Purpose -The paper sets out to analyse consumer preferences relating to a typical product, soppressata (a traditional Calabrian salted meat with PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) certification). Design/methodology/approach -A multivariate analysis technique (factor analysis) was used on a sample of consumers, identified by a specific market research survey. Identification of groups of homogenous purchasers, according to one or two variables, is the objective of the segmentation approach which breaks up the reference market into homogeneous subgroups as regards their expectations and purchasing behaviour. Factor analysis lends itself to this use, allowing the weight of each component extracted from the interviewee to be graded. Findings -Soppressata is a well-known product. The main reason for purchase is that it is very tasty. Consumers appreciated the traditional culture it represents. Originality/value -The possible strategies for quality and development offer new opportunities for producers as they relate to changes in consumer tastes and preferences. The variety of reasons that lead consumers to purchase the typical product oblige the researcher to abandon market analysis based on a "mass marketing" logic in favour of specific strategies.

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BackgroundSince a long time, Italy has maintained a dual system to administer childhood immunisations, that is a certain number of mandatory vaccinations and a number of recommended vaccinations. The study aimed to explore the issues surrounding parental acceptance or non-acceptance of the recommended vaccinations for children.MethodsParents of children aged 3-5 years of day-care centres in Sicily were asked to fill out an anonymous questionnaire. Determinants of the attitude towards recommended vaccinations and social influence on the decision-making process were assessed using logistic regression analysis.ResultsOf the 1,500 selected parents, 81.0% participated in the study. Prior to the survey, the majority of children (97.6%) received recommended vaccines. Most parents (74.4%) received information about vaccinations from Family Paediatricians, showed a good knowledge about the side effects of the vaccines (73.1%), did not worry about their potential dangerousness (53.0%) and would have accepted their children to be vaccinated even if it was not required for day care (84.1%). The majority (79.9%) were not disposed to follow the advises of the anti-vaccination movements. Parents' background characteristics, sources of information and social influence were not significantly associated with parental acceptance of recommended vaccines for childhood.ConclusionsThis study suggests that health information by Family Paediatricians is significantly associated with parental acceptance of recommended vaccinations.

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Tourism as an industry has many kinds of impacts on destinations and their communities. The presence of tourism could create the conditions for an economic development but in the same way produce negative effect (crowding out) and externalities (the Janus-face character). Between the different actors inside the tourist destination, there are the local community which could endure the pressure of tourism. In some cases, this pressure reduces the wellbeing of the residents. The present research paper focuses on how activities like events and tourism impact on community well-being. Winchester (England), a Special Interest Tourism and Event (SITE), is used as a case study. The data are collected using an on-line interview and they are elaborated using multivariate techniques and ordinal regression analysis. The results of the study reveal a close relation between the level of happiness of the local residents and their perception of the tourism industry and event development. Local residents in Winchester are perceiving the tourism industry and events rather positively as they believe it supports their culture and the local economy and job in particular. Our first overall conclusion is that there is a relationship between the residents’ happiness and tourism/event perception. Moreover, our findings support what claimed by several scholars that tourism specialisation improves the residents quality of life (QOL). The present study has not shown the direction of the influence but according to previous research it is the level of happiness of the local residents that determines their perception of the tourism industry and event development and not the other way around. The second finding of the study reveals that SITE destinations have a high potential in terms of contributing to the local residents’ happiness and subsequently visitors. Our third and final conclusion is that, when the benefits of tourism and events are higher than the cost, local residents and are likely to be supportive of the activity.