Exploring Museum Marketing Performance: A Case Study from Italy

The public funding of museums should be linked to performance results in order to reward institutions that are more efficient. Performance measurement tools rely heavily on figures based on visitors numbers and tickets sold. In this paper an indicator is proposed, called PMMP (Performance of Museum as a Marketing Product) consisting of 4 dimensions derived from the four P’s of marketing. The tool is applied to two art and archaeology museums, one private and one public used as case studies in this exploratory phase. Publicly managed facilities could be proving inefficient in performing high levels of marketing performance, thus reducing visitors numbers. The subsequent revenues decrease makes it difficult to preserve the facility without asking for more public money. The simultaneous reduction in public funding asks for some criteria of selection and the indicator could be also useful as a checklist in evaluating museums’ marketing strategies and for internal benchmarking assessment

A Die-Hard Aristocracy: Competitive Balance in Italian Soccer, 1929-2009

We present two measures of competitive balance in professional soccer, one based on the historical rankings of the club and one based on the points in the season. We illustrate their characteristics and calculate them for the Italian first division (Serie A) since 1929 until 2009. Using the cumulated rankings gained by the 60 teams which have taken part to Serie A we show that Italian soccer is characterized by a self-reinforcing mechanism of dominance that makes up a very strong aristocracy composed of at most 10 teams. We also show that increasing the number of promoted clubs has an innovative impact. Our results imply that each season is fiercely fought, and it might be even more so with a smaller number of clubs, given an appropriate turnover of promoted clubs. However, this policy would imply a dilemma between the desire to foster competitive balance in the season versus reducing the number of matches –a source of revenue. We comment upon one feature of the new sharing rule on television revenues, while awaiting for more extensive empirical research. Our results cast a doubt on the weight given to historical competitive balance in the sharing rule effective from season 2010-11. The relevance given to the club’s history does not contrast the aristocracy; hence, giving seasonal competitive balance more space inside the sharing rule could hamper the dominance of bigger clubs

You Can Even Walk Alone: Stadium Attendance and Professional Soccer Clubs’ Social Role

The purpose of the paper is to suggest a new perspective on the social role in the community for Italian professional soccer clubs. Our findings loosen the knot between hooligans and clubs and could have important consequences on the club’s corporate social responsibility and marketing strategies. After investigating the impact of stadium attendance on team performance for Serie A and B in seasons 2004/05 through 2006/07, we conclude that crowd plays no role in the winning performance of soccer teams at home. Our proposal consists of two policies hinting at a reconciliation between social and educational role of the sport with the club’s commercial interests. The first policy is to establish an umbrella association whose membership is granted only to fans with a clear history as regards to crimes committed inside the arena and in the surrounding area, therefore hooligans are excluded. The umbrella association is administered by the club and embeds every supporters’ associations. The second policy uses ticket price fixing to discriminate against bad behaviour, excluding violent supporters from the stadium. Very high prices are imposed to non-member fans (presumably, all the bad guys) and to wealthy people requesting more comfort and additional services. Members in the umbrella association are allowed high discounts on the tickets as an incentive receive for being scrutinized. Popular prices or free tickets can be offered to other social relevant stakeholders such as grassroots, youngsters and for social policies aimed at inclusion. Key words: professional team sports; home advantage; 12th man; ticket pricing fixing strategies; corporate social responsibility; panel dat

Managerial Ability, Players’ Cultural Diversity, and Sporting and Economic Performance in English Soccer

We use a large homemade database on professional soccer in England to estimate the relevance of managerial ability on performance and the managerial skills in keeping up cultural diversity. The team manager faces a set of very complex tasks. Not only he is the head coach of the soccer team, thus influencing sporting performance, but he can also have an impact on performance, by improving economic efficiency or by limiting the organization innovation in order to foster the creation of organizational routines. The sporting competitive advantage translates into economic and financial performance; therefore the manager is a dominant voice in the financial viability of the club, too. We also measure the impact of cultural diversity: attendance appreciates home-grown and talented players, and dislikes cultural diversity

La liberalizzazione del mercato elettrico - Una proposta per superare la maggior tutela

Italian electricity consumers have been free to choose their supplier since 2007, but about 66 percent are still supplied under the so-called maggior tutela, a regulated regime. Italy’s Annual Competition Law states that regulated prices will be phased out by July 1st, 2019. This paper performs an analysis of the country’s retail electricity market following the structure-conduct-performance paradigm. Two main issues emerge that need to be addressed: market concentration and consumer inertia. The paper proposes several policy tools, aimed at both the supply and the demand side, aimed at promoting supply diversification, market entry and an increased customer engagement

The Role of Financial and Managerial Variables on the Policy Towards Home-Grown Players in English Soccer

The training and development of young players both as athletes and individuals is one of the task soccer governing bodies assign to professional soccer team in order to fully exploit the social aspects of sport activities. Recently UEFA imposed new rules to improve the use of home-grown players. We analyze a panel data of English Premier and Championship league clubs for the seasons 2001-02 to 2005-06 in order to understand what clubs characteristics lead to the employment of young players in the team during official matches. Sport commercialization and the employment of star players have been considered harmful to this role. Our findings suggest that, counter-intuitively, economic and commercial aspects of clubs are not important for the development of home-grown players, for example well paid players do not crowd-out home-growns. Managerial policies play a significant role. Major clubs in the Premier league deploy home-grown less often; leasing them to the Championship league could be a solution. Attendance favors home-grown players, which hints at a more active communication policy for the clubs in order to nurture the link with the local community. These results suggest social responsible strategies for Premier League clubs in order to improve their perceived social role and to avoid invasive interventions from national and international governing bodies in their managerial decisions on the clubs

