1. 1
Pasquale Comità
ANR: 454000
The taste of EUrope
Branding EU‟s identity through European quality labels
Thesis Supervisor Second Reader
Dr. M. Spotti Dr. P. K. Varis
Faculty Master‟s Programme Academic Year
School of Humanities Communication and 2014-2015
Information Science

2. 2
To Sabrina,
with Love.

3. 3
Abstract
The focus of this study has been to explore the employment of the European quality labels PDO – PGI
– TSG by the EU to sensitize its citizens to a healthier and more sustainable development of their daily
lives and businesses seen as fundamental steps toward the construction of a „green discourse‟ meant to
lead to a shared European identity.
The aim was to develop an understanding of how European citizens actually perceive and opine this
EU‟s attempt to „brand‟ its collective identity also through the „green discourse‟ of healthy and
environmentally sustainable food carried out by such European quality labels. In other words, I wanted
to understand the „sentiment‟ elicited and aroused in Europeans by those quality labels when posted on
Facebook pages managed by the EU because I believe such sentiment is an important indicator of how
the EU is perceived and understood by its citizens, as well as a factor influencing the European
identity. I argued that the final step of the identity‟s affirmation process is the EU‟s attempt of
„branding the brands‟, that is to apply its own brand on the food products aside the original producers‟
brands.
The research approach of this study has been twofold: a qualitative investigation, through an
„ethnographic content analysis‟, of four European Facebook pages performed in parallel with a
quantitative investigation, through a „sentiment analysis‟, of the whole Facebook during a specific
period of time, using keywords related to the topics under assessment.
In accordance with both my qualitative and quantitative results, the posts about the European
quality labels (PDO - PGI - TSG) published both on the EU‟s Facebook pages and generically online
do generate an overall positive sentiment in people towards the EU itself. The three European quality
labels PDO – PGI – TSG constitute a symbolic framework to citizens for what concern European food
products, with the result of fostering into citizens a sense of belonging, cooperation and loyalty
towards the European institutions. Moreover, the choice of using Facebook as a mean of
communication can be considered successful in terms of reached people and generic online
conversations.
Nonetheless, despite the possibilities provided by Facebook, the discursive power distance between
the EU‟s institutions and the European citizens seemed not having being bridged yet: the EU‟s
Facebook pages are only used as „showcases‟ for communications and to reach a higher number of
European citizens, but the EU fails in „listening‟ the citizens‟ needs and opinions with the consequence
of recreating the gap in power and communication that, in theory, should be bridged by the social
network.
Overall, my investigation on the quality labels PDO - PGI - TSG surely led to various criticalities
for what concerns the EU as an institution, its initiatives and its (in-)ability to proactively listening
citizens‟ opinions and sentiments; but for what concerns exclusively the quality labels PDO - PGI –
TSG as a mean in reaching and building a shared European identity, the final remarks are, according to
the citizens commenting on the EU‟s Facebook pages, more than positive and the EU seems to be on
the right path towards the creation of, at least, a set of shared symbols for what concerns high-quality
foods.
The wish for the future is then that the EU will put in action some better initiatives to be proactively
listening to its citizens‟ voices, bridging the power gap and co-creating a shared European identity.
Keywords: European Identity, EU, Quality Labels, Quality Schemes, PDO, PGI, TSG, Brand,
Branding, Ethnographic Content Analysis, ECA, Sentiment Analysis, Radian6, Facebook.

4. 4
Table of contents
Pag.
Abstract………………………….……………………………………………………………………… I
Table of Contents…………………….……………………………………………………………….....II
1. Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………...7
1.1. Focus and Aims…………………………………………………………………………………7
1.2. Research Approach………………………...…………………………………………………...9
1.3. Thesis Outline…………………………………………………………………………………..9
PART I - Conceptualization
2. Conceptual Framework……………………………………………………………………...11
2.1. „Inventing‟ Europe…………………………..………………………………………………...11
2.1.1. European Identity and the role of „Discourse‟…………………………………………12
2.1.2. European „Green‟ Identity…………………………………………………………......14
2.2. Brand and the process of Branding…………………………………………………..………..16
2.2.1. Branding Europe………………………………………………………………….........17
2.2.2. „Green‟ Branding through the Internet…………………………………………….......19
2.3. Semiotic Meaning and Function(s) of Labels……………..…………………………………..21
2.3.1. Eco-Labels……………………………………………………………………………...21
2.3.2. Food Labels and Regional Foods………………………………………………….......22
2.3.3. European Labels: Branding the Brands...…………………………………..………….24
2.4. The Identity Construction Process…………………………………………………………….25
2.5. Problem Statement and Research Question…………………………………………………...26

5. 5
PART II - Operationalization
3. Methodology…………………………………………………………………………………….28
3.1. E-ethnography…………………………………………………………………………………29
3.2. Research Design……………………………………………………………………………….31
3.3. Data Collection…..……………………………………………………………………………34
3.3.1. Date Range……………………………………………………………………………..35
3.3.2. Facebook pages………………………………………………………………………...37
3.3.3. Radian6………………………………………………………………………………...39
3.4. Data Analysis………………………………………………………………………………….41
3.4.1. Ethnographic Content Analysis………………………………………………………...41
3.4.2. Sentiment Analysis……………………………………………………………………...43
3.5. Research Quality Indicators - Validity and Objectivity……………………………………….44
4. Results……………………………………………………………………………………………45
4.1. Qualitative Results…………………………………………………………………………….45
4.2. Quantitative Results…………………………………………………………………………...76
5. Discussion and Conclusion…………………………………………………………………..86
5.1. In-depth discussion of qualitative results……………………………………………………...86
5.2. In-depth discussion of quantitative results…………………………………………………….88
5.3. General discussion……………………………………………………………………………..90
5.4. Conclusions……………………………………………………………………………………94
6. Limitations and Recommendations……………………………………………………….95
7. References……………………………………………………………………………………….97
8. Appendices……………………………………………………………………………………..101
Acknowledgments……………………………………………………………………………102

6. 6
“To be environmentally irresponsible is to be socially irresponsible”.
(Pearce, 2003)

7. 7
Focus
Aim
Quality
labels
1. Introduction
Nowadays, factors such as pollution, overpopulation, scarcity of natural resources, etc. are
progressing massively, pushing toward an increasingly „green society‟ and toward the
emergence and consolidation of a discourse around the benefits of a green society for
people. The vast majority of these factors also involve economic aspects leading, as a
consequence, to the development of a new economy in the direction of a, broadly speaking,
„green economy‟.
In fact, the economic crisis pressing at the door of European economy in the last few
years is provoking a dynamic social change driving people to reevaluate and modify their
lifestyles, paying more attention to the natural resources in order to save money and with
the secondary, but not less important, effect of growing ecological awareness.
Given the socio-economic milieu, the European Union (henceforth EU) is trying to play
a starring role in this changing field with the double scope of asserting itself as a reliable
actor able to drive Europeans in this switch, and being the driver of the switch itself,
turning the currently emerging need for a green economy into a „European green
economy‟.
1.1. Focus and Aim
For the present study, my focus is to explore the employment of few means – namely
„European quality labels‟ – the EU uses to sensitize its citizens, including producers, to a
healthier and more sustainable development of their daily lives and businesses seen as
fundamental steps toward the construction of that „green discourse‟ meant to lead to a
stronger European identity based on a „green society‟, i.e. a society aware of human
beings‟ impact on the environment and willing to foster a greater appreciation of natural
habitats with the promotion of recycling, energy efficiency, water conservation, healthy
food, local/regional agriculture, etc.
Going deeper into this, my aim is to develop an understanding of how European citizens
actually perceive and opine this EU‟s attempt to „brand‟ its collective identity also through
the „green discourse‟ of healthy and environmentally sustainable food carried out by the
European quality labels. In other words, I would like to understand the „sentiment‟ elicited
and aroused in Europeans by those quality labels when posted on Facebook pages managed
by the EU because I believe such sentiment is an important indicator of how the EU is
perceived and understood by its citizens, as well as a factor influencing the European
identity.
Hence, in order to achieve the aforementioned aim, the specific means under assessment
will be the following three European quality labels, all of which certify European regional
food products:
„Protected Designation of Origin‟ (PDO);
„Protected Geographical Indication‟ (PGI);
„Traditional Specialties Guaranteed‟ (TSG).
I have chosen these labels - and their respective certified products - because they appear
having (more than, for instance, a generic and impersonal „energy saving‟ or „water
conservation‟) all the semiotic characteristics needed to carry and to spread the message of
a single, solid and green European identity grounded on its variegated diversity: these
labels, in fact, all refer to products which are tangible, (European) territory-based,
sustainable, healthy, usually traditional, acknowledged through denominations and

