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Consumers show increasing levels of concern regarding disclosing information to companies, as retailers’ access to their personal information heightens their feelings of vulnerability. Although customers’ personal information is crucial for targeting actual and potential customers, the extant discussion regarding the determinants of customers’ willingness to disclose personal information is limited. Drawing upon social judgment theory, this study investigates how consumers experience different levels of perceived warmth, which alleviates privacy concerns and, in turn, affects their willingness to disclose personal information during different stages of the online customer purchase journey. A mixed-method design combining a focus group (Study 1), an online experiment, a field study and a laboratory experiment (Studies 2, 3 and 4) provide a multifaceted representation of this phenomenon. The results show that compared to the prepurchase phase, asking for personal information at the end of the online customer purchase journey (i.e., purchase and postpurchase phases) leads to a higher perception of warmth and lower privacy concerns, thereby increasing customers’ disclosure of personal data. The findings are robust to consumers’ brand familiarity and other relevant sociodemographic variables. This research provides insightful theoretical and practical implications for retailers regarding how to enhance perceived warmth and improve customers’ willingness to disclose personal information.

The final design process of the ITER EC upper launcher (UL) was carried out between 2011 and 2018 under a Grant agreement between the European Domestic Agency F4E and a consortium of European associations, namely KIT (D), SPC (CH), DIFFER (NL), IPP (D), CNR (I), and IPF (D). The final design is scheduled for 2019. The final design review (FDR) will be split into several review processes for dedicated sub-components. One of these sub-components is the structural system of the EC launcher. This article presents a brief overview on the final design status of the ITER EC UL structure of spring 2018, including the history of development since 2004. It highlights the most challenging design issues and debates demanding project management steps. The lesson learned in the technical development of the design will be discussed, in view of the design work for future fusion devices.

This research focuses on retailers’ price personalization strategies and investigates if consumers display different levels of store patronage intention and expected amount of discount depending on the type of data they are asked to disclose to obtain a personalized price. Findings from two experimental studies manipulating the type of data and the levels of distributive justice (Study 1) and the level of effort (Study 2) reveal that consumers react more favorably when the retailer requests the customer to share behavioral rather than biometric data. The fairer the perceived outcome of the price personalization, the less customers will be concerned with their privacy, and the more entitled they will feel about receiving a benefit from the retailer. The impact of type of data on fairness changes as a function of the benefit provided to customers (Study 1) and the level of effort to display the personalized price (Study 2).

PurposeThe present research expands the debate on environmental sustainability in the wine industry. Since the literature on sustainability and wine is relatively recent, current results do not cover all the practices that can be implemented along the wine supply chain. Thus, the paper presents a classification of environmental practices specific for the wine industry, according to the increased attention that has been paid to this topic in recent years. Moreover, it investigates the adoption level of these practices with reference to Italian wine producers.Design/methodology/approachThe research presents a systematic literature review including papers published in academic journals during the past 30 years and in Italian specialised magazines. This methodology is useful to provide a clear overview of sustainable practices that can be adopted along the wine supply chain. Therefore, an empirical study based on the results of an online survey shows how wineries approach environmental sustainability.FindingsThe literature review provides a definition and classification of environmental practices in the wine industry, as well as identification of those that require further attention in the literature, suggesting future research paths. The results of the online survey give an overview of the adoption level of environmental practices and highlight widespread attention to all the listed environmental practices, including those not adopted.Originality/valueFrom a theoretical point of view, this paper fills a literature gap in terms of the definition and classification of environmental practices that cover all wine supply chain processes, also providing a useful instrument for wine companies' managers. Moreover, the results of the empirical research give an overview of the adoption level of environmental practices in one of the most relevant countries in terms of wine production and highlight widespread attention to all the listed environmental practices, including those not adopted.

ITER will be equipped with four EC (Electron Cyclotron) Upper Launchers (UL) of 8 MW microwave power each with the aim to counteract plasma instabilities during operation. These launcher antennas will be installed into four upper ports of the ITER vacuum vessel. Beside their functional purpose the port plugs which are the structural system of the launchers, have to provide as much shielding as possible in order to protect adjacent components from neutrons and photons and to minimize the shutdown dose rate in the port interspace and the port cell, being located further back in the ITER Tokamak building. Thus appropriate shielding blocks shall be installed at proper positions inside the plug. In addition several structural components will be dressed up geometrically in order to provide maximum shielding capability. This paper presents the general design of the shielding elements and their technical integration into the EC Upper Launcher.

