Blockchain Papers

Jean‐Éric Pelet, Nic Terblanche, Laura Ehm

International audience

Hanna Lee, Yingjiao Xu, Md. Rafiqul Islam Rana

This study investigates young luxury consumers based on their personal value and delves into the luxury value sought after by these consumers when shopping for luxury fashion non-fungible tokens (NFTs). A total of seven personal value (self-direction, stimulation, achievement, ecocentrism, benevolence, face-consciousness, and materialism) and four dimensions of luxury value (economic, functional, experiential, and symbolic) were examined through factor analysis, two-step cluster analysis, analysis of variance, and structural equation modeling based on a convenience sample of 504 young consumers in United States who had considered purchasing NFTs. Four distinct clusters were identified based on personal value variables. Results revealed that economic, experiential, and symbolic values significantly influence purchase intentions. Moreover, each cluster prioritized different luxury values, suggesting diverse motivations. These findings offer strategic insights for luxury brands, emphasizing the need to align NFT offerings with value-driven preferences and craft targeted communication strategies to engage young, digitally-savvy consumers in the virtual marketplace.

Zhisheng Chen

<p>This study explores how Metaverse technologies can be applied to wine tourism. First, the background section reviews sensory mapping and experience economy theories and introduces the definition of Metaverse, technologies related to wine tourism, and differences from traditional tourism. Second, the research analyzes the application scenarios of immersive vineyard tours, simulated wine-tasting environments, online cultural activities, remote wine knowledge learning, experiential shopping, visitor interaction, and post-tour experience sharing. This study adopts a qualitative approach based on a literature review to explore these themes. Then, the changes of Metaverse technology on tourism organization are proposed, including benefit sharers, co-creation of tourism product value, personalized product customization, virtual digital communication, virtual product promotion, technology bridging, and non-fungible token (NFT) wine investment. Meanwhile, possible problems and coping strategies for Metaverse wine tourism are discussed. Finally, suggestions and practical guidance for future research are presented to promote the further development of the field.<strong></strong></p>

Fiore, Florencia Daniela

El presente proyecto tiene como objetivo promover transparencia en los procesos de cultivo e industrialización de la vid y el vino. Se plantea registrar la logística de la vid y todos sus movimientos enfocados en una solución de triple impacto que atraviesa a todas las personas involucradas, fomentando buenas prácticas. La idea del modelo de negocio analizado corresponde a un proyecto laboral en el que se desarrolló una plataforma de inversiones a través de criptomonedas, específicamente NFT, es un acrónimo para "token no fungible" (Non-Fungible Token). Un token es un activo digital encriptado que representa algo único y verificable, no son intercambiables con otros elementos, porque tienen representaciones únicas y activos digitales que se basan en tecnología <blockchain= para garantizar su autenticidad y propiedad, asegurados por una cadena de <bloques= de Ethereum y solo pueden tener un propietario a la vez. Quienes compran NFT buscan rentabilidad en sus inversiones con un tipo de moneda más estable y descentralizada. La idea central es que se incorpore un concepto de sostenibilidad ambiental y conciencia civil entendida ésta como la capacidad de conservar y proteger el medio ambiente de forma indefinida. Respetando el labor y la calidad de vid dentro de la cadena de producción del misma. Las etapas planteadas dentro de la investigación están orientadas a los siguientes objetivos: 1. Identificar el mapa de actores y roles que se desempeñan dentro del circuito de la vid, tanto en su cultivo como en la industrialización. 2. Explorar a fondo los procesos a los que se enfrentan las personas. 3. Promover una propuesta digital para las bodegas y transparentar esto en el historial de ese vino tokenizado. 4. Explorar factores externos como INTA, INTI, INV. Quienes se encuentran involucrados en el cultivo, tecnología y quienes forman parte de la fiscalización de la uva. 5. Analizar los hallazgos obtenidos de la investigación y establecer metas. 6. Idear soluciones y seleccionar las de mayor impacto. 7. Diseñar el Plan Estratégico y un modelo de dominio de datos a solicitar para la trazabilidad. El plan que se propone puede adaptarse fácilmente a cualquier bodega de características similares, que apunte a una transformación digital e innovadora.