8. 8
Branding
the brands
A win-win
situation
Scope
recognizable. Especially the last two characteristics of being „acknowledged‟ and,
consequently, „recognizable‟ are of great interest in this thesis because I argue that the final
step of the identity‟s affirmation process is the EU‟s attempt of „branding the brands‟, that
is to apply its own brand on the food products aside the original producers‟ brands.
I see the latter stage precisely done by way of the European quality labels PDO – PGI –
TSG, posing the EU as the final actor having the last word also over fields such as quality
and traditions, in addition to the political and economic fields. On the other side, however,
I also notice as this implies the chance of obtaining prestige for those brands able to gain
such European labels which hence lead to, using an economic terminology, a „win-win‟
situation for both the actors involved in the process: the EU and the foods‟ producers.
To better explain what I assume is the correlation between the European identity and the
people‟ sentiment elicited by European quality labels, below I provide a visual
representation of it (Fig. 1): the bottom-up arrow indicates the people‟ sentiment aroused
by quality labels has having an influencing (positive?/negative?/neutral?) effect on the
European identity.
However, the reader must not be misled by the upper part of the representation: the
family tree does not imply that the European identity „generates‟ the European art,
economy, heritage, etc. but, on the contrary, the European identity is „formed by‟ such (and
many other) elements; then, from elements as the European economy, environment and
heritage derive the need and awareness for healthy foods and environmental sustainability
which, in turn, constitute the base for the European quality labels PDO – PGI – TSG.
My scope is then precisely to discover what is the leading sentiment towards Europe
when its identity is deployed through Facebook by the quality labels PDO – PGI – TSG:
How do people perceive these European quality labels?
Do people see such labels as part of a European identity or as an imposed supra-
national identity?
Fig. 1 – Correlation between European identity and people‟ sentiment
about European quality labels PDO – PGI – TSG.

9. 9
The EU as
a company
Hybrid
research
Thesis‟
contribution
Main
Parts
Sections
1.2. Research Approach
My research approach for this study is to consider the EU as a company, a company whose
„brand‟ is constructed and fostered, besides symbols and traditions, through procedures
similar to the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
The rationale behind the EU as a company is retaining the EU as a „humanistic
enterprise‟ (Shore, 1993) or a „semiotic industry‟, i.e. constructing a part of its brand
identity through promoting environmental sustainability together with biological and
traditional products, where the mentioned „green discourse‟ plays a starring role.
The core of this study is a qualitative investigation, through an „ethnographic content
analysis‟, of four European Facebook pages performed in parallel with a quantitative
investigation, through a „sentiment analysis‟, of the whole Facebook during a specific
period of time, using keywords related to the topics under assessment.
What I want to offer through the present research is an analysis and interpretation of the
European citizens‟ perceptions and opinions towards the discursive practices deployed on
Facebook by the European quality labels PDO-PGI-TSG. Specifically, I am interested in
the dynamics through which those labels contribute in the building of - and in the
affiliation to - a strong European identity. In fact, I consider these labels promoted on the
popular social-network as useful tools to achieve the scope of constructing a reliable
European identity through the „green‟ leverage and to strengthen social cohesion as well as
a sense of belonging and citizenship.
1.3. Thesis Outline
This study is composed by two consequent and interconnected parts:
Part I, called „Conceptualization‟, is the conceptual framework within which it
will develop the research and where all the main concepts are defined;
Part II, called „Operationalization‟, is the process of transition from the level of
theoretical abstraction to the process of empirical observation to the construction of
the data, via the formulation of indicators.
In detail, my thesis unfolds as follows:
- Section 2 contains the conceptual framework where concepts as European identity,
Brand and European quality labels are explained and related to the research topic.
At the end of this section, the research questions leading the whole study are
presented;
- Section 3 offers an overview of the methodologies and tools used during the
investigation;
- Section 4 presents the results coming from the analysis;
- Section 5 presents both a discussion of the results and the conclusion of this work
where answers to the research question are given;
- Section 6 acknowledges the perceived limitations of this study and put forward few
recommendations for future research.

10. 10
PART I - Conceptualization
Research Design1
:
1
The reported circle gives a visual representation of the thesis‟ main sections which, all together, form a loop.
The colored headings represent the sections treated in Part I which, as reported in Par. 1.3., is called Conceptualization.

11. 11
The EU is a
political
experiment
A problem
of
legitimacy
Culture is
the keystone
The
invention of
traditions
2. Conceptual Framework
Europe, as a multi-level framework of governance, represents a political experiment
(Kohli, 2000). For its features, since the first institutional formations in the early Fifties
until nowadays, through the latest official formulation of the „European Union‟ in the
1992 Maastricht Treaty, the unification process of the peoples of Europe is difficult,
lasting for more than sixty years already; yet it is far from being completed. As affirmed
by Shore (2000), it has been unanimously recognized that the main reason behind the
scarce integration among Europeans is due to a lack of a common culture that can unify
the heterogeneous peoples of Europe, despite the (maybe tardive) switch from an
integration seen as the product of economic prosperity and legal harmonization, to an
integration seen as the product of a cultural process, where „culture‟ constitutes the
keystone used to build and reinforce such a delicate and fragile socio-political
construction. The wrong approach to reach integration was also recognized by Jean
Monnet, one of the „founding fathers‟ of the European Community, who once stated: “If
we were to do it again, we would start with culture” (Shore, 1993).
Shore (2000) believes there is a problem of legitimacy within the EU, with the
„European public‟ as “not sufficiently aware of their common cultural values and shared
European heritage”, and to inform and communicate what the EU does for its citizens is a
task for the „agents of European consciousness‟, i.e. for “all those actors, actions,
artefacts, bodies, institutions and policies which, singularly or collectively, help to
engender awareness and promote acceptance of the „European idea‟ ”.
In other words, the „Europeanization‟ process, that is the way in which people
perceive and experience Europe, is unfolded through tangible and intangible elements
such as, just to mention some, the common currency (the euro), the single market, the EU
institutions, the invented Euro-symbols and traditions, etc. And it is exactly through the
creation and actualization of those elements that the EU tries to anchor and develop its
conceptual and symbolic identity as a political entity and community.
2.1. ‘Inventing’ Europe
Going back to the concept of „culture‟ as the keystone for European integration, what the
European Commission has tried to do (and still does, as it will be pointed later) in order
to foster a greater cohesion and sense of belonging among its citizens is to make up a
shared European history and identity, providing a comprehensive set of symbols,
counting on the fact that a shared legacy and heritage is what enables a sense of
belonging and community.
Thus, the aforementioned invention of symbols and traditions can be situated on the
attempt to build an identitarian affirmation by the EU where, following Hobsbawm and
Ranger (1983), „invented tradition‟ is taken to mean “a set of practices normally
governed by overtly or tacitly accepted rules and of a ritual or symbolic nature, which
seek to inculcate certain values and norms of behavior by repetition, which automatically
implies continuity with the past”. Simply put, national traditions have often been invented
and strategically implemented as a necessary step in order to give bedrock of legitimacy,
characterized by reference to the past, to novel socio-political contexts such as the
formation of a nation-state or, in the case of the EU, of a supra-national institution whose
ambitions are to become the „United States of Europe‟. In short, invented symbols and

