Purpose This paper aims to shed light on how family firms execute open innovation strategies by managing internal and external knowledge flows. Design/methodology/approach First, through a comprehensive literature review, the paper identifies the barriers to the acquisition and transfer of knowledge in open innovation processes. Second, it presents and discusses the results of an exploratory case study on Loccioni, an Italian family firm providing high-tech measurement solutions, highlighting how this family firm managed to overcome the barriers in executing an open innovation strategy. Findings The case study shows that Loccioni faced specific challenges in acquiring and transferring knowledge in its open innovation processes and developed two idiosyncratic capabilities – labelled imprinting and fraternization – that helped the firm overcome the barriers to knowledge acquisition and transfer. The analysis shows that these two capabilities are enabled by the distinctive goals and social capital characterizing family firms. Originality/value The paper creates a link between open innovation and family business research with an empirically grounded model illustrating how the idiosyncratic capabilities of a family firm help overcome the critical barriers to the acquisition and transfer of knowledge in executing an open innovation strategy.

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence that social media usage has on the online purchases of wine and to examine whether objective and subjective knowledge moderates this relationship. Design/methodology/approach A structured questionnaire was completed by a sample of 2,597 Italian wine consumers. A multinomial logistic model was used to assess how the investigated variables influenced online purchasing behavior. Findings Social media usage was found to be positively related to online wine buying, and consumer’s objective and subjective knowledge moderates the relationship between social media usage and online wine purchasing. Research limitations/implications Wineries should acknowledge the relevance of social media in favoring online wine buying and adopt integrated multi-channel marketing strategies. Given that knowledge moderates the relationship between social media usage and online wine buying, in order to optimize the channel management, wineries should segment customers and prospects based on subjective and objective product knowledge. Originality/value The study represents one of the first attempts to investigate social media use and online wine purchasing behavior in Italy. In addition, it sheds light on previous research on the influence that objective and subjective knowledge has on consumer behavior.

The formation of new ventures is among the most significant sources of technological innovation and fast economic development. Nonetheless, most attempts at starting new businesses will be unsuccessful. This study seeks to predict new venture success (‘Take‐off’) based on different factors observed in the pre‐startup phase. We apply the resource‐based view of the firm (RBV) to develop a framework synthesizing the entrepreneurship and Open Innovation (OI) literatures on new venture creation. We then assess the influence of three categories of internal resources (finance, technology, human capital) and introduce the concept of teams' ‘openness’ in the founding process as a crucial organizational capital resource shaping startup success. Drawing on a sample of 134 business plans submitted to the final round of the INTEL Global Challenge at UC Berkeley, we significantly associate ‘Take‐off’ to each category of resources. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to emphasize the relevance of teams' ability to combine and transform their initial resources through the pursuit of OI (i.e., the elaboration of organizational capital resources) in explaining startup success. Our analysis extends RBV‐based research on nascent entrepreneurship and suggests new fields of research into OI.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of the product-specific region-of-origin (ROO) and product-specific country-of-origin (COO) on the willingness to pay a premium price for a wine label designated as a superbrand by the Italian Government: the Chianti Classico. Design/methodology/approach The paper introduces the concept of “ROO-COO distance”, defined as the importance attributed to a product-specific ROO as compared to its COO. In order to better understand whether the construct “ROO-COO distance” influences the willingness to pay a premium price, the paper considers consumers’ cross-national differences and their knowledge, distinguishing among three types of knowledge: consumers’ subjective general product knowledge, consumers’ subjective country product knowledge and consumers’ regional product experience (PE). Four hypotheses were tested focussing on Chianti Classico – a premium wine – as related to its ROO and COO (Tuscany, Italy). The authors employed a sample of 4,254 consumers originating from New World countries (Australia, USA and Canada) and Old World countries (Germany, UK, Sweden and Belgium). Findings The findings confirm that a place-of-origin influence on price-related product evaluations is country specific. Furthermore, the moderating role of consumers’ subjective product knowledge and consumers’ region-related PEs differ across countries. The ROO-COO distance was found to positively affect only Old World consumers. It was established that respondents’ subjective country/product knowledge and consumers’ regional knowledge or PEs positively moderate this relationship. Originality/value The paper links the COO and ROO effects in a single framework and analyses it at the cross-national level, while also considering the moderating effect of consumer’s knowledge.

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Linking the literature on brand management and family firms, this paper explores how family firms manage a founder-based brand identity during succession. An exploratory case study of an Italian family firm operating in the jewellery sector was conducted. The case analysis highlighted that a joint effort between the first and second generations and non-family members is needed in order to preserve and adapt the family business resources and manage the founder-based brand identity over time.