Carolina Guerini

Starting from the changing patterns of media consumption during the Covid-19 pandemic in Spain, the paper analysis, on the basis of a representative sample, the role of media in favoring a positive brand attitude. The results acknowledge the existence of three classes of media, that proved to differ in terms of effectiveness. We were able to outline as well other factors that proved to be relevant. Brand’s features, marketing policies and consumer perspective lenses have the power - beyond media- to affect brand attitude, confirming the concurrent importance of complex relations. Though limited to a Country and a precise crisis period, the analysis offers some insights on the components of a successful brand strategy.

Though yet partly unexplored, Digital Do-It-Yourself (DiDIY) is both an objective phenomenon that can be investigated from the point of view of its output and a subjective phenomenon that shapes individual behaviors and can be analyzed from the perspective of competences, motivations and social relationships. DiDIY is a complex socio-technical phenomenon that heavily impacts on organizations. Following recent research paths aimed at defining the subjective side of DiDIY, this research focuses on the gendered DiDIYer’s profile. Female DiDIYers’ personal characteristics seem to confirm previous studies dealing with the general DiDIYer’s profile (Guerini and Minelli, 2018). They are digitally literate and aware of their skills, curious and eager to innovate. Proud and conscious of their potential contribution to the improvement of their lives and their workplace, open to professional and personal challenges, they qualify themselves as expert amateur, not just as pure technology adopters. Female DiDIYers are involved in organic and participative cultures and their roles are characterised by knowledge sharing and creation, also through communities of practice. Female DiDIY is concentrated in complex roles, which link the organization to the external environment, being intrinsically autonomous in their expression and far from clerical activities.

The work extends the sales and organization literature by analyzing the nature and the goals of knowledge sharing within networkers' downlines in Network Marketing Direct Selling Organizations (NMDSO). The main results of the research, based on a qualitative methodology and referred to Lyoness network in Italy, acknowledge the relevance of knowledge sharing & creation via digital technology, distinguish the nature of knowledge sharing and identify the main goals.