12. 12
Traditions
essential for
building
identity
European
measures to
foster
cohesion
Symbols
create
political
reality
How to create
the „Homo
Euroapeicus‟
The EU
as an
humanistic
enterprise
traditions supply a continuity with a positively-posed historic past, representing a linking
reference to old situations for novel situations.
My standpoint is that traditions, with their ideologies and rituals, are the quintessence
of symbolism and they are essential for an identity building process because people want
to know their origins, i.e. where they are coming from, who were their ancestors, etc.;
that is to say that politicians and institutions should (and they actually do) supply, when
missing, a historic and symbolic framework to citizens, reducing the reality‟s complexity
in order to make people understand why they occupy that place and unfold their lives in
that specific society, with the result of developing a collateral, but not less important,
effect of fostering a sense of belonging, cooperation and loyalty towards the institutions
governing such a society. Society and the state within which it operates become then
increasingly inseparable: state, nation and society converge. And it is exactly for this
process of formalization and ritualization that new symbols and devices came into
existence, such as the above mentioned (supra)-national anthem(s) and flag(s), and
cultural meanings are created and maintained through cultural practices such as
monuments, holydays, museums, pilgrimages, etc.
On this line, the European Commission, being an expression of the member-states, set
out a program of measures designed to promote European social and cultural cohesion
including, for instance, the promotion of educational and cultural exchanges, citizens‟
rights, and the abolition of all the barriers to employment and residence within Europe.
Apart from that plan, the Commission decided to create new „symbols of European
identity‟ and „initiatives of symbolic value‟ (Commission 1988: 5, 29) such as, for
example, the European flag - twelve gold stars on a blue background - and the European
anthem taken from the prelude to Beethoven‟s „Ode to Joy‟ (Commission 1988: 29).
Actually, those initiatives have been criticized by some who considered those symbolic
measures just of secondary importance in respect to others matters such as a common
market or a common currency; however, it must been highlighted that it is exactly
“through symbols that people come to know about the structures that unite and divide
them”, activating sentiment and public opinion, since symbols do not simply enable
individuals to interpret political reality, but they largely create that reality (Shore, 1993).
Indeed, as remembered by Hobsbawm and Ranger (1983), the invention of political
traditions always coincides with the invention of societal traditions.
Hence, the conclusion is that, without paying enough attention to the invention of
traditions, it is not possible to properly investigate the modern concept of nation.
2.1.1. European Identity and the role of „Discourse‟
Kantner (2006) poses the question: “How should self-appointed „identity constructors‟ be
able to „create‟ identities, to make citizens „more European‟, and to fabricate a kind of
Homo Europaeicus?”. The answer to such question stays in the EU‟s attempt to create a
European identity in order to reach an “ever closer union among the peoples of Europe”
(Commission of the European Communities 1992a:2) through the use of symbolic
elements, and this attempt has been either facilitated and obstructed by historic events
such as the break-up of Berlin Wall in 1989 and the ending of the Cold War, with the
consequent occurred social changes. On the one hand, the re-unification of Germany has
speeded up the European political integration process, on the other hand, the large-scale
movements of migrants, workers and refugees throughout Europe has also contributed to
complicate issues such as those of identity and nationality with the resulting effects of an
increased ethnic nationalism and racism (Shore, 1993). To overcome those problems, the

13. 13
European
identity is
an ongoing
process
„The
cultural
branding
of its flock‟
The role of
„discourse‟
EU has adopted the characteristics of a „humanistic enterprise‟ where a shared European
identity is the focal point of the European Commission‟s policies and campaigns, with the
scope of enhancing the awareness of the Europeans‟ shared cultural identity and
involving a rapprochement between people.
Following Kohli (2000), at the base of the currently pursued European identity is the
concept of identity as a sense of „belonging without reservations‟ to some larger political
unit – usually a nation. Apropos, Delanty (2002) believes that an identity is an active
model of values created and enacted by social actors and not something that unite people
together just in a simple mechanistic way. Thus, for this reason, European identity is an
ongoing “process of cultural and institutional experimentation” and not an already
existing identity. Yet, Kohli (2000), believes that a European identity is a consequence of
the developments of European institutions and of its cultural networks, common economy
and political framework. However, the author admits that, even if institutions create
identities, the building of such institutions is eased by an already existing sense of social
community. In addition, the author explains that the affirmation of an identity is always
the affirmation of a difference as well, with the opposition of members against non-
members, where the „others‟ are the defining point for the „we‟. Also Bruter (2003)
believes that the definition of this symbolic boundary can be useful in the raise and
deployment of a new political identity, warning about the possible problems, such a lack
of civic sense of belonging, deriving from a scarce political identity.
Nowadays, having reached most of its pacific and economic goals, Europe does not
really need an external enemy (the „other‟) for achieving a political integration.
Nonetheless, the nationalistic past still represents an internal enemy for Europe, leading
to a conflict between European identity and national identity as the former is often shaped
after the latter (Kohli, 2000). Indeed, the „cultural way‟ is not a new method because it
has also been used for the origin of many of the modern nation-states where, amidst other
political and economic elements, the reaching of a population‟s cultural homogeneity had
a primary role and, still, also in those cases the creation of a cultural legitimization and
integration was a difficult and slow process. Despite all these difficulties and consequent
slowness, as stated by Gellner (1983), “the cultural branding of its flock” was a sine qua
non for creating the nation-state (Shore, 2000). About the last point, Kohli (2000) has a
different opinion as he says that the national identities cannot be the base for the
European identity, neither in form nor in substance, because the former have territorial
references to which grasp themselves while, on, the contrary, such concrete and symbolic
feature is missing in the case of the European identity. However, also in this case, the
author concludes asserting that European identity must be considered as multi-layered,
comprising global and national supplements and, hence, “European identity is not
empirically opposed to national identity”. Even if the concept of European identity
implies a delimitation from the non-European, to see European identity against national
ones is too simplistic as ideas of belonging overlap each other: Europe is both „we‟ and
the „other‟ (Strath, 2002).
The latter statement serves as a useful link to make a digression about the role of
„discourse‟ in the process of building individuals‟ identity and in the political power
capacity of a nation and its institutions. Indeed, the personal pronoun „we‟ is an
expression usually used by community members speaking the same natural language
(Kantner, 2006), and Blommaert (2005) asserts that the very language is an ingredient of
power processes resulting in forms of inequality, as power differentiates and selects,
includes and excludes; and the discourse can be crucial to an understanding of wider

14. 14
The EU on
the right
path
Ecosystem‟s
safeguard
seen as
necessary
aspects of power relations. Discourse is language-in-action (Hanks, 1996) and comprises
all forms of meaningful semiotic human activity seen in connection with social, cultural,
and historical patterns and developments of use. In short, discourse is what transforms the
environment into a socially and culturally meaningful one. But this kind of meaning-
construction does not develop in vacuum, it does so under rather strict conditions that are
both linguistic and socio-cultural, and this set of conditions cannot be exploited by
everyone in the same way; this is where social differences in discourse structure and
usage emerge as a problem. In fact, there is no such thing as „non-social‟ language:
language manifests itself in society always and simultaneously in the shape of a package
containing all its diacritics. All of these diacritics are not only linguistic diacritics but also
social ones: they reflect speakers‟ identities, expectations as to what speakers intend to
accomplish in a particular act of communication, and so on. And this is where inequality
enters the picture: not everyone will have the same means of communication and,
consequently, not everyone will be able to perform the same functions of communication:
people are restricted as to what they can do with and in language, depending on the range
and composition of their repertoires. In that sense, apart from what people do to language,
there is a lot that language does to people (Blommaert, 2005).
Hence, on the basis of all the above, a first insight can be gained about, that is that the
EU, although its initial economic-based approach, it seems now on a more well-
contextualized path to reach a shared legitimization, a clearer identity and an increasing
European integration. Seen from this cultural perspective, considering the admitted errors
made and the high level of complexity of the European context, the long period of over
sixty years for the unification process does not appear that long anymore, opening to a
more likely achievement of such fundamental objectives. However, how asserted by
Kohli (2000), also considering the principles of identity and economic interests as
mutually exclusive is incorrect as these principles must be better considered as motivators
strengthening each other in the process towards the social integration.
Concluding, Europe it is not a natural phenomenon but it is shaped by discourses of
power on how to define it, on its borders, its similarities and differences. And the core
elements to emphasize Europe as a distinctive cultural entity united by shared values and
identity are often coming from its own heritage (Strath, 2002), being it an artistic
heritage, a gastronomic heritage, etc.
2.1.2. European „Green‟ Identity
Despite there are still some differences among member states, nowadays in Europe there
is an overall consensus about the fact that environmental safeguard is a legitimate
governmental aim and that it cannot be guided by market-driven forces.
Baker (2007) reports that, in 1993, the European Commission President, Jacques
Delors, proposed a new model of development for Europe that would substitute the
Fordist paradigm of mass production. Such model was constituted of three principles
(Jones, 1999):
a) environmental protection creates jobs;
b) taxes on natural resources can replace taxes on labor;
c) productivity growth must be used to improve the quality of life and create new jobs.
These principles were the basis for the White Paper „Growth, Competitiveness,
Employment: The Challenges and Ways Forward into the 21st Century‟ (1993), which
elaborated a model fostering labor-intensive environmental development, rejoining
economic and environmental purposes, deeming that environmental safeguard has the