The ITER torus diamond window unit is part of the electron cyclotron (EC) upper launcher (UL) used to direct high power microwave beams generated by the gyrotrons into the plasma for heating and current drive (H&CD) applications. The UL consists of an assembly of ex-vessel waveguides (WGs) and an in-vessel port plug (PP). The diamond window units form vacuum and confinement boundaries between the torus volume and the transmission lines (TLs) which guide beams between 1 and 1.5 MW at 170 GHz from the gyrotrons to the launcher. There are eight window units attached to the assembly of the WGs, one unit for each WG. The design strategy of the unit is to have a very rigid outer frame able to withstand the potential external loads acting on the unit while thin copper cuffs brazed to the diamond disk allow indirect cooling of the disk to remove the EC power absorption during the beam transmission. The load combination given by the stringent ITER seismic level 2 (SL-2) event occurring during baking of the torus vessel is the design driver for the outer frame of the unit. In fact, the assembly of the WGs is connected from one side to the ceiling of the ITER port cell area by a support frame and to the UL PP from the other side. Movements of the torus vessel due to baking, seismic and plasma disruption events, result in forces and moments acting on the units. Furthermore, during a seismic event, the unit is subject to additional loads induced by the oscillation of the support frame attached to the ceiling. An outer frame surrounding the window unit is thus required to ensure the structural integrity and the confinement function of the unit. This paper shows how the design of the window unit was assessed and optimized by finite element method (FEM) analyses. A specific methodology was developed to carry out the analyses with respect to the seismic and baking loads. At Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), FABRY-PEROT resonators measure the loss tangent of the diamond disk and it is then used as input to the computational fluid dynamics and FEM analyses aiming to assess the design. The impact of the FEM analyses on the design of the window unit is discussed also together with the manufacturing aspects of the unit.

The pre-conceptual layout for an electron cyclotron system (ECS) in DEMO is described. The present DEMO ECS considers only equatorial ports for both plasma heating and neoclassical tearing mode (NTM) control. This differs from ITER, where four launchers in upper oblique ports are dedicated to NTM control and one equatorial EC port for heating and current drive (H&CD) purposes as basic configuration. Rather than upper oblique ports, DEMO has upper vertical ports to allow the vertical removal of the large breeding blanket segments. While ITER is using front steering antennas for NTM control, in DEMO the antennas are recessed behind the breeding blanket and called mid-steering antennas, referred to the radially recessed position to the breeding blanket. In the DEMO pre-conceptual design phase two variants are studied to integrate the ECS in equatorial ports. The first option integrates waveguide bundles at four vertical levels inside EC port plugs with antennas with fixed and movable mid-steering mirrors that are powered by gyrotrons, operating at minimum two different multiples of the fundamental resonance frequency of the microwave output window. Alternatively, the second option integrates fixed antenna launchers connected to frequency step-tunable gyrotrons. The first variant is described in this paper, introducing the design and functional requirements, presenting the equatorial port allocation, the port plug design including its maintenance concept, the basic port cell layout, the transmission line system with diamond windows from the tokamak up to the RF building and the gyrotron sources. The ECS design studies are supported by neutronic and tokamak integration studies, quasi-optical and plasma physics studies, which will be summarized. Physics and technological gaps will be discussed and an outlook to future work will be given.

For the required upgrades of the Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating system at the stellarator Wendelstein 7-X, the development of a 1.5 MW 140 GHz Continuous Wave (CW) prototype gyrotron has started. KIT has been responsible to deliver the scientific design of the tube (i.e. the electron optics design and the RF design), with contributions from NKUA and IPP. The prototype gyrotron has been ordered at the industrial partner, Thales, France, and is expected to be delivered in 2021. In parallel, a short-pulse pre-prototype gyrotron has been developed at KIT, to provide the means for a first experimental validation of the scientific design in ms pulses, prior to the construction of the CW prototype. This paper reports on the status of the 1.5 MW CW gyrotron development, focusing on the scientific design and its numerical and experimental validation.

openaire: EC/H2020/633053/EU//EUROfusion An Electron Cyclotron Wave (ECW) system will be used in the European DEMO for the stabilization of Neoclassical Tearing Modes (NTMs). In order to avoid movable mirrors in the harsh environment close to the plasma and to simplify the NTM launcher integration, the tuning of the ECW deposition location can be achieved by launching frequency-tunable ECWs from fixed mirrors while the frequency is tuned in discrete steps of 2–3GHz. An overview of the frequency step-tunable ECW system for NTM stabilization is presented. The design considerations are discussed based on the current DEMO baseline parameters and the status of technologies. A simulation of NTM stabilization with an idealized frequency tunable ECW system on an analytical NTM model is shown. The simulation takes into account a realistic tuning speed based on the present technology and considers the current NTM launcher configurations in DEMO. A simple sweeping strategy is adapted for the control of frequency. Various uncertainties, which will affect the feasibility, need to be further investigated.

