communication of the offer, especially through social networks. Third, personnel (especially front office) should be motivated and trained to create value for visitors.

The paper aims at developing a new management approach for the museums to create value for the visitors and museums by bringing the insight of the experience logic into the field of cultural heritage management.

This paper aims to deepen understanding of the role played by new technological tools used in customer–travel agency (TA) interactions by analysing the TA owner/managers' perceptions, pre- and post-Covid-19, regarding the effectiveness of in-store traditional and innovative tools.

This exploratory study is based on a questionnaire-based survey conducted among Italian TAs and distributed via email from September 2020 to January 2021.

The study highlights how, even among TAs, the role of in-store technology is gradually taking on greater importance, and it delves into the specific business and socio-demographic factors that seem to cause differences among agencies.

The study focuses on the Italian context, which does not allow for any generalisations. Furthermore, it is only the travel agent perspective that is observed and not the consumer's.

In addition to helping to bridge the literature gap, this study on in-store technologies focuses on the TAs sector, where human resources and human relationships play a decisive role in customer experience and interaction. The paper investigates the travel agents' point of view regarding the introduction of new in-store technologies; it also highlights their growing adoption and use, overall, despite the travel catalogue still remaining the main tool for interacting with customers. The study also shows how the advent of Covid-19 has increased travel agents' propensity to use digital technologies.

The objective of this exploratory research is to investigate the role of Twitter in crisis communication by analysing all the earthquake-related messages from local public authorities in four Italian regions (Abruzzo, Lazio, Marche and Umbria) during the seismic sequence that began on 24th August 2016 and finished at the end of January 2017.

The study is based on a manual data collection of earthquake-related tweets. Founded on a theoretical framework, the data analysis has been developed both through textual analysis and in-depth interpretation by two researchers to catalogue the messages according to identified categories.

It emerges that the affected Italian regions used Twitter only for information coverage without offering a complete and detailed picture of the disaster. Most of the tweets concerned daily statements by politicians or regional administrators engaged in crisis management, while an accurate selection of the topics and messages to be launched does not emerge, with significant implications on the effectiveness of the tweeting activity itself.

This paper aims to contribute to the literature on crisis communication and social media during a natural disaster, highlighting the criticalities shown by the Italian case studies. The originality of this study relates to the comparative examination of Twitter activities for four regional government bodies involved in the 2016 Italian earthquake.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: on the one hand, to point out the concepts of quality and value; on the other hand to explain how university placement services can increase the value created for the various stakeholders of a University.

The methodology is based on empirical study carried out through the analysis of the placement service of the University of Urbino “Carlo Bo” through “participant observation”, related to the experience gained by the authors within the service.

This study reveals that the placement service at the University of Urbino is innovative in terms of organization and management. The involvement of all actors in design and implementation of the initiatives is a strategic factor, crucial for meeting the expectations of stakeholders, raising levels of quality and satisfaction and, ultimately, the value created.

Although limited to only one placement case – the University of Urbino – the research presents original features regarding the application of service management principles to an institution like the University, which is increasingly directed towards value creation for its stakeholders. This application appears necessary given that increased competition among universities is based not only on traditional core activities – research and training – but also on the ability to contribute to student employability after the obtainment of a degree.

This study aims to investigate organizational learning, represented by the absorptive capacity, as a condition for the firm to learn about marketing data and make more informed decisions. The authors also aimed to understand how the behavior of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) businesses differ in this scenario through a multilevel perspective.

Placing absorptive capacity as a mediator of the relationship between business analytics and rational marketing decisions, the authors analyzed data from 224 Brazilian retail companies using structural equation modeling estimated with partial least squares. To test the cross-level moderation effect, the authors also performed a multilevel analysis in RStudio.

The authors found a partial mediation of the absorptive capacity in the relation between business analytics and rational marketing decisions. The authors also discovered that, in the MSMEs firms’ group, even if smaller companies find it more difficult to use data, those that do may reap more benefits than larger ones. This is due to the influence of size in how firms handle information.

The sample size, despite having shown to be consistent and valid, is considered small for a multilevel study. This suggests that our multilevel results should be viewed as suggestive, rather than conclusive, and subjected to further validation.

Rather than solely positioning business analytics as a tool for decision support, the authors’ analysis highlights the importance for firms to develop the absorptive capacity to enable ongoing acquisition, exploration and management of knowledge.

MSMEs are of economic and social importance to most countries, especially developing ones. This research aimed to improve understanding of how this group of firms could transform knowledge into better decisions. The authors also highlight micro and small firms’ difficulties with the use of marketing data so that they can have more effective practices.

The research contributes to the understanding of organizational mechanisms to absorb and learn from the vast amount of current marketing information. Recognizing the relevance of MSMEs, a preliminary multilevel analysis was also conducted to comprehend differences within this group.

This paper explores the nuanced relationship between individual and firm performance through the lens of market information use, in the specific context of small businesses, shedding light on the specificity of information use and impact of information use on both types of performance.

A mixture of subjective and objective data from a sample of small food producers engaged in an action research project with a major UK supermarket was used to test hypotheses developed from the information management, marketing and small business literature.

The results suggest that the effective use of market information has a significant impact on the performance of both the individual and the organization but independently of each other. The result provides evidence of the potential “disconnection” between individual and organizational levels of performance and the tension that exists in small businesses between operational and strategic decision-making and the use of market information therein.

While the author's study benefits from access to individual decision-makers and objective organizational performance data, the study is not without its limitations. Chief among these is the small sample size. Moreover, while there are clear benefits to working with a homogeneous sample of small food producers supplying the same key customer in the same market, generalizing to small food businesses operating in other distributions channels and small businesses in other sectors is also difficult.

When analyzing the performance of marketing managers, owner-managers should pay attention to the incentives for them to invest time and effort in the effective use of market information as the disconnection between individual and firm performance can have negative implications for their personal development and the overall firm performance.

This study explores a missing link in the extant body of small business literature, i.e., the role played by key individuals with responsibility for the marketing function within small businesses and the relationship between small businesses' approach to the use of market information and performance at a functional level and the overall firm performance.

The paper aims to shed new light on the process of value creation and business model innovation resulting from circular economy in the context of smart tourism.

The study embraces a qualitative and exploratory approach related to a single case study. Data have been collected through the integration of web-based desk analysis, interviews and social big data analytics.

Findings are related to Ecobnb, a network-based tourism company, coherent with the principles of value creation and business model innovation in the context of circular economy and smart tourism.

The study allows understanding of how smart tourism and circular economy can represent two important lenses for managing complexity and driving tourism companies and destinations toward sustainable and smart value creation processes.

Practical implications arise for managers and destination makers in terms of innovation of the tourism management and transition of the business models toward a circular configuration.

The study offers social implications by contributing to the dissemination of a culture of sustainability in tourism management and active involvement of local stakeholders in the growth of a tourism destination.

The study provides an original contribution to the debate on tourism by highlighting the obsolescence of traditional models of management in tourism companies and destinations, seen during the recent pandemic emergence, could be solved through the virtuous integration of digital technologies and sustainable approaches.