15. 15
Historical
similarities
The
„ecological
moderniza-
tion‟ theory
The EU
as a
„normative
power‟
potentiality to support the „double dividend‟ (employment and environment) of the EU‟s
economy.
However, I believe the importance of the White Paper lays in the historic context in
which the Paper was introduced as I notice there are many similarities with the present-
days. In fact, as nowadays, at that time the EU was facing a profound crisis of legitimacy
following the difficult ratification of the Maastricht Treaty, and the White Paper was a
way to reaffirm the European integration project. Moreover, as nowadays, at that time
there was an increasing unemployment rate throughout Europe, and the White Paper was
proposing a model to revitalize the European economy and competitiveness. Thus, the
White Paper offered a practical answer to both the economic crisis and the growing
environmental interest among citizens (Jones, 1999).
Furthermore, in her contribution, Baker (2007) explores “the symbolic dimensions of
the EU‟s commitment to sustainable development, a commitment it holds alongside a
strong loyalty to the promotion of economic growth”. She says that, to reach the double
objective of economic growth and environmental protection, the EU refers to the
„ecological modernization‟ that is a theory of social change that, through policy
integration, explores and seeks to provide alternatives to counterbalance the negative
environmental consequences of modernity, suggesting a synergetic combination of
policies for economic development and environmental protection. Ecological
modernization fosters the adoption of environmental policies as having positive effects on
the economic development and, in turn, the economic forces can have a driving role for
environmental protection. The application of such a theory has characterized the EU‟s
efforts toward sustainability to be viewed as „merely symbolic‟ and, consequently, the
European „green discourse‟ as having symbolic purpose, acting as a fundamental element
in the construction of EU identity (Baker, 2007). Thus, to summarize the Baker‟s
reflection, the declared commitment to sustainable development can be seen as
contributory for the EU‟s identity formation, with the related pursuing of common goals
and norms as useful to validate and to legitimate the European integration. It must not be
forgotten that the EU is a hybrid entity with a unique combination of supranational and
international forms of governance and, then, the need for identity and legitimacy, from a
political point of view, is deeply felt. Ergo, political statements such as the one about the
environmental sustainability are fundamental for the European integration, and shared
values act as a means through which the EU defines its identity.
Furthermore, the commitment to the environmental protection has been useful to
outline the EU‟s identity even beyond its borders, having a fundamental role in shaping
the international identity of the EU. Indeed, the EU is perceived, and can act, as a
„normative power‟ as opposed to a „military power‟ (such the USA, for instance) in the
international political context (Manners, 2002). The latter point is an example of the
already cited (Shore, 1993) fundamental function of symbols in politics: symbols do not
simply enable individuals to interpret political reality, but they largely create that reality,
that is to say that symbols act as stimulators of radical social change (Baker, 2007). To
conclude, the principles of environmental sustainability are founded on fostering
participation and sharing responsibility in environmental policy making and, thanks to
that, Europeans consider more and more the environmental protection as a protection of
the common good and, as such, allowing the integration process to be part of the new
European identity. An identity “based upon shared European values, grounded on the
idea of social responsibility” (Kramer, 2002).

16. 16
A win-win
situation
The EU as
a company
Defining
„Brand‟ and
„Branding‟
On this respect, the „Europe 2020 Strategy‟ (European Commission, 2010) intends to
reach the goals of high levels of employment, productivity and social cohesion through a
sustainable European economy with a growth based on a resource-efficient and greener
economy, where CSR‟s voluntarily and responsible elements constitute the founding
components of such new economy.
In detail, the Strategy focuses on three key areas:
a) the unilateral commitment of the EU to cut emissions to 20% below 1990
levels by 2020;
b) the target of improving energy efficiency by 20% by 2020;
c) an overall EU target of 20% renewable energy in total energy consumption by
2020.
The motivation behind this conception is the belief that it is possible to get a „win–win‟
situation for both the private and the public sectors having as core businesses the main
concerns of innovation/resource and energy efficiency.
2.2. Brand and the process of Branding
Recalling what stated in the introduction, my standpoint in this study is to consider the
EU as a company, thinking of the EU as constructing a part of its brand identity through
promoting environmental sustainability and high-quality food products. I argue that one
final step of the identity‟s affirmation process is the EU‟s attempt of „branding the
brands‟, which is to apply its own brand over the products and beside the original
products‟ brands.
Hence, the concept of „brand‟, and the related process of „branding‟, has a crucial role
in this study. But what does exactly „brand‟ mean?
It is possible to define it in many ways, from a more „philosophical‟ and abstract point
of view as Eisner (1998), the former CEO of the Walt Disney Company, did: “A brand is
a living entity – and it is enriched or undermined cumulatively over time, the product of a
thousand small gestures”, or in a more specific and concrete manner:
“A brand is a mixture of attributes, tangible and intangible, symbolized in a trademark
which, if managed properly, creates values and influence. […] A brand is intended to ensure
relationship that create and secure future earnings by growing customer preference and
loyalty. Brands simplify decision-making, represent an assurance of quality, and offer a
relevant, different, and credible choice among competing offerings.” (Swystun, 2006)
However, what I believe is important to point out is that a brand is at the center of an
organization‟s culture: it is its identity. Moreover, a brand constitutes an implicit contract
with the customers and it entails a promise of value, uniqueness and experience
(Wheatley, 2002), providing emotional benefits (Caldwell & Freire, 2004).
Nonetheless, having clarified what a brand is, it does not imply the same clarity about
the process behind a brand, which is the process of „branding‟. Indeed, while Swystun
(2006) defines it just as “The strategic and creative practice of creating brands and
managing them as valuable assets”, and Keller (2003) adds that “Branding involves the
process of endowing products and services with the advantages that accrue to building a
strong brand (e.g., enhanced loyalty, price premiums, etc.)”, Anholt (2006) is more
helpful with his clearer distinction between brands and branding:
A brand is a product or service or organization, considered in combination with its name,
its identity and its reputation.

17. 17
Brand
Identity
Brand
Image
Brand
Equity
The
influence of
the Internet
The EU‟s
brand
image
Branding is the process of designing, planning and communicating the name and the
identity, in order to build or manage the reputation.
Along with the concepts of brand and branding, in this section it is also important to
define few other concepts that are strictly related with the previous two and that, all
together, will constitute the framework for the exposition and discussion of this study.
Such other concepts are:
The brand identity, which is the core concept of the product, clearly and
distinctively expressed (Anholt, 2006). It includes everything from its name and
visual appearance to the way it sounds, feels, smells, and tastes. The brand‟s
identity is its fundamental means of consumer recognition and symbolizes its
point of difference. It represents a unique set of associations which affect how a
brand appears in consumer‟s minds (Swystun, 2006).
The brand image, which is the perception of the brand that exists in the mind of
the consumer or audience – it is virtually the same thing as reputation – and it
may or may not match the brand identity. Brand image is the context in which
messages are received: it‟s not the message itself (Anholt, 2006).
The brand equity, which is the sum of a brand‟s distinguishing qualities, and is
sometimes referred to as reputational capital (Swystun, 2006). It sums up the idea
that if a company, product or service acquires a positive, powerful and solid
reputation, this becomes an asset of enormous value (Anholt, 2006): a product or
service with a great deal of brand equity enjoys a competitive advantage that
sometimes allows for premium pricing (Swystun, 2006).
Still, Christodoulides (2009) specifies that, in recent years, the Internet has influenced
and modified also the branding process and all the related concepts, acting as a
revolutionary force due to its characteristics of dynamicity and interactivity. In fact,
brand managers had to move from a traditional „one-to-many‟ communication model to a
„many-to-many‟ communication model, allowing consumers to interact both with the
firm and with other consumers, empowering them in the co-creation of brand meanings
and, consequently, avoiding a strict control over the brand from the firm.
Moreover, nowadays, to deep and strengthen the relationship between brand and
consumers, a great attention is devoted in facilitating the creation and sharing of „user-
generated‟ contents because of the capacity to build a strong brand equity due exactly to
the interactive way of creating contents. The latter aspect is even more emphasized by the
arrival of blogs, social networks (e.g. Facebook), and video sharing (e.g. YouTube) that
permit users to aggregate in community of consumers, enhancing their power with
regards to companies and brands up to being able to interfere and contrast the official
brand image and values.
In the next paragraphs it will be showed how these concepts are applied in by the EU
in general and, specifically, using the tools supplied by the Internet technology,
remaining the environmental and biological field the discussion‟s focal points.
2.2.1. Branding Europe
These days, new media and globalization have made each individual, firm, city, region,
country, and continent more aware of its image, reputation, and attitude; in short of what
it has been defined as a „brand‟. However, while the brand image of a product or a firm is
created through marketing, the brand image of places or nations is something more