A multifaceted simulation procedure, addressing the electron beam properties, the beam-wave interaction, and the internal losses, has been used for the simulation of the experimental operation of a 1.5-MW 140-GHz short-pulse preprototype gyrotron. The preprototype is related to the development of 1.5-MW gyrotrons for the upgrade of the electron cyclotron resonance heating system at the stellarator W7-X. A very good reproduction of experimental results has been achieved by simulation, without resorting to arbitrary speculations. This validated the numerical tools as well as the design and fabrication of the short-pulse preprototype, which fully reached the target of efficient 1.5-MW operation in millisecond pulses. Special attention has been given to simulating the possibility of parasitic after-cavity interaction in the gyrotron launcher. Also, parasitic backward-wave excitation in the gyrotron cavity has been demonstrated by simulation, at a frequency and voltage range in agreement with experimentally observed parasitic oscillations. This offers an additional possibility with respect to the origin of deleterious parasitic oscillations in high-power gyrotrons, which are usually attributed mainly to the gyrotron beam tunnel.

© 2020 Elsevier Inc. There is a general lack of clarity regarding measurement of the self-brand congruity construct, which also calls for cross-national validation. Although previous evidence suggests a positive relationship between self-brand congruity and consumer brand associations (brand attachment), this relationship requires a deeper investigation. This study tests and validates a personality congruence scale in the luxury sector on an international level. Based on a survey of nearly 1500 international luxury customers, it also measures the effect of congruence on brand attachment. The findings confirm that the personality congruence structure is based on five dimensions: prestige, emotion, trust, anxiety, and order. The results highlight the personality congruence effect and its influence on brand attachment. Finally, similarities and differences across countries are detected in the personality congruence and brand attachment relationship. Theoretical and managerial implications are also discussed. This study contributes to the literature on brand personality congruence and its impact on brand attachment in the luxury context.

Purpose This paper aims to provide scholars and practitioners with an innovative method of analyzing luxury brand associations in social media (i.e. Twitter). To do so, authors investigated the alignment between luxury brand identity and luxury brand image in online communication, taking into consideration firm- and user-generated content (UGC) in the form of bloggers’ contents. This paper introduces new tools that luxury brand managers could use to manage and adapt the way they communicate and interact with their customers. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts a qualitative approach based on a content analysis of Twitter posts of six luxury fashion brands (1,334 posts) and the related Twitter electronic word-of-mouth of fashion bloggers (329 tweets). Findings The results show a match between luxury brand identity and luxury brand image on Twitter. Specifically, the findings indicate that both brands and bloggers stress the same dimensions of luxury (aesthetic, desirable, symbolic, restricted accessibility and hedonistic experience) confirming that the ways they communicate luxury brands to consumers are aligned. Moreover, the results suggest that luxury brands could reinforce their brand value by making more use of words that are semantically related to luxury. Originality/value This study approaches the relationship between social media and luxury brands in a novel way and provides scholars and managers with a tool for monitoring the gap between desired and perceived brand associations.

One of the major challenges for the tourism sector is enacting sustainable behaviours. A key strategy for hoteliers is developing persuasive messages, with the goal of encouraging guests’ voluntary participation in green programs. Through the lens of Prospect Theory and Construal Level Theory, the present study investigates to what extent a loss or gain-framed message influences recycling of hotel guests via a field and a lab experiment. The field experiment tests the moderating effect of message construal level (concrete or abstract) on the message frame that activate pro-environmental behaviour, while the laboratory study delves further into the mechanism by showing that perceived self-efficacy is the mechanism behind the activation of these behaviours. The findings from both studies suggest that hotel guests are more likely to engage in recycling behaviour when a concrete message is paired with a loss-framed message, because of a greater perceived self-efficacy. These results help to understand the theoretical psychological mechanisms and offer managerial implications for operators on how to engage guests to be active partners in sustainable tourism behaviours.

Heating and current drive (H&CD) systems are being investigated for a demonstration fusion power plant DEMO to deliver net electricity for the grid around 2050. Compared to ITER, which has to show the generation of 500-MW thermal power, the target of DEMO is the successful production of 300 to 500 MW electrical power to the grid and to aim for a self-sufficient tritium fuel cycle. Three H&CD systems are under development for DEMO in Europe, the electron cyclotron (EC) system, the neutral beam injection (NBI) system, and the ion cyclotron system. Based on present studies for plasma ramp-up, ramp-down, and flat top phases, to be further validated in more detailed simulations, the assumed total launched power needed from the H&CD system in DEMO is in the range of 50-100 MW, to be provided for plasma heating and control. This paper describes the design and Research and Development status of selected H&CD systems, considered for their deployment in the EU DEMO. It was always considered that different H&CD configurations and design variants will have an impact on the performances for the whole fusion plant. It shall be noted that the basis for the H&CD integrated design and system development is the actual version of the European fusion electricity roadmap. The project also elaborates on H&CD efficiency improvements which will reduce the recirculating power fraction in the future fusion power plants. Different studies under investigation will be discussed such as for NBI the photoneutralization and for EC novel concepts for gyrotron multistage-depressed collector.

