PurposeWithin a competing global food market marketing strategies become ever more important; in Italy an important marketing strategy in the wine sector focuses on the so‐called designations of origins (Appellations). This paper aims to analyse the public perception of regional wines with designation of origins.Design/methodology/approachA semi‐structured questionnaire was administered to a sample of wine consumers in national wine shows in Rome and the provinces. The questionnaire aimed at testing consumers' knowledge and preferences toward wines with a designation of origin produced within the Lazio region. A multivariate analysis has clustered consumers according to their behaviors in relation to wines with a designation of origin. A perception analysis relative to the knowledge and meaning of designations of origins was further performed. The latter has made it possible to rank regional wines and to establish the market effect of designations of origin.FindingsWith regard to behaviors toward wines with a designation of origin, the data suggest three ideal‐types of customers: “sensible” (i.e. customers knowledgeable of the meaning of designations of origins); “indifferent”; and “thrifty” (i.e. customers who understand the importance of designation of origins but are also conscious of price). The conclusions indicate that a designation of origin is a necessary but not a sufficient factor for having a good market performance.Research limitations/implicationsImplications in terms of marketing strategies are evident: wine production is characterized by different worlds of production and marketing strategies should be consequential.Originality/valueThe enthusiasm towards designations of origin is not always justified: the proliferation of designations of origin can de‐sensitize consumers with dramatic effects on rural territories whose economy rotates around the production of quality wines. Organizational adjustment and more efficient communication strategies are indeed necessary complements to obtaining an appellation.

In this paper I demonstrate the analytical potential of the concept of hybridity for understanding localized agrofood networks, that is, production systems whose products are embedded in the history, geography, and culture of a particular place and community. I use the notion of hybridity as a way of describing how local producers do not necessarily follow one specific production logic, whether of scale or variety. The research shows that they exchange, borrow, absorb, and appropriate practices, technologies, knowledge, and conventions from all available models of production. The nature and the extent of the exchange, and thus of hybridization, vary according to the nature of the product, to the position a particular firm occupies within the network, and ultimately, to individual and collective conceptions of how production can and should be organized. The specific ways that firms coordinate transactions between one another and how they develop relations with markets also reflect the producers' choices among different models of organization. Hybridity matters in relation to rural development policies. The entry of local food products into modern marketplaces through a series of intermediate steps, some modern, some traditional, opens up an opportunity to rethink the alleged opposition between industrial and artisan production within localized food networks. As I will show, between industrial and artisan producers, objectives may diverge, but there can also be strong positive exchange. Although industrial producers link up with buyers by serving increasingly wide, even global, markets, artisan producers help retain expertise within the territory of production, anchoring the product deeper into the culture, history, and geography of the area. Institutional actors should recognize and enhance such synergies apart and beyond the technical aspects of production.

The aim of the article is to compare, using surveys, interviews and participant observation, long-term development strategies in two rural communities, one in Iowa (Amana Colonies) and the other in southern Italy (Val Comino). The Amana Colonies have chosen a market model whereas the Val Comino uses a model supported with funds from the European Community. Both strategies prioritise local ability to co-ordinate actions across geographical and institutional scales. The findings suggest that the efficiency of the two strategies is wearing out and their long-term sustainability is in question. In the case of southern Italy, this is because powerful members in local institutions operate on conventions of clientelism and corporativism; in the Amanas it is because shareholders who live in the community are interested in preserving the identity of the territory whereas those who do not are interested in the corporation's dividends.

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