Parisa Sabbagh, Maria Crescimanno, Demetris Vrontis, Emanuele Schimmenti · 6 authors

Purpose The present study aims to identify the antecedents and consequences of blockchain adoption in the wine industry from the absorptive capacity perspective through a multiple case study approach. Design/methodology/approach A multiple case study approach was utilized, wherein data was gathered through semi-structured interviews and secondary sources of information from the five Italian innovative wineries. Findings The results show that the dynamic capabilities of wineries and the creation of strategic partnerships are common conditions for the adoption of blockchain technology (BCT). In addition, findings reveal that creating value for all supply chain stakeholders and preventing counterfeit products are the most important consequences of BCT adoption. Research limitations/implications This study fills a gap in the literature by investigating the drivers of BCT technology adoption under two theoretical lenses, Absorptive capacity and Dynamic capability theories, confirming the usefulness of these two theories in explaining the process of innovation adoption. Originality/value The originality of our research study lies in its investigation of the antecedents and consequences of BCT adoption in the wine supply chain, focusing specifically on the role of dynamic capabilities, knowledge acquisition and assimilation, strategic partnerships and open interactions with external actors in driving technological innovation and the successful implementation of BCT in the wine industry. By offering empirical data on the drivers and impacts of BCT adoption, as well as theoretical implications for technological innovation and value creation in the wine sector, our study contributes to filling gaps in the existing literature and provides practical insights for wineries and AgTechs seeking to integrate BCT into their business models.

Jyoti Verma, Anjali Sharma, Gagan Deep

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are unique, irreplaceable, distinguishable, and tradeable physical as well as digital assets. These gained real hype on the sale of digital artworks like ‘The Merge' and ‘Beeple.' In June 2022, Bill Gates expressed skepticism regarding NFTs, likening them to the 'Greater Fool Theory' and indirectly disregarding the unnecessary hype for an overvalued asset that is being sold at a price that is more than its intrinsic value. This chapter aims to analyze if NFTs are just a matter of unnecessary hype or a real opportunity for businesses. It is based on exploratory research that justifies the real aim of NFTs, like whether it is just hype, a valuable opportunity for business houses, or a combination of both. It can be concluded that NFT being an extraordinary asset is likely to gather hype, which is capable of being turned into a business opportunity. The scope of the study is wider in the sense that it is wholly based on secondary data, which can ultimately be scope for academicians, and researchers to further implement it with primary research.

Nino Adamashvili, Nino Zhizhilashvili, Caterina Tricase

The study presents a comprehensive examination of the recent advancements in the field of wine production using the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Blockchain Technology (BCT). The paper aims to provide insights into the implementation of these technologies in the wine supply chain and to identify the potential benefits associated with their use. The study highlights the various applications of IoT, AI, and BCT in wine production, including vineyard management, wine quality control, and supply chain management. It also discusses the potential benefits of these technologies, such as improved efficiency, increased transparency, and reduced costs. The study concludes by presenting the framework proposed by the authors in order to overcome the challenges associated with the implementation of these technologies in the wine supply chain and suggests areas for future research. The proposed framework meets the challenges of lack of transparency, lack of ecosystem management in the wine industry and irresponsible spending associated with the lack of monitoring and prediction tools. Overall, the study provides valuable insights into the potential of IoT, AI, and BCT in optimizing the wine supply chain and offers a comprehensive review of the existing literature on the study subject.

Samuel Rosen, Christophe Spaenjers

No abstract is available for this record.

Sihang Rao, Fuqiao Chen, Wen Hu, Feng Gao · 6 authors

No abstract is available for this record.