This paper aims to enhance the knowledge on the influence of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) on the consumer’s decision making process. Focusing on products’ reviews on social networks (SNs) an empirical research, built on an online survey with a sample of 175 consumers, was conducted. Results revealed that SNs involvement, reviews’ accessibility, and normative social influence positively improve the attitude towards reviews on SNs. Moreover, reading the products reviews on SNs (social eWOM adoption) significantly influences the intention to purchase those products. The study enriches the literature on products’ reviews and provides companies some guidance for the understanding of the role of social eWOM in influencing consumer behaviour.

The incorporation of the new embedded technologies and the interconnected networking advances in the automation and monitoring processes of retailers increases security and privacy risks perceived by consumers. A growing numbers of retail companies are gathering massive amounts of customer information and using it in multiple ways. Although customers’ personal information is crucial to target actual and potential customers, to date there is little conversation about customer privacy perspectives. Customers show increasing levels of privacy concern reducing their willing to disclose information with companies, since retailers’ access to their personal information heightens their feelings of vulnerability. The goal of this research project is to provide to retail managers a relevant guideline to manage the customer-firm interface and identifying the best ways to gain customers’ personal information reducing privacy concerns. The project will map privacy concerns throughout the customer journey in order to simultaneously advancing marketing theory and practice on privacy concerns.The incorporation of the new embedded technologies and the interconnected networking advances in the automation and monitoring processes of retailers increases security and privacy risks perceived by consumers. A growing numbers of retail companies are gathering massive amounts of customer information and using it in multiple ways. Although customers’ personal information is crucial to target actual and potential customers, to date there is little conversation about customer privacy perspectives. Customers show increasing levels of privacy concern reducing their willing to disclose information with companies, since retailers’ access to their personal information heightens their feelings of vulnerability. The goal of this research project is to provide to retail managers a relevant guideline to manage the customer-firm interface and identifying the best ways to gain customers’ personal information reducing privacy concerns. The project will map privacy concerns throughout the customer journey in order to simultaneously advancing marketing theory and practice on privacy concerns.

ITER will be equipped with four EC (Electron Cyclotron) upper launchers of 8 MW microwave power each with the aim to counteract plasma instabilities during operation. The structural system of these launcher antennas will be installed into four upper ports of the ITER vacuum vessel. During operation the port plug structure will be heated by nuclear heating from neutrons and photons and thermal radiation from the plasma. Also stray radiation and power losses from the Microwave (MW) system can create local heating of the port plug structure. This is why the port plugs must be equipped with a powerful heat removal system based on cooling water circuits. Beside reliable dissipation of up to 600 kW total heat applied to the port plug also good flow characteristics, adequate distribution of coolant in parallel branches and steady temperature gradients between interacting cooling water channels must be ensured by proper layout of the cooling system. This paper outlines an update of the cooling system according to design changes of the EC upper port plugs induced by the latest blanket geometry specifications. All relevant results of thermo-hydraulic analyses for different operation scenarios and fault conditions are presented as well as the thermo-mechanical behavior and manufacturing aspects.

The Electron Cyclotron Upper Launcher is an eight beamline ITER antenna whose main goal is to drive current locally, inside magnetic islands that may form on the q = 3/2 or 2 rational magnetic flux surfaces, in order to stabilize neoclassical tearing modes (NTMs). The primary vacuum boundary at the port plug extends into the port cell region through the ex-vessel mm-wave waveguide components, defining the so-called First Confinement System (FCS). Thermal expansion, seismic events and plasma disruption events result in displacements of the vacuum vessel, relative to the tokamak building, that are transferred to the FCS at its interfaces with the port plug. In absence of suitable inline waveguide bellows, the adaptation to such imposed displacements is provided by bending compliance of the straight waveguide sections. An analysis methodology for the ex-vessel components was developed which covers a preliminary set of applicable load combinations throughout the system life-cycle. This methodology describes the FCS numerical model developed to assess the system against independent events as well as the load combination strategy followed to combine the results. Some simplifications like the simulation of the Vertical Displacement Events (VDEs) by a static approach are considered in order to develop this methodology. The analysis of the results shows that the miter bends and the pieces of waveguides rigidly attached to the port cell ceiling are the most demanded components for most of the considered load combinations.