18. 18
The
Competitive
Identity
theory
complex because the reputation of a place constantly oscillates between being mainly
negative or mainly positive (Anholt, 2006).
For nation-states, and particularly for a supra-national institution as the EU, a positive
image and reputation, depending on trust and citizens satisfaction, are essential parts
toremain competitive, especially in the international arena. Van Ham (2001) considers
positively this development towards „branded‟ nations “since state branding is gradually
supplanting nationalism”. Indeed, to build their brands, nations utilize elements such as
their history, geography and traditions instead of the national identity that usually is
associated with nationalism, contributing to the pacification of Europe, offering security
and reinforcing the citizens‟ sense of belonging. This situation is more and more
influencing even the EU, which is branding itself as an anchor of civilization and
prosperity. As a consequence of that, the EU‟s logo (the blue flag with a circle of 12
golden stars), being immediately recognizable and acting as „brand ambassadors‟
(Swystun, 2006), is omnipresent, making it one of the world‟s most popular brands and,
through it, the EU wants to communicate its safe and civilized „Europeanness‟.
On this regard, Anholt (2006) asserts that nations create their (positive/negative)
reputation, intentionally or accidentally, through the management of six natural channels:
1. Their tourism promotion;
2. Their export brands;
3. The policy decision of the country‟s government;
4. Their communication for business audiences;
5. Through cultural exchange and cultural activities and exports;
6. The people of the country themselves.
The deriving combination of such „brand management‟, which is the process of managing
a brand to increase the long-term brand equity and financial value (Swystun, 2006), with
the others five channels leads to what Anholt (2006) calls the „Competitive Identity‟
theory (Fig. 2). Behind this theory there is the assumption that, to build and maintain a
competitive and positive national identity, both internally and externally, it is necessary
for governments to be able in managing all six channel of the hexagon in order to build
and reinforce a positive reputation of the nation. The same can be done at a supra-
national level with the EU‟s efforts to reach the same results claimed by the „Competitive
Identity‟ theory: i.e. for European institutions, bodies, agencies and organizations it is
important to work together towards a common European strategy where every promotion,
policy and/or investment in each point of the hexagon must be considered as an
opportunity to build the EU‟s positive reputation.
Fig. 2 - The hexagon of Competitive Identity Fig. 3 - Brand Box Model

19. 19
The Brand
Box Model
The climate
change as
the new
challenge
for the EU
The power
of green
marketing
However, it cannot be assumed that branding a nation, and even more a supra-national
institution, is the same of branding a region or a city because the factors influencing the
image of a nation are different from the factors that affecting a region or a city. This
conclusion comes from a study carried out by Caldwell and Freire (2004) that, to
establish the strength of brand of a country, region or city, used the „Brand Box Model‟
(derived from the De Chernatony and McWilliam‟s work - 1990) as theoretical
framework (Fig. 3). Such model is based on two key dimensions, „representability‟ and
„functionality‟, in order to create a four-cell matrix (high-low, functional-
representational) based on consumers‟ perspectives where the „representability‟
dimension is based on the assumption that brands – due to their own representational
nature – represent a mean, for consumers, to express something about their personality,
whereas the „functionality‟ dimension is based on the assumption that consumers attribute
different functions to different brands. Furthermore, the authors specify that none brand is
characterized by just one of these dimensions but, on the contrary, always by a
combination of the two dimensions. As stated above, the study carried by Caldwell and
Freire (2004) revealed that people perceive differently nations, regions and cities, where
nations are perceived as having a brand identity characterized more by the
representational dimension, whereas the brand identity‟s perception of regions and cities
are characterized more by the functional dimension. Hence, concluding, if it is necessary
to adopt different strategies depending on the desired objective of branding a nation, a
region or a city, the same conclusion can be assumed and adopted if the aimed positive
increase is the EU‟s brand identity.
Nonetheless, Anholt (2007) asserts that the EU is lacking a shared internal brand, a
common purpose and identity. He also supplies a reason for this dearth, saying that the
EU has used up its originating purpose of ensuring lasting peace and prosperity, after the
Second World War. Hence, having succeeded reaching such powerful objectives, the EU
is nowadays suffering an „out of stock‟ experience and should need a new defining
purpose to reaffirm its identity and role. However, Anholt offers also a proposal believing
that, facing the challenge of climate change, Europe has the opportunity to finds itself
once again at the heart of an issue “that threaten global stability, and even global
survival”, fulfilling such a common purpose‟s lack.
Summarizing the Anholt‟s opinion, to build a stronger brand, the EU has to define,
first of all, what its job will be for the next 50 years, and to generate legitimization,
consensus, and validity around its internal identity, inspiring and driving people in the
fields that they care about most. The author also suggests that the climatic and
environmental challenge is the track on which the EU must invest a great amount of
money and energies in order to confirm its social, economic and political leading role.
2.2.2. „Green‟ Branding through the Internet
The reaching of a strong brand is also valid for „green discourses‟ in terms of consumer
goods, industrial goods and services. Green marketing activities have a positive effect on
the intangible brand equity of a company, and the green brand image, green satisfaction
and green trust are the drivers increasing that green brand equity (Chen, 2009).
Hence, if a company wants to be acknowledged as a „green company‟ by the market,
first of all it has to build a strong reputation through which it can distinguish itself from
competitors due to specific additional values coming from its products and services and
leading to a competitive advantage. Reputation represents the „attractiveness‟ of a

20. 20
Defining a
„green
company‟
Reputation
is superior
to identity
and image
CMC can
promote
ecological
citizenship
company, resulting from the company‟s communication activities with both its internal
and external stakeholders.
But, specifically, what is a „green company‟? Biloslavo and Trnavcevic (2009)
describe it as: “A company whose purpose, activities and its own material existence are in
full harmony with the natural and cultural environment, and whose employees strictly
follows ethical rules in relation and communication among themselves and with the
company‟s stakeholders”. However the authors clarify that, to reach the needed strong
and distinguishing reputation, a company needs to be really committed towards a
financial, social and environmental sustainability, and not just having a semblance of it.
Thus, in order to plan and control the reputation-building process, a green company must
know very well and must be able to manage the two strictly related concepts of „corporate
identity‟ and „corporate image‟ behind such process. Even though the two concepts seem
to be very similar, Biloslavo and Trnavcevic (2009) specify that “image is more
provisory and less essential than identity” because an organization can have many images
but, to avoid confusion in customers and stakeholders, it should have just one specific
and stable identity whereas, on the contrary, image and reputation are usually mutable
and fluctuating.
Biloslavo and Trnavcevic sustain that reputation is a concept superior to identity and
image and that, in the process of building a corporate identity, image and reputation, a
crucial role is played by the company‟s communication style, means and ways towards its
internal and external stakeholders, with the intent of involving the latter in an emotional,
moral and intellectual manner. Especially nowadays, with the increasing power of
Internet users in determining an organization‟s reputation, companies are struggling in
convincing their customers and stakeholders that they are, for instance, truly „green‟ and
that their core values are different and more valuable than the competitors‟ values: they
have to communicate their „greenness‟ to the stakeholders. Indeed, especially due to its
characteristic of being an interactive medium, the Internet is an excellent tool for identity
communication as it permits a low-cost and mass-targeted communication. Interactivity
offers advantages to both sides: on the one hand, the companies can get information and
feedback from the customers and, through those, improve their productive and
communicative strategies; on the other hand, customers can reach the information they
were looking for about a product or a service.
To this regard, and taking into consideration just the customers‟ perspective, Rokka
and Moisander (2009) argue that “computer-mediated social networks may empower
people to build the sort of „imagined communities‟ that are needed to invent and create
sustainable forms of cultural identity for consumers as ecological citizens”, recalling at
once the above cited green discourse and the identity building process. Hence, the authors
state that ecological citizenship can be promoted, beyond traditional education and
governmental policies, also through computer-mediated social networks as the latter lead
to a better understanding of the collective aspects of consumption coming from those
web-based communities2
.
2
A couple of interesting articles on the manipulation of the choices made by the social media:
- http://bit.ly/UWMQpe
- http://bit.ly/1PYgfVw