Raffaele Silvestri, Nino Adamashvili, Mariantonietta Fiore, Antonino Galati

Purpose This study aims to explore whether the blockchain technology (BCT), as a unique and distinctive resource, affects the development of unique capabilities and the integration and reconfiguration of internal physical and human resources necessary to gain a trusted competitive advantage. Design/methodology/approach A case study approach has been used to identify the internal resources and capabilities that affect the decision to implement BCT and to determine whether this new technology can become a strategic internal resource in the wine industry. Findings Results show the role of two strategic resources: human resources, such as IT specialists and software developers for BCT applications, and skills of companies’ management to grant sensitive and confidential data to IT specialists and the ability to read the analytics from the BCT application, becoming a distinctive enabling assets. Research limitations/implications The main limitation of this study is related to the analysis of a single case, which, on the one hand, does not allow generalisation of the empirical findings but, on the other hand, is themost appropriatemethod for the explorative nature of this research. Practical implications Our findings have useful practical implications for wineries and agri-food companies in overall because they can support managers and entrepreneurs in effectively implementing these innovative digital technologies in their valuecreation process. Originality/value The study of this underexplored topic gives interesting insights into the resources needed for the successful adoption of this emerging technology, which can support wineries in improving the value-creating process. In particular, compared to the previous studies, this research analyses the adoption process under the resource-based theory lens.

Hao Song, Wenfei Ge, Pan Gao, Wei Xu

Excellent jujube supply-chain management is of great significance to the development of the Xinjiang jujube industry. However, traditional jujube supply-chain management is faced with the dilemmas of opaque connection of transaction flow and capital flow information, unreliable product traceability information, and jujube farmers' lack of bargaining power. In this research, we propose a jujube supply-chain-management framework based on blockchain. Hyperledger fabric is the distributed solution platform of this research. The current blockchain-based traceability framework for agri-food emphasizes the construction process and ignores the performance and characteristics of the framework. This research optimizes the blockchain-network-topology architecture and storage cost of writing data. This not only solves the traceability of jujube, but also fills the gap in previous research on the traceability framework. Moreover, transactions are innovatively divided into common transactions and private transactions. Private transactions have enhanced the bargaining power of jujube farmers. Through the analysis of benchmark tests, the effectiveness and feasibility of the framework are verified.

Roberto C. Sandulli Saldaña

No abstract is available for this record.

Ibáñez Jiménez Javier

The present paper examines the concept, legal nature and key legal issues faced by non-fungible tokens (NFTs) representing wine bottles to be marketed in decentralized secondary platforms qualified as organized marketplaces in accordance with the provisions of the ongoing provisions of the EU Market in Cryptoaset Regulation (hereinafter MiCA). The analysis is extended to essential market challenges posed by the aforementioned rules within the context of the functioning of wine token platforms in DLT (blockchain) public-permissioned networks (PPDLs). Specific MiCA compliance for NFT wine trading and the relationship between the property of the underlying deliverable wine and the credit rights of the token holder are aksi discussed under the perspective of MiCA stablecoin regulation and particular consumer law rules and principles, in order to efficiently organize markets to protect NFT holders, wine buyers and related rights of producers, distributors and intermediaries along the wine chain of value.