The future nuclear fusion power plants will require Electron Cyclotron Heating and Current Drive (ECH&CD) systems to heat up and stabilize the plasma inside the vacuum vessel. One of the key components of such systems is the Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) diamond window. The purpose of this device is to act as vacuum and tritium boundary while providing a high microwave transparency with minimal reflectivity. Although suited for high power microwave operation, the windows shall be internally monitored in order to properly ensure the ECH system efficiency and safety. In this paper, the latest assessment study on a set of diagnostics to be part of the window assembly is shown. The required diagnostics include arc and tritium detection, microwave stray radiation (perpendicular to the main beam and generated by cracks in the windows), pressure and disk temperature measurements. The devices must have a compact, simple and flexible layout, with a rugged design, to maximize serviceability and durability. When multiple options are possible for some of the diagnostic systems (e.g., scintillation devices vs solid state detectors for tritium detection), tradeoffs were assessed. To accommodate the diagnostics previously mentioned, a new design for the window housing was developed. As the design of the original diamond window assembly underwent further development since the beginning of this project, an update of the general layout was required. The new layout presented here integrates the updates of the windows assembly with those to the diagnostics. To validate the concepts, a test bench was developed to carry out measurements under conditions similar to the operative ones.

Price has always had a key role in the luxury fashion market, because high prices are linked to the prestige of luxury products. Because of this, scholars have neglected the possible existence of unintuitive and controversial pricing strategies followed by luxury firms. This article deals with this literature gap, analysing the odd even price strategy. With the direct observation of physical and digital store windows of 20 luxury brands, this research examines the relationship between odd even price strategy and the luxury level of fashion brands considering both offline and online channels.

In the frame of the EUROfusion Work Package Heating and Current Drive (WP HCD) of the Power Plant Physics and Technology (PPPT) program, CVD diamond disk Brewster-angle windows for gyrotron operation at multi-megawatt RF power levels and long pulses are under development. These windows allow for frequency step-tuneable operation. The Brewster-angle of 67.2° for diamond leads to an elliptical connection of the disk to the copper waveguides (WGs), requiring an advanced joining process. For proper transmission of the RF power, the disk consists of low loss CVD diamond of optical grade. The current target for the WG aperture of DEMO is 63.5 mm. It allows for an RF power transmission of 2 MW, but it requires a disk diameter of 180 mm for the 67.2° angle. In addition, a thickness of approximately 2 mm is needed to achieve the proper mechanical stability. State of the art microwave plasma reactors are not capable of growing disks of such size. The maximum available diameter of a polycrystalline CVD diamond disk suited to microwave applications is currently 140 mm. Thus, the industrial partner Diamond Materials GmbH (Freiburg, Germany) is doing extensive diamond growth experiments. A first of its kind, 180 mm thermal grade, crack-free, diamond disk was produced in the microwave plasma reactor with an average unpolished thickness of about 2 mm. First loss tangent measurements have been also performed. This paper describes the steps and the first results of this non-straightforward path, a challenging new field for diamond manufacturers and a major breakthrough for future frequency step-tuneable operation.

To increase the total injected Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating (ECRH) power in the plasma of the nuclear fusion experiment Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X), an upgrade of the existing gyrotron installation is in progress. The existing ECRH system, currently equipped with ten one-MW-class, 140 GHz continuous wave (CW) gyrotrons, will be augmented by enhanced 1.5 MW tubes, which are based on the successful existing 1 MW gyrotron design.

The 10 MW electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) system at the stellarator Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) currently relies on the successful operation of continuous wave (CW) 1 MW, 140 GHz gyrotrons which have chemical vapor deposition (CVD) diamond output windows cooled by the industrial silicon oil Dow Corning 200(R) 5 cSt. The window features a 1.8 mm thick diamond disk brazed to two copper cuffs with an aperture of 88 mm, which are then integrated in a steel housing. In the context of the upgrade of the ECRH system towards higher microwave power, this gyrotron design has been significantly advanced to fulfill the requirement of 1.5 MW CW operation, still at 140 GHz. A prototype of this new gyrotron is under development at Thales, France. This paper reports the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) conjugated heat transfer and structural analyses of the diamond window performed using the commercial code ANSYS V19.2 to investigate its performance at 1.5 MW operation. Furthermore, sensitivity studies were also carried out with respect to the absorbed power in the disk and the mm-wave beam radius at the window location. These analyses showed that the window design of the existing 1 MW gyrotrons still works quite well at higher power operation, thus verifying the performance of the window. Even in the worst case scenario of 1.5 kW absorbed power, the maximum temperature of 215 °C at the disk center can be safely accepted, being below the conservative limit of 250 °C for CVD diamond. In addition, the non-axial symmetric thermal gradients due to the geometry of the cooling channels lead to thermal stresses in the disk and the cuffs. However, they are much lower than the limits. The copper cuffs experience plasticity deformation in the region of the interface with the diamond disk up to a value of about 1.5 mm.