21. 21
A context
of asymme-
trical
information
Labels as
„Signifiers‟
Credibility
is the key
Labels‟
functions
Eco-labels
as means to
go more
toward
ecological
and
sustainable
production
2.3.Semiotic Meaning and Function(s) of Labels
It is a fact that knowledge and information about the specific characteristics of a product
are asymmetrically allocated between consumers and producers (Galarraga Gallastegui,
2002). As it is also a fact that consumers are becoming more demanding about product
quality.
In this context of asymmetrical information between consumers and producers, labels
represent signs conveying the purpose of the latter to share some of their information
about the product in order to reach a more balanced situation (Eco, 1988). Hence, using a
semiotic terminology, the label is the „Signifier‟ that gives sense and values to the
„Signified‟ (the product): a label is a sign generating, among consumers, beliefs related
with the product.
Such beliefs are of two kinds:
a) „descriptive‟ beliefs, useful in balancing the informational asymmetry;
b) „inferential‟ beliefs, useful in filling the gap in case of missing information that is
considered important by the consumer.
However, the capacity of a label to accomplish these tasks heavily relies on the
„credibility‟ of the label itself, where a recognizable and reliable label can generate
positive representations about a product so to influence the consumers‟ attitudes towards
the product and subsequent purchasing behaviors (Carpenter and Larceneux, 2008).
About the credibility issue, Golan et al. (2000) affirmed that the existence of an
independent third party assessing the validity and truthfulness of the information
conveyed through a label is of utmost importance for the label itself to gain credibility
and being considered as reliable and trustworthy. Also a study on labels made by
Feunekes & al. (2008) revealed that the trustworthiness of a label is greatly amplified
when an official endorsement by an international or national organization in the area of
health and nutrition is present (Feunekes & al., 2008; Bernués & al., 2003) because it
should mean of unbiased and objective information furnished to consumers to make
informed purchase decisions (Hobbs and Kerr, 2006).
Overall, labels accomplish two specific functions for consumers: the „information
function‟ and the „value function‟. The former function is reached through the
information about the intangible characteristics of a product, e.g. quality; while the latter
function furnishes an intrinsic value deriving from the product itself, e.g. prestige
(Sammer and Wüstenhagen, 2006). In addition to those functions, labelling has been
claimed as fulfilling many other functions (Bernués & al., 2003) as: the identification,
grading, description and promotion of products functions (Kotler, 1997); differentiating
products from those of competitors by assuring the quality (Altmann, 1997); being a
mean through which adding value to the product (Van Trijp & al., 1997).
2.3.1. Eco-Labels
Since the 1960s, there have been political and international tries to go toward more
ecological and sustainable production and consumption models due to the understanding
of the impossibility of no longer proceed on the same environmental-unfriendly track
made of resources erosion, pollution and increasing amount of non-recyclable waste.
Among such tries as, for instance, the application of green taxes to unsustainable
companies or governments, the most important and effective is surely the application of
so-called „eco-labels‟, seen as instruments able to raise the consumers‟ awareness about
the consequences of such ecologically-dangerous method of production.

22. 22
Eco-labels
rising
consumers‟
green
sensitivity
Eco-labels‟
deficiencies
Food labels
to bridge
the
informative
gap
In detail, eco-labels are meant to both inform consumers about the mentioned
consequences and to enhance more eco-friendly standards by producers and governments,
and the importance of eco-labels is constantly increasing because of specific
characteristics of these instruments such as being voluntary and being based on publicly
available criteria set by third parties. In short, eco-labels are the way to modify
consumers‟ behaviors and represent an answer to the need of reaching a more sustainable
method of production (Galarraga Gallastegui, 2002).
Brécard & al. (2009) analyzed the 2005 paper on the effects of eco-labeling schemes
of OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) and the 2008
Eurobarometer report (European Commission, 2008). The authors noticed the steady
rising consumers‟ green sensitivity and the consequent increase up to 75% of Europeans
willing to pay a premium price for eco-labeled products, particularly when the
certification comes from a trustworthy organization such as the Marine Stewardship
Council, for example. However, the mentioned documents also specified that just 17% of
such green consumers actually bought those eco-labelled products in the investigated
period. The authors, recalling a study by Torgler and García-Valiñas (2007), motivated
this low percentage with the differences in consumers‟ preferences deriving from factors
as age, gender, geography, income and education. Especially the last two factors have
been pointed as having a determinant role: the income may represent an expenditure
limitation, in particular for green products which are usually more expensive (it is almost
impossible to get at a low price a product having all the attributes of being nutritious,
organic, safe, ecological, tasteful, available and fresh - Giraud, 2002), while the education
has an effect on the consumers‟ capacity and ability to reach the right information about
environmental issues and green products.
However, such information problem can be somehow opposed and overcome by firms
and governments through the usage of eco-labels, a tool used precisely to increase
consumers‟ awareness about the intangible (hence usually invisible) characteristics of a
product such as, for instance, the ecological quality. Thus, such raise of ecological
awareness leads to an increase of green products‟ demand, making the latter less income-
sensitive (Brécard & al., 2009).
Nonetheless, among the positive effects deriving from eco-labels usage such as rising
of consumers‟ sensitivity towards ecological issues, safeguard of the environment, and
the promotion of the image and/or sales of producers, also various deficiencies have been
attributed to eco-labels such as, for example, the arbitrariness and lack of objectivity in
setting and updating the criteria, together with a lack of real rewards for environmental
improvements. Moreover, also due to a lack of legal protection for terms as „bio‟ or
„green‟, such terms have been overused by unilateral initiatives (mostly by producers and
companies), leading to a loss of consumers‟ trust with regards to announcements about
environmentally friendly products (Galarraga Gallastegui, 2002).
2.3.2. Food Labels and Regional Foods
Consumers can easily evaluate by themselves tangible characteristics such as taste, smell,
appearance and consistency of food whilst, on the contrary, evaluation of intangible
characteristics such wholesomeness and safety is much more arduous. Hence, here it is
where „food labels‟ come into play acting as quality cues (Giraud, 2002).
Indeed, food labels, together with the „nutrition labels‟, are means used to transmit
information to the customers about a specific food product, often with the educational
scope of pushing towards more healthy eating behaviors in order to empower consumers

23. 23
Consumers
as identity
seekers
to purchase food with wholesome characteristics. However, despite being useful tools,
food labels are often not well understood because of the different degrees of interest
among consumers and because it is a context- and product-related tool (Grunert & Wills,
2007).
On this respect, Bartels and Onwezen (2014) conducted a recent study about the
relationship between food consumption of products having environmental and ethical
claims linked with individuals perception of themselves and of food consumption. In
short, they investigated the consumers‟ willingness to buy food products that make
environmental and ethical claims. The conclusion of the study is that a positive
environmental and ethical behavior comes from both the individual perceptions of food
and consumers‟ perception of social environment. In addition, the study suggests that the
promotion of environmentally and ethically sustainable products is likely to find a greater
consensus and (buying) acceptance among individuals identifying themselves as organic
consumers, that is people not perceiving food as a primary necessity but, on the contrary,
people seeking for natural foods who are also interested in the information related to the
food they are buying as e.g. the provenience, the production process, the organoleptic
properties, etc.
In fact, due to the stress caused by the modern urban environment, consumers can be
considered as „identity seekers‟ looking for the emotions indirectly transported by origin
labelled foods, the latter having the capacity to transmit memories of known or imagined
rural places, with their quiet, healthiness and positive energy. Through foods endorsed
with origin labels, consumers can identify themselves with the area of production,
making modernity more tolerable (Giraud, 2002) and this explains also the recent and
increasing momentum gained by „regional foods‟.
On the same track, also Dimara and Skuras (2005) pointed out this increasing
consumers‟ „thirst for knowledge‟ about quality, provenience and production of food
products, leading to a revaluation of regionally denominated food in the whole Europe to
the detriment of more standardized and massively produced foods. Following the authors,
this tendency towards regional food is also apparently related to feelings associated with
a sort of „nostalgia‟ of past times, where foods were „real‟, „healthy‟, „natural‟ and
„authentic‟. As showed by Bartels and Onwezen (2014), local food can be seen as an
indicator of socio-cultural status for individuals consuming such food, and Dimara and
Skuras (2005) add the property of expressing cultural identity for places and regions
producers of such food. The last conceptualization comes from the „cultural
relocalization‟ process delineated by Ilbery and Kneafsey (1999), a process based on
signs and symbols used to brand and to sell a local culture. And Dimara and Skuras
(2005) underlined as consumers strongly associate products with places, from which
association derives the willingness to buy regionally denominated products, even at the
cost of paying more than for a product of the same quality but produced industrially or
elsewhere outside the region of origin.
Hence, nowadays, since consumers are attentive to products‟ geographic origin,
quality certification, traditional methods of production, and so forth, product labels are
both a useful tool in allowing consumers to reach the complex set of information they are
looking for and also a valuable strategy of product differentiation because it targets
consumers belonging to the market niche of quality products seekers.

