The sustainability orientation in the wine industry: An analysis based on age as a driver

Abstract

Few studies probe small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the context of sustainability. Thus, this study examines the sustainability orientation in SMEs and its impact on financial performance, considering the 'ageing effect'. It employs a sample of Italian SMEs operating in the wine sector, using a survey questionnaire to collect qualitative and quantitative data for analysis. Accordingly, although sustainability remains typically unembedded within such SMEs, when it is embedded, a positive correlation with performance is evident. Furthermore, age is a relevant variable that can explain a different sustainability orientation and its impact on financial performance. This research contributes insight into sustainability orientation in SMEs, extending the sustainability, age, and SME performance literature. Managerial implications suggest the need to better emphasise social issues and invest more in skilled human resources and training programmes.

Driving Success: Unveiling the Synergy of E-Marketing, Sustainability, and Technology Orientation in Online SME

“…One possible reason could be that SMEs have observed that, following the implementation of sustainability plans, they achieve higher financial gains than the resources allocated for sustainable investments. This finding is consistent with [69,134,135], where enterprises not only perceive the social importance of sustainable business activities intensely but also demonstrate an increased interest in implementing sustainability plans.…”

“…As the first objective of this study is to identify the impact of independent variablese-marketing orientation (EMO), sustainability orientation (SO), and technology orientation (TO)-on the dependent variable online SME business performance (OBP), we believe that PLS-SEM is appropriate for analyzing the construct model. Therefore, previous marketing studies with similar latent variables were reviewed to analyze the data using PLS-SEM [42][43][44][45][46][68][69][70][91][92][93][94][95]. Multi-group analysis (PLS-MGA) was deemed suitable for examining significant differences between e-commerce intensity groups in the constructions EMO → OBP, SO → OBP, and TO → OBP.…”

“…Ref. [69] showed a positive correlation between SO and business performance, particularly with the increasing age of SMEs in the market. [70] demonstrated a significant positive effect of sustainability orientation and marketing orientation on marketing performance.…”

“…Although enterprises continuously aim to maximize results and establish mutually beneficial relationships with market participants, the exploration of the three dimensions EMO, SO, and TO and their effect on OBP has been separately investigated [69,134,135]. This study responds to research demands by identifying items and deepening the understanding of factors contributing to the growth of the online business performance of Romanian SMEs, evaluating their common impact.…”

Wine waste valorisation: crushing the research domain

“…The study conducted by Broccardo et al (2023) demonstrates that the age of business in the wine industry is a significant factor that might account for variations in sustainability orientation and its influence on the financial performance of Italian small and medium-sized enterprises.…”