Gloria Luzzani, Erica Grandis, Marco Frey, E. Capri

Sustainability standards have not yet been commonly adopted by the whole wine chain, and indicator assessments are not widely spread. A deep understanding of how embedding sustainability into business while controlling costs related to the adoption of sustainability certification standards such as data collection and management practices could allow one to overcome most barriers relevant to sustainability compliance. Blockchain technology (BCT) may answer these needs. In order to verify BCT potential to be used as a sustainability management tool in the wine industry, with a qualitative triple bottom line research approach, this article explores the connections among BCT adoption in agri-food, issues posed by wine sustainability certification, and whether wine companies that already own a wine sustainability certification are prepared to adopt it. Results show that (1) the blockchain allows collecting data and information that are relevant for monitoring and improving sustainability: Soil and water features, climate conditions, treatment with pesticides and fertilizers, production process, traceability, transparency, labor and human rights, quality and safety, waste reduction, authenticity, relationship with stakeholders; (2) wine companies that already own a sustainability certification have little familiarity with blockchain applications (57.1%, n.21) and only 14% of the respondents support their intention to invest in BCT in the coming years; (3) the case study shows improvements in traceability and transparency along the supply chain and an increase in consumers’ trust that was reflected in sales growth, and the main costs are linked to complexity in data management.

Antonino Galati, Demetris Vrontis, Benedetto Giorlando, Marcella Giacomarra · 5 authors

Purpose This study aims to explore and describe the main enabling factors affecting the implementation of blockchain technology (BCT) in a strategic sector such as the wine industry, as well as the motivation behind this choice. Design/methodology/approach In light of the novelty of the phenomenon studied, a case study approach was adopted analyzing three Italian wineries. A conceptual framework, based on the dynamic capabilities, absorptive capacity and dominant logic theories, was developed. Primary and secondary data were collected. Findings Results show that wineries working in a highly dynamic and competitive market invest more in knowledge acquisition and internal assimilation and less in transformation and exploitation of acquired knowledge, in particular preferring to outsource the application phase of BCT. The particularity of the wine industry, indeed, demonstrates the existence of hybrid alternatives in which exploration and exploitation processes can be balanced. These findings confirm the value of the conceptual framework developed to explain how wineries implement BCT in their business. Research limitations/implications The present work must be considered in light of the research scope and its qualitative nature. Practical implications Findings suggest that the adoption of BCT depends on the wineries’ ability to invest more in effective knowledge management systems to acquire and assimilate knowledge internally and in managerial skills and dominant logic that become strategic resources that can improve their innovation performance. Originality/value Compared to previous studies on BCT adoption in the wine industry, this work helps us to better understand how wineries implement BCT as it focuses on their ability to acquire, manage and capitalize on the flow of knowledge, as a strategic resource, which forms the basis for creating dynamic capabilities and value. Findings are of interest to develop strategies aimed to ensure the effectiveness of this innovation in a strategic sector.

Çiğdem Unurlu

The aim of this study is to offer some suggestions to both the tourism industry and the practitioners in terms of making wine tourism and wine supply chain more transparent and traceable. From this point of view, in the current study, in which the blockchain technology in wine supply chain is examined, first the technology of block chain has comprehensively been assessed, and later the operational principles of blockchain technology are discussed. Afterwards, the blockchain technology was attempted to be integrated into wine tourism and wine supply chain. Hence, a new model was proposed. In this respect, the outputs that can be obtained via the use of blockchain technology in wine tourism and wine supply chain are revealed in this study.

Kristóf Fatsar

Although the famous Baroque gardens of Prince Nicolas Esterházy ‘the Magnificent’ (1714–90) at Eszterháza were abandoned by his immediate successors and later given a more natural but rather modest appearance, the new pleasure ground was kept in good order to please the many tourists who were still interested in the so-called Hungarian Versailles. The Eszterháza gardens continued to play an important role in providing ornamental plants for other princely estates including the much-famed Eisenstadt, and also acted as a ‘garden centre’ for local society, distributing a wide range of fruit tree varieties and other garden products. During his leadership between 1821 and 1825, Court Gardener Anton Pölt (c. 1770–1836) kept a series of ledgers that reveal the entire trading business of the Eszterháza gardens. This exceptionally rare source recorded not only the species and cultivars of the nursery stock but the identity of buyers and their purchases as well. Analysis of the data sheds light on consumption habits, distribution range and social differences in the customs, and also provides information on high and low tides in the business and the reliability of the garden products in terms of revenue.

