The use of Web 2.0 tools has been transforming the interaction between companies and their clients, especially for those that are selling emotional products. Consumers are generating and sharing contents concerning their favorite products on the web. Even if this process has been widely acknowledged, only a few studies have been specifically devoted to the analysis of both the contents and the feedback the consumers receive from other users. This paper analyzes the online presence of sport brands through contents that are generated by sport clubs (official contents) and their fans (User Generated Content, UGC) on YouTube. After a description and classification of video contents, it examines the factors that influence the performance of the videos in terms of passive (videos views) and active behavior (any kinds of interaction with videos) among the viewers.In order to carry out this analysis, 125 YouTube channels were considered thereby accounting for a total of 375 videos.Results show that official contents are those preferred by the users/consumers and that if the video displays a passive/purely informative content, the chance of getting an active behavior from the users tends to decrease. These findings may help companies manage their online presence, creating awareness about contents and information that should be spread and shared on the Web.

Findings related to how country of origin affects consumers' product evaluations are still not consistent. Previous studies are mainly based on experiments and the results related to consumer judgements come from the elaboration of scores given to semantic scale items. Considering that brand image consists of a network of associations, the aim of this research is to evaluate how country of origin affects this entire network. An experiment was conducted involving 301 Chinese subjects to test the hypothesis that country stereotypes can be transferred to brands.

This study explores the role of different learning sources in the process of capability building of Chinese firms (CFs) approaching international markets. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on the case study of the company "Goodbaby". The primary data sources are two semi-structured interviews with one of the firm's managers, which have been triangulated with point of sales (POSs) visits, interviews with industry experts, and secondary data such as corporate records, patent and trademark data, industry reports and news articles. Findings Both the home-country and foreign markets act as sources of learning to support the development of CFs' marketing capabilities. Learning at home is triggered by the complexity of the national market and the exposure to foreign entrants. Foreign learning is stimulated by the relationships with leading foreign partners and the exposure to advanced final markets. Moreover, each learning source has a positive effect on the development of CFs' marketing capabilities in both the market contexts in which they compete, i.e. the home-market and international markets. Practical implications CFs' managers should be simultaneously receptive to the domestic and foreign contexts, as both may support the development of marketing capabilities. CFs' managers should recognize the learning opportunities embedded in each of these contexts, and identify the markets where these can be effectively redeployed. Originality/value We distinguish between different sources of learning in the context of CFs' internationalization, and explore their triggering factors and their role in the development of an underinvestigated type of capabilities, i.e. the marketing capabilities.

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Purpose This study aims to expand the existing body of knowledge on crowdfunding (CF) motivational patterns with special reference to intangible factors, which most scholars assume to be the most important ones, especially in non-investment-based CF. The purpose is to understand how the presence of an established brand in a CF campaign can affect backers’ funding choices and the reasons behind them. To this end, the authors combine principles from identification, brand relationship and self-determination theories. Design/methodology/approach The authors considered the (altruistic in nature) domain of CF for social causes as the most widespread type of branded CF and chose the relevant empirical setting of “research CF” run by universities which seem to be more and more interested in connecting branding and fundraising efforts through the active involvement of their “relational circles”. Accordingly, the authors surveyed an extensive sample of students as a primary stakeholder group of potentially engaged backers from one of the first Italian universities to launch a CF program and used structural equation modelling to test the research hypotheses. Findings The authors found that, despite the CF domain considered, the choices made by backers (counterintuitively, women, in particular) manifest themselves as mostly self-oriented. This is partly explained by brand identification, which fully mediates the effect of brand pride and partially mediates the effect of brand respect (BR) on funding intention. Moreover, BR also directly drives CF choices. Originality/value This study portrays a remarkably different CF playground compared with conventional campaigns for both project proponents and backers with several theoretical and managerial implications.