The DEMO-relevant gyrotron research at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology is driven by the European concept for a demonstration fusion reactor (EU DEMO). This paper reports on the recent results of the theoretical and experimental studies towards the development of gyrotrons fulfilling the DEMO needs.

Price has always had a key role in the luxury fashion market, because high prices are linked to the uniqueness and the prestige of luxury products and brands. Because of this direct contribution of price to the luxury essence, scholars have partially neglected the possible existence of unintuitive and controversial pricing strategies followed by luxury firms. This article deals with this literature gap, particularly analyzing a specific pricing strategy that seems to be in contrast with the nature of luxury pricing: the odd-even price (OEP). With the direct observation of physical and digital store windows of 20 luxury brands, this research investigates the role of OEP in the fashion luxury sector. Particularly, this work examines the relationship between the OEP strategy and the luxury level of fashion brands considering both offline and online channels.

Despite the many theories that support and explain the evolution of retailing, none is supporting the evolution of retailing due to the advent of digital technologies in store that reshape the store format and impact in consumer experience. This research aims to overlap this gap in the literature starting from the direct observation of what happened to the format of stores that has implemented digital technologies. Particularly, the purpose is to deeply analyze: How change the sales area with the introduction of digital technologies? How change the disposition of the spaces in the store after the introduction of digital technology? If there are effectively changes on the store format due to the introduction of digital technologies in store, how they impact also on the theories of retailing evolution?

The aim of this paper is to investigate the emerging phenomenon of big data and ethics in retail literature and identify the current issues and trends in order to propose some future research directions.

This special issue on luxury brand strategies and customer experiences includes eleven research papers which are valuable for marketers and researchers. Articles are grouped by topic- social media and digital marketing, ingredient branding and value creation, luxury retailing, and luxury consumer experience. The introductory article in this special issue places each article in one of four categories even though some of articles include information relevant to at least one other topic and briefly introduces unique and interesting about each article. This selection of papers written by 34 authors representing ten countries serves to extend the luxury brand research area in need of new developments, theories, and practices in light of the trends toward global luxury industries.

International audience; Scant evidence is available on of how social media marketing activities influence brand equity creation and consumers' behavior towards a brand. This research explores these relationships by analyzing pioneering brands in the luxury sector (Burberry, Dior, Gucci, Hermès, and Louis Vuitton). Based on a survey of 845 luxury brand consumers (Chinese, French, Indian, and Italian), who follow the five brands studied on social media, the study develops a structural equation model that helps to address gaps in prior social media branding literature. Specifically, the study demonstrates the links between social media marketing efforts and their consequences (brand preference, price premium, and loyalty). The study measures brands' social media marketing efforts as a holistic concept that incorporates five aspects (entertainment, interaction, trendiness, customization, and word of mouth). Another contribution of the study is that it finds that SMMEs have a significant positive effect on brand equity and on the two main dimensions of brand equity: brand awareness and brand image.

The aim of this paper is to analyze the relationship between fashion events and the territory where they take place, focusing on how this relationship can also affect fashion consumers’ behavior. History and culture, together with creativity and innovation, represent the distinctive traits of global fashion cities; at the same time, these characteristics are the basis of the fashion industry, which combines past, present and future in a constant state of renewal. On the empirical side, using a qualitative methodology, the research presents a case study, investigating the relationship between the city of Florence and its most important fashion events, Pitti Immagine fairs. Main findings show the distinctive elements of these events, highlighting the strong synergy and the mutual influence between Pitti Immagine fashion events and the territory of Florence. In terms of managerial implications, the authors suggest the existence of a mutual effect between the Florentine city and Pitti Immagine, both i...

The fashion industry has been recognized as one of the major industries that contribute to environmental damage. Although fashion companies have started to take some actions aimed at protecting the environment, how consumers make purchasing decisions about sustainable fashion products is a lingering question. This research thus investigates the effect of sustainable product attributes (i.e., recycled materials) on consumers’ purchase intention toward luxury and fast fashion products. Drawing from the social judgment theory, we propose that sustainability leads to higher consumers’ purchase intentions and that this effect is explained by the activation of perceived warmth. Three studies provide support for this assertation. Specifically, sustainable product attributes (i.e., recycled materials) affect positively the purchase intentions and this effect is magnified in the case of fast fashion products (Study 1). Consumers show more positive implicit attitudes when sustainability is paired with luxury than with fast fashion (Study 2). Finally, sustainability activates higher levels of perceived warmth which, in turn, affects consumers’ purchase intentions towards fast fashion products (Study 3). This research provides insightful theoretical implications by enclosing the psychological mechanism (i.e., perceived warmth) behind the relationship between sustainability and consumers’ purchase intentions. The paper also offers actionable levers on how to communicate sustainable initiatives to strengthen the consumer-brand relationship.