Obesity and Age-Related Changes in the Brain of the Zucker Lepr fa/fa Rats

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is an association between obesity, dyslipidemia, hyperglycemia, hypertension, and insulin resistance. A relationship between MetS and vascular dementia was hypothesized. The purpose of this work is to investigate brain microanatomy alterations in obese Zucker rats (OZRs), as a model of MetS, compared to their counterparts lean Zucker rats (LZRs). 12-, 16-, and 20-weeks-old male OZRs and LZRs were studied. General physiological parameters and blood values were measured. Immunochemical and immunohistochemical techniques were applied to analyze the brain alterations. The morphology of nerve cells and axons, astrocytes and microglia were investigated. The blood–brain barrier (BBB) changes occurring in OZRs were assessed as well using aquaporin-4 (AQP4) and glucose transporter protein-1 (GLUT1) as markers. Body weight gain, hypertension, hyperglycemia, and hyperlipidemia were found in OZRs compared to LZRs. In the frontal cortex and hippocampus, a decrease of neurons was noticeable in the older obese rats in comparison to their age-matched lean counterparts. In OZRs, a reduction of neurofilament immunoreaction and gliosis was observed. The BBB of older OZRs revealed an increased expression of AQP4 likely related to the development of edema. A down-regulation of GLUT1 was found in OZRs of 12 weeks of age, whereas it increased in older OZRs. The behavioral analysis revealed cognitive alterations in 20-week-old OZRs. Based on these results, the OZRs may be useful for understanding the mechanisms through which obesity and related metabolic alterations induce neurodegeneration

Brain Alterations in High Fat Diet Induced Obesity: Effects of Tart Cherry Seeds and Juice

Evidence suggests that obesity adversely affects brain function. High body mass index, hypertension, dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, and diabetes are risk factors for increasing cognitive decline. Tart cherries (Prunus Cerasus L.) are rich in anthocyanins and components that modify lipid metabolism. This study evaluated the effects of tart cherries on the brain in diet-induced obese (DIO) rats. DIO rats were fed with a high-fat diet alone or in association with a tart cherry seeds powder (DS) and juice (DJS). DIO rats were compared to rats fed with a standard diet (CHOW). Food intake, body weight, fasting glycemia, insulin, cholesterol, and triglycerides were measured. Immunochemical and immunohistochemical techniques were performed. Results showed that body weight did not differ among the groups. Blood pressure and glycemia were decreased in both DS and DJS groups when compared to DIO rats. Immunochemical and immunohistochemical techniques demonstrated that in supplemented DIO rats, the glial fibrillary acid protein expression and microglial activation were reduced in both the hippocampus and in the frontal cortex, while the neurofilament was increased. Tart cherry intake modified aquaporin 4 and endothelial inflammatory markers. These findings indicate the potential role of this nutritional supplement in preventing obesity-related risk factors, especially neuroinflammation

Anti-Inflammatory and Antioxidant Properties of Tart Cherry Consumption in the Heart of Obese Rats

Obesity is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, frequently related to oxidative stress and inflammation. Dietary antioxidant compounds improve heart health. Here, we estimate the oxidative grade and inflammation in the heart of dietary-induced obese (DIO) rats after exposure to a high-fat diet compared to a standard diet. The effects of tart cherry seed powder and seed powder plus tart cherries juice were explored. Morphological analysis and protein expressions were performed in the heart. The oxidative status was assessed by the measurement of protein oxidation and 4-hydroxynonenal in samples. Immunochemical and Western blot assays were performed to elucidate the involved inflammatory markers as proinflammatory cytokines and cellular adhesion molecules. In the obese rats, cardiomyocyte hypertrophy was accompanied by an increase in oxidative state proteins and lipid peroxidation. However, the intake of tart cherries significantly changed these parameters. An anti-inflammatory effect was raised from tart cherry consumption, as shown by the downregulation of analyzed endothelial cell adhesion molecules and cytokines compared to controls. Tart cherry intake should be recommended as a dietary supplement to prevent or counteract heart injury in obese conditions

Effects of Prunus cerasus L. Seeds and Juice on Liver Steatosis in an Animal Model of Diet-Induced Obesity

The accumulation of adipose tissue increases the risk of several diseases. The fruits-intake, containing phytochemicals, is inversely correlated with their development. This study evaluated the effects of anthocyanin-rich tart cherries in diet-induced obese (DIO) rats. DIO rats were exposed to a high-fat diet with the supplementation of tart cherry seeds powder (DS) and seed powder plus juice (DJS). After 17 weeks, the DIO rats showed an increase of body weight, glycaemia, insulin, and systolic blood pressure. In the DS and DJS groups, there was a decrease of systolic blood pressure, glycaemia, triglycerides, and thiobarbituric reactive substances in the serum. In the DJS rats, computed tomography revealed a decrease in the spleen-to-liver attenuation ratio. Indeed, sections of the DIO rats presented hepatic injury characterized by steatosis, which was lower in the supplemented groups. In the liver of the DIO compared with rats fed with a standard diet (CHOW), a down-regulation of the GRP94 protein expression and a reduction of LC3- II/LC3-I ratio were found, indicating endoplasmic reticulum stress and impaired autophagy flux. Interestingly, tart cherry supplementation enhanced both unfolded protein response (UPR) and autophagy. This study suggests that tart cherry supplementation, although it did not reduce body weight in the DIO rats, prevented its related risk factors and liver steatosis