Monica Sassatelli

“What is a festival?” is a deceptively simple question – but also a deceptively complex one. This is reflected by much of the literature on festivals, in which discussion of their multiplicity and heterogeneity, their complex etymologies and histories, as well as the expansion in the second half of the 20th century, and exponentially since the 1980s in Europe, has seen festivals transformed into one of the dominant formats in the current cultural realm. However, beneath the apparent multiplicity, one major feature helps to clarify the issues at stake when considering their cultural significance: festivals tend to be either “‘traditional’ moments of celebration or... highly orchestrated mega-events” (Waitt, 2008: 513). The first are supposed to be the organic expression of a community; the second, which we may call post-traditional (Giorgi and Sassatelli, 2011: 1-11), are instead mostly associated with the contemporary culture industry and its rationales, their recent exponential growth seen as proof that we are faced by a non-organic, commercially driven phenomenon. The distinction is relevant because, whilst traditional festivals have been studied, in particular within anthropology and folklore studies, as expressions of a given society and an entry point into its culture, values and identity, post-traditional festivals have been dismissed by some writers as banal, and banalizing ‘spectacles’ (Debord, 1994). Different approaches and literatures contribute to deepen this gulf, with contemporary festivals on the whole dismissed by mainstream social science and cultural theory and assessed in terms of their (economic) impact only. In this chapter, after a brief review of the dominant approach in urban festivals research, I try to uncouple these associations. That is, to explore the possibility that contemporary festivals, as expressions of the contemporary society in which they flourish, can provide a valuable analytical perspective on its public culture.

Marc Schneiberg

What are the social, political and institutional conditions for organizational heterogeneity and the production of new organizational forms? I address this question using historical methods and time series analyses of 3145 mutual fire insurers — important cooperative alternatives to markets and hierarchies. Developing politically oriented neo-institutional arguments, I show that mutuals were vehicles by which property owners and agrarian interests resisted corporate consolidation and secured conditions for autonomous economic development. Mutuals embodied a vision of a decentralized, “cooperative commonwealth” of farmers, merchants and independent producers. And they rested on a socio-industrial order characterized by political struggles against corporations; anti-monopoly social movements; immigrants and other cultural carriers of mutual organizing templates; and an institutional infrastructure of protestant churches and local movements.

Jan Andersen

Municipalities have an important role in enacting alcohol policy in Norway. The task of the local authorities is to implement the national goals and form a locally adapted practice, mainly by controlling the availability of alcohol to the public. The local politicians experience this as an issue where they are exposed to a cross-pressure between sociopolitical concerns on the one hand and business interests on the other hand. This paper focuses on alcohol policies in municipalities which give priority to business development, especially tourism. It is based on case studies of two Norwegian municipalities. The paper first looks at the actual changes in the alcohol policy in the two municipalities, and secondly, at the decision-making process leading up to these changes. Four approaches for studying decision-making processes, inspired by a model by Jo-han P. Olsen, are used: rationality, legitimacy, power and necessity. The study found a liberalization with regard to the availability of alcoholic beverages in the two municipalities. This can be explained by changes in external conditions, changes in influential positions between different actors, and changes in public attitudes towards alcohol and interpretations of the local authorities’ ability to control the consumption of alcohol in the population. At the same time the local authorities have strengthened efforts to control licensees. This can be seen as a result of demands from the national authorities, and of the fact that this activity can be financed by a tax on the licensees. The combination of the liberalization of the license policy and the strengthening of the control of the licensees can also be seen as a compromise between different political attitudes, but where the business interests are more important than the sociopolitical concerns. The local politicians also underlined the importance of information activity aiming at influencing attitudes towards alcohol. This last mean is characterized by a legitimating function and almost restricted to rhetorics. It seems that this is more a symbolic politics. Generally the study emphasizes mechanisms indicating that the consequence of a decentralization of power to local authorities will be a more uniform liberal politics rather than more locally based differences.