The purpose of this research is to investigate how the green image of a city can affect potential visitors' attitude toward the city in the context of user-generated content. The study adopts a 2 × 2 experimental design in which the greenness of the city image and the social distance between the users and the authors of social media content are examined. The results demonstrate that green image has a significant effect on attitudes toward cities. Moreover, the effects of social media content vary according to the perceived social distance between the author of the post and potential visitors. This study contributes to the literature by assessing the role that social media content plays in place branding and communication. Furthermore, it provides relevant insights on how institutions should enhance the sustainable resources of cities with their environmental policy and encourage the generation of content from various stakeholders to contribute to the development of a city's image.

This research investigates whether consumers display similar brand perceptions between physical and virtual store environments. Specifically, it explores the set of causal relationships through which the virtual store experience affects consumers’ perceptions and intentions toward the retailer’s brand. The results from an experimental study manipulating the store environment (virtual vs. physical) reveal that individuals exposed to a virtual-reality-based retail environment perceive higher levels of presence than those exposed to a more traditional, physical store environment; moreover, this positive effect does not depend on individuals’ technological self-efficacy perceptions. Higher levels of presence positively affect the shopping experience, which then produces a positive change in value perceptions, which ultimately lead to higher patronage intentions and WOM referral. Despite the presence of inattentional blindness found in the virtual environment, the results show that such an image transfer from the store environment to patronage intention holds even when individuals cannot correctly recall the store brand.

The ITER ECRH system consists of 24 gyrotrons with up to 24 MW installed millimeter wave heating power at 170 GHz, power supplies, control system, transmission lines, one Equatorial and the four Upper Launchers. With its high frequency and small beam focus the ECRH has the unique capability of driving locally current. While the Equatorial Launcher mainly acts for central heating and current profile shaping, the Upper Launchers aim on suppressing MHD instabilities, especially neoclassical tearing modes (NTM) triggering plasma disruptions. The Upper Launchers inject millimeter waves through a quasi-optical section consisting of three fixed and the front steering mirror set. The eight overlapping beams have focal points optimized for suppression of the q = 3/2 and q = 2/1 NTMs., Several project change requests required the redesign of the Upper Launchers and the connected ex-vessel system. This redesign includes a new boundary geometry of the launchers as well as a newly designed cooling system for the Blanket Shield Module (BSM), a modified flange of the BSM to the structural main frame and a refined optical design. Additionally shield blocks with integrated in-vessel waveguides were added and the closure plate with waveguide and supply line feedthroughs was adapted. Further changes, not all caused by PCRs, include newly designed ex-vessel waveguide components with a reduced aperture and redesigned ultra low-loss CVD diamond windows. Finally several components originally foreseen as off-the-shelf components have become part of the design scope. The new launcher design status is presented with selected results on numerical design validation.

Gyrotron R&D within the EUROfusion Work Package Heating and Current Drive (WPHCD) is addressing the challenging requirements posed on gyrotrons by the European concept for a demonstration fusion power plant (EU DEMO). These requirements, as specified within WPHCD, ask for highly reliable and robust long-pulse operation of the gyrotron, delivering 2 MW of microwave power at frequencies above 200 GHz with a high overall efficiency above 60% and the option for fast frequency step-tunability. To meet these targets, which are clearly beyond today's state-of-the-art, the R&D activities within WPHCD are organized in five main branches: these are the experimental verification of the advanced coaxial gyrotron technology at long pulses, the development of a coaxial gyrotron meeting the EU DEMO requirements, the development of multi-stage depressed collectors for enhanced energy recovery, the development of large broadband diamond windows to allow fast frequency tunability of the gyrotron, and the studies on further innovations and improvement of critical gyrotron components, in view of optimization of performance, reliability, and industrialization. The paper presents the progress made on these activities, the recent results, and the near-term planning. The major recent achievements include (i) the experimental validation of the fabrication of the new, water-cooled components for the longer-pulse coaxial gyrotron at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, by demonstrating 2.2 MW at 170 GHz with 33% efficiency without depressed collector, (ii) the design of key components for a 2 MW, 170/204 GHz dual-frequency coaxial gyrotron, (iii) the design of a two-stage depressed collector with 77% efficiency, (iv) the first-ever production, in an industrial plasma reactor, of large chemical vapor deposition diamond wafers of 180mm diameter, (v) the procurement of an advanced electron gun with coated emitter edges, and (vi) advances in the theoretical and numerical modelling for investigating improved concepts for the gyrotron beam tunnel and cavity.

In Europe, the research and development with main focus on achieving robust industrial designs of series gyrotrons for electron cyclotron heating and current drive of today's nuclear fusion experiments and towards a future DEMOnstration fusion power plant is constantly progressing. The R&D is following two different paths. Both are complementing each other: Firstly, it is the adaption of the physical design and basic mechanical construction of the reliably operating 140 GHz, 1 MW CW (spec.: 920 kW, 1800 s) gyrotron of the stellarator Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X), Greifswald, Germany. With regards to time and costs it is the target to perform reliable developments of fusion gyrotrons with advanced specifications for today's plasma fusion experiments. Main focus is on the development of the first EU 170 GHz, 1 MW CW (3600 s) gyrotron for the installation in ITER, Cadarache, France. Another adaption is the dual-frequency 126/84 GHz 1 MW (2 s) gyrotron upgrade for the medium size TCV tokamak, Lausanne, Switzerland. Finally, it is the upgrade of the W7-X gyrotron design towards an RF output power per unit of up to 1.5 MW and possible dual-frequency operation by keeping the basic mechanical construction. Additional to the proven design it allows to fit the new 1.5 MW gyrotron into the already existing infrastructure and to reuse existing W7-X gyrotron auxiliaries, e. g. the high-power voltage supply (HV PS) and the superconducting (SC) magnet. The second R&D path is defined by the complementary approach with regards to development risks towards a future gyrotron which shall fulfil the significant more advanced specifications of a future EU DEMO. The starting point is the 2 MW EU/KIT coaxial-cavity gyrotron design. Main requirements are an RF output power of 2 MW CW at above 200 GHz, multiple operating frequencies, frequency step-tunability and a total efficiency above 60 %.

The Electron Cyclotron diamond window which is located inside the port cell serves, together with an isolation valve, as primary vacuum boundary between the ITER vacuum vessel, the transmission lines and the port cell atmosphere and it functions as confinement barrier. The window consists of an ultra-low loss Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) diamond disk brazed into a metallic housing and it has to guarantee the compliance with very stringent nuclear safety requirements and an adequate transmission capability for high power mm-waves (1.31 MW at 170 GHz). The design of the window unit is approaching its final phase including design validation analyses, the development of a dedicated qualification program and prototyping activities. In preparation of the testing of complete window prototypes, pressure tests were performed on a mock-up formed by a diamond disk (D = 80 mm, d = 1.11 mm) brazed to two copper cuffs. The scope of the experiments was to show both the capability of the joining between the disk and the cuffs to keep the required vacuum tightness as well as the integrity of the disk when exposed to pressure loads. Based on the requirements defined for the pressure scenarios during normal operation and off-normal events, a test program was developed accounting for cyclic tests at low pressure differentials and overpressure tests up to 2 bar pressure difference over the disk to simulate severe accidental conditions. This paper gives an outline of the ongoing development of the overall qualification program of the ITER torus window and reports specifically on the experimental set-up and the successful outcome of the pressure tests of the brazed diamond disk mock-up. The test program for the complete window prototype needs discussion and approval by F4E and ITER and will directly determine the final qualification program for the series diamond windows.

As perceptual focus on retailer's green marketing, this study explores how green store atmospherics can positively influence green trust and green purchase intention of consumers

A growing body of research has emerged on digital retailing due to the introduction and rapid spread of technologies that changed the retail settings. Retailers are constantly making decisions about the implementation of digital technologies, evaluating every negative and positive effect from the costs saving to the customers’ satisfaction (Verhoef et al., 2009). These developments are modifying the way to do shopping, making it more exciting and involving, thanks to a large range of services offered (Liao & Shi, 2009). This systematic review of the literature (Tranfield et al., 2003) aims to identify, classify, and analyze the main current research fields on digital retailing developing an overall interpretation of the topic investigated. The process of analysis has been divided into three stages. In the first one, authors planned the review by delimiting the subject area, identifying the main purposes of the analysis, and consequently developing the review protocol including details of the information source (authors, title, year of publication, journal, keywords). During the second stage, authors collected the papers published from 2013 to 2016 in the databases EBSCO, Scopus, ScienceDirect, and Web of Science. In order to retrieve relevant publications in the field of digital retailing, authors selected the search query keywords “digital” and “online” linked via Boolean and with the keyword “retailing.” The search resulted in overall 693 articles. After a screening process, authors select 290 papers belonging to the field of B2C level and tangible goods digital retailing. In the third stage, authors codified the results by running a content analysis through the software NVivo (Bazeley & Jackson, 2013) aiming at codifying a set of main themes, according to the thematic analysis approach (Braun & Clarke, 2006). The themes were identified launching the auto-coding wizard query of the software on titles, abstracts, and keywords allowing researchers in the identification of the main topics. This process resulted in both father nodes and son nodes, summarized by authors into six father nodes with relative son nodes. Finally, the interactions among the nodes were measured to understand the eventual conceptual links and bonds between them, running the word similarity cluster analysis, through the using of the Pearson correlation, a tool for estimating the linear relationship between two quantitative random variables (De Ona et al., 2014).