24. 24
Three
European
quality
schemes
EU‟s labels
features
2.3.3. European Labels: Branding the Brands
At the end of the 1980s, many European Member States claimed for a more binding
legislation for the protection of their traditional food products, aware that the protection
and promotion of the European culinary tradition, and related foods, could lead to both
cultural and economic advantages for consumers, producers, regions and, as a
consequence, to the EU itself (Tosato, 2013).
Following this claim, in 1992 the EU created three supranational quality schemes,
having related labels, with the intention of giving relevance to food quality, consumer
protection and the protection of regional products having international demand appeal
(hence, the most likely to be counterfeited) such as Parma ham, Stilton cheese, etc. The
quality is guaranteed by the fulfillment of requirements such as the specification of
production methods, raw materials and ownership, with the consequent dual aim of
market and regional brand protection (preventing imitation) and market promotion
(raising public awareness) leading to policies stating that, for instance, the Parma ham
can be produced only in a specific part of the Italian region Emilia Romagna.
Those labels are (Fig. 4):
1. „Protected Designation of Origin‟ (PDO), referring to food products that are
produced, processed and prepared in a determined geographical area using
recognized know-how;
2. „Protected Geographical Indication‟ (PGI) referring to food that is linked to a
specific geographic area in at least one of the stages of production, processing or
preparation and can benefit from a good reputation;
3. „Traditional Specialty Guaranteed‟ (TSG) products with a traditional character
either in the composition or means of production.
In other words, PDO and PGI are about products tied to a specific regional milieu and
with a specific geographical trade name, differing with regard to the intensity of such a
bond; while the TSG intend to protect traditional foods of specific character (Giraud,
2002; Dimara and Skuras, 2005).
Moreover, the labels‟ visual tropes are evident references to the European logo with
the use of the official EU‟s colors (blue and yellow) plus the twelve golden stars3
in
circle, whilst the natural and rural themes, symbols of healthiness, tradition and simplicity
(as just authentic things are), are represented by the plowed fields and by the extremities
around the labels, recalling the solar rays.
As a side note, it is interesting to specify as the PDO logo, now in red and yellow, was
originally also in blue and yellow as the others two, with only the wording inside the
symbol making it different from the PGI logo. Exactly to make it easier to distinguish
between the two logos, in 2008 the European Commission decided to change in red and
yellow the colors of the PDO logo, a decision which entered officially into force in 20104
.
Fig. 4 – European labels for certified regional denomination food products
3
The 12 stars represent the union of the European peoples: http://bit.ly/1onHrmB
4
http://bit.ly/1bMXerP

25. 25
Food
traceability
adds value
to the
product
An holistic
vision
The Identity
Construction
Process
Going back to the message conveyed by the three quality labels, Kehagia & al. (2007)
carried out a study about the European consumers‟ perceptions and understanding of food
traceability and the results showed, despite few differences among European countries, a
general understanding of traceability as allowing consumers to identify the origin of the
product, assuring food quality and safety, and as a tool to control the production process.
In short, traceability was perceived as adding value to the product.
Also Carpenter and Larceneux (2008) conducted a similar study, but focused on the
perception of PGI label among consumers only. The study‟s results are in line with what
already stated by Kehagia & al. (2007), with the confirmation that informing consumers
through advertising and at selling points about the meaning of quality labels it is of great
importance in increasing the credibility of the label itself. The consequence of this
augmented credibility leads also to an increase of perceived food quality and to a more
positive purchasing behaviour towards the food.
2.4. The Identity Construction Process
Having outlined all the main concepts behind what I claim being the correlation between
European identity and people‟s sentiment elicited by European quality labels, it is now
possible to better define in a comprehensible manner the holistic vision I have about such
a correlation. As known, an holistic vision or approach means that a system – of whatever
nature – must not be considered as the sum of its parts, but must be considered as a whole
whose functioning cannot be perceived just understanding its single parts, i.e. the total is
more than the sum of its parts.
Indeed, I do believe that, to reach the ambitious objective of constructing and
developing a shared European identity, it is necessary more than just putting in place few
specific projects and/or means because it is all about the political, social and economic
context in which those projects and means operate. However, with my last statement, I do
not want to minimize the usefulness of such projects and means, but I just assert that
something else is needed when it comes to complex and multi-layered aims: something
usually out of anyone‟s control, even out of supranational institutions‟ control as the EU.
Nonetheless, single projects and means are surely useful and even necessary for many
reasons such as slightly changing the cultural setting of a population, rising awareness
about a problem, fostering sense of belonging, etc. But none of them, nor together, reach
the craved main goal for what they were designed for. Also because each project or mean
must be calibrated through factual use before reaching its whole potential: an operation
that generally takes long time. On the contrary, their usefulness relies in their capacity to
do the subtle but necessary work to „prepare the ground‟, to make fertile the soil of
change for when it will be the right social, political and economic moment. At the same
time, they also proactively elicit conditions for the right moment to come. An historical
example of what I state is the fundamental role the „obscure‟ and „unproductive‟ Middle
Age had in „preparing the ground‟ for one of the most prolific, vital and progressive
periods of all European history: the Renaissance.
Having said that, the convergence of the concepts enunciate above in the framework
together with my holistic vision helps me out to depict what I envision being the identity
construction process behind, indeed, the construction of the European identity: since in a
complex social system are intertwined relations that cannot be investigated only in terms
of unilinear dependence between cause and effect, but must be considered also the
relationship of interdependence, circularity, feed-back (Memoli, 2004), the visual
representation I provide below (Fig. 5) makes clear how the European identity is both the

26. 26
A lack of
shared
identity
Research
Question
No sub-
questions
starter and the final product, the cause and the effect, of a complex process made by
seven different steps, one the consequence of the other.
Firstly the EU deploys its identity through officially branding the mentioned three
European quality labels; then the European quality labels, through the social networks,
reach people who start having (or reinforcing) an opinion and a sentiment towards those
European quality labels; the final step is represented by the European identity in turn
influenced by such people‟ sentiment toward the European quality labels, closing the
circle where it all started.
Fig. 5 – Seven-step Identity Construction Process
2.5. Problem Statement and Research Question
Since the creation of the Council of Europe (CoE) in 1949, Europe has had the problem
to create and communicate worldwide a shared image and identity in order to be
internationally recognizable and to be legitimized by its own citizens.
Thus, because the more and more developing „green discourse‟, which includes the
quality labels PDO – PGI – TSG, is one of the many symbolic and semiotic tools put in
action by the EU to reach those extremely significant aims, the main question that
permeate my entire study is the following:
The posts about the European quality labels (PDO - PGI - TSG) published
on the Facebook pages of the EU generate in people positive, negative or
neutral sentiments towards the EU itself?
I chose to use a more flexible and „unstructured‟ research question to be leading my
thesis instead of using specific and rigid hypothesis since the current knowledge on the
phenomenon I wanted to study is very scarce and limited. Hence being my thesis an
exploratory investigation, and recalling what I stated in the introductory section of this
work, my only aim was to identify and describe the phenomenon under investigation, i.e.
the „sentiment‟ elicited in Europeans by those quality labels.
Going further and deeper was simply not possible, at this stage.
Moreover, for the just stated reason, I also decided not to write down specific sub-
questions since, being a want-to-be ethnographer, I desired my work to be led by my
intuition, letting new ideas to come in as the research deployed itself, following the
investigation‟s flow and being able to deviate from the original path if something very
valuable would have crossed my way.

27. 27
PART II - Operationalization
Research Design5
:
5
The reported circle gives a visual representation of the thesis‟ main sections which, all together, form a loop.
The colored headings represent the sections treated in Part II which, as reported in Par. 1.3., is called Operationalization.

28. 28
ECA
Sentiment
Analysis
3. Methodology
The core of this study is a qualitative investigation on four European Facebook pages
performed in parallel with a quantitative investigation of the whole Facebook during a
specific period of time, using keywords related to the topic under assessment (Fig. 6). I
then compare the results out coming from this hybrid investigation against quantitative
results of a European survey on the climate change, looking for possible correspondences
and similarities about ongoing trends.
For the first part, I use an e-ethnographic approach where the purpose is to investigate
four Facebook pages managed by European civil servants to analyze and discover how
the EU promotes its „quality labels‟ throughout Europe using the Internet and social
media, in order to understand what kind of reaction arouse into people and what sort of
final results achieve this method. Concretely, I monitor the „European presence‟ on
Facebook with the scope of discovering if there is, and if so which is, a discrepancy
between the contents of messages, information and intentions communicated and
mediated to citizens through the screen and the citizens‟ comments to those mediated
communications. I then interpret the latter comments using an „Ethnographic Content
Analysis‟ (ECA), trying to understand the efficacy of such messages, campaigns and calls
to action. In brief, the re-contextualization of the above-mentioned „green discourse‟ on a
social media platform is examined.
For the second part, I perform a „sentiment analysis‟ throughout all the existing
Facebook pages during a determined period of time. The intent is to investigate the
„sentiments‟, i.e. the opinions of Facebook users towards such European messages,
campaigns and calls to action regarding food endorsed by the European labels PDO –
PGI – TSG. The analysis is carried out through the usage of a dedicated software called
„Radian6‟ which, on the basis of specific keywords and settings, is able to mine the whole
web (just Facebook, in this case) looking for the exact keywords and returning an
evaluation (positive – negative - neutral) about the sentiment – hence the opinion –
implied in each specific conversation. The scope is the same as for the ethnographic
content analysis, that is to understand the efficacy of such messages, campaigns and calls
to action through Facebook users‟ opinions.
Fig. 6 – Thesis‟ hybrid investigation methodology

29. 29
a) People
b) Texts
c) Screen
Archontic
Power
Facebook
as a big
archive
The study of
knowledge
3.1. E-ethnography
In recent years, a new branch of ethnography emerged, namely e-ethnography, which
pays attention to the virtual world as a space for studying online cultures and for data
collection. As for classic ethnography, also in e-ethnography the researcher‟s aim is to
gain an „insider‟s perspective‟, i.e. the perspectives of those participating in the online
field site s/he is studying (Rokka and Moisander, 2009)
In detail, e-ethnography‟s fundamental three elements are: a) people, b) texts, and the
c) screen. The individual is a massive text made with a lot of information that are
collected throughout the life: everybody is a text that is produced from the very first
moment of her/his life. And, consequently, what it is produced in daily life can be
rendered into a text: this is why people document their lives, e.g. writing diaries. Thus,
people produce texts about their lives, and through that there is the screen, the element
that can be seen as a barrier in e-ethnography because the ethnographer never knows who
really is behind the screen, who really is the author of the profile that s/he is studying,
representing an additional barrier in e-ethnography in respect to classic ethnography.
However, e-ethnography also has advantages because it opens up to a massive archive
about the life of someone: at times people do carry out e-ethnography even without
getting in touch with the informants because social networks such as Facebook, for
instance, become a sort of parallel text to the life of people that can be analyzed and
studied by itself.
In fact, inasmuch as people are exposed in offline life to institutional attributions (e.g.
they are citizens of a certain Country with specific regulations, and so on), also online life
has institutions which are worth being ethnographically explored in order to understand
how they use the concept of „archontic power‟ (i.e. the power to construct an archive and
the status of absolute epistemic certainty that some truth exists because it is archived: if a
news or event is documented in an archive, it really means that that news/event has
actually taken place), and Facebook is an institution as well since it does not let the user
disappear (it has the power to decide on „life‟ and „death‟ of users, as an ancient Roman
„pater familias‟). The reason is because the ultimate capital upon which Facebook invests
is the amount of users that are networked through it. Individuals, as human beings, want
to be in contact with other human beings, and Facebook exists because people exist; in a
way, it is a massive text about each user. Thus, Facebook is the biggest archive that it is
possible to find on Earth which documents everything the user has possibly done since
s/he has become a Facebook member.
Nonetheless, Facebook is an embodiment of personal online identity and, on it,
identity can also be mystified: on this regard, there is a process called the „mystification
of the self‟ which, basically, means that individuals can sell themselves for gold while
they are not. Thus, where is reality? What is the researcher looking at when making an e-
ethnography enquiry? Is s/he studying a real person itself or a „fake‟ person?
For all these reasons e-ethnography brings to a reevaluation of what is epistemology
and ontology in ethnography, i.e. the study of knowledge and the study of existence,
respectively.
Epistemology
In offline ethnography, the informant is bound, to a certain extent, into a certain socio-
cultural space, thus the ethnographer and the study will be limited because there is a real
physical delimitation of the field (Blommaert & Dong, 2010); instead, in e-ethnography
there is not such a physical delimitation in classic terms. Hence, with the use of e-
ethnography, the epistemological standpoint of ethnography 1.0 (ethnography on the

30. 30
The study of
existence
ground) changes into a different epistemology, that is to say: the object of study of the
classic ethnography changes.
The traditional ethnographic principles called in question by the e-ethnography are:
1. Space (field): in e-ethnography the space is limitless; the ethnographer have to
map out the network(s), the group(s) and the story that is going on the screen;
2. Time: in e-ethnography, as there are different means of synchronous and
asynchronous communication, the ethnographer has to split up her/his available
budget of time;
3. The body: in e-ethnography it is not possible to see live interactions as the
ethnographer is stuck behind the screen looking at synchronous and asynchronous
communication;
4. Participation: in e-ethnography, the understanding of strong or weak ties, as the
understanding of who, why and when participates in the communication, is much
more blurred and difficult to achieve;
5. Authenticity: in e-ethnography, the likelihood of getting an „anthropologist slap‟
(the informant setting up something that does not really exist to deceive the
researcher) is higher, due to its own nature which heavily relies on CMC.
Hence, in the e-ethnography, the object of study of the classic ethnography changes
because there is not anymore just a single text, rather there are more texts, through more
channels, that make up for the individuals that are about of being studied: this leads to an
opening up of the possibilities but also of the obstacles of e-ethnography.
Ontology
As stated above, in classic ethnography it is clear that the physical division of space is a
space in which the ethnographer would have to be limited in her/his fieldwork; in e-
ethnography, instead, the space is basically limitless and, even if networks are still
strongly related to geographical space like field, unlike the latter, a network is an open
structure, able to expand almost without limits and highly dynamic (Wittel, 2000). In
classic ethnography, fieldwork means literally „being in the field‟: making the strange
familiar, then making the familiar strange again (in the sense that it is needed to dissect
the principles that are at play in the actions, in the doings, in the talks that people do). In
e-ethnography, as opposite, fieldwork happens in the moment in which the ethnographer
starts looking, observing, lurking at a certain community: s/he is not anymore the silent
and unnoticeable „fly on the wall‟ of malinowskian memory, but s/he is the „voyeur‟
behind the curtains of a certain community.
Indeed, instead of using the words of field and fieldwork, in e-ethnography the words
of net and network are used and the participant observation takes the name of „lurking‟:
lurking behind somebody‟s window (where the screen represents the window on
somebody‟s life). Moreover, in offline ethnography there is always an observer‟s effect
(or „Hawthorne effect‟), and it is essential to realize it: the ethnographer is never
observing an event as if s/he was not there; s/he is there, and that makes it a different
event (Blommaert & Dong, 2010). For this reason, the position of the lurker has been
celebrated for (finally) enabling the gathering of material at the ethnographic level (at the
level of specific interactions) without the intrusiveness of the tape recorder or the
disturbing physical presence of the observer: the technologically mediated setting is one
in which ethnographers can be, without revealing themselves as individuals. However,
the relation proposed by mechanical objectivity may be fragile as avoiding interaction
may also have consequences for the material gathered by the ethnographer. Indeed,
several ethnographers note that the ethnographer may miss out on part of the phenomena,

31. 31
CMC
Volatility
Ethics
Case
Studies
Longitudinal
Study
Data
Triangulation
which may not be visible on the observable and public list or on the considered webpage
(Beaulieu, 2004).
Obstacles
There is a largish body of work that shows how „computer mediated communication‟ is
actually not rich enough as a mode of interaction to sustain meaningful social relations.
This body of work is often taken as a starting point by ethnographers wanting to show
that „cyberspace‟ is, on the contrary, the site of uniquely meaningful sociality. Other
objections to the possibility of an online ethnography are the lack of both face to face
interaction and of a place in which to ground fieldwork (Beaulieu, 2004).
Furthermore, the Internet itself represents another difficulty for the ethnographer as it
constitutes a huge database that is not concrete and that changes as it is updated daily
(and can even disappear), and therefore must be monitored on a daily basis over the long
term. This difficulty stands out especially in attempts to carry out observation and
monitoring of users as the liquidity and constant movement on sites on the Web makes it
difficult to follow up on a regular and methodical basis, or to define users, as people can
change their identities from site to site and it is not always possible to check this due to
the anonymity that characterizes Internet communication, and therefore the traditional
definition of „participant-observer‟ cannot be applied to the description of the online
researcher (Sade-Beck, 2004).
Also the ethics of e-ethnography are quite strong, as the Internet enables the
ethnographer to become anonymous within the research field (Sade-Beck, 2004); thus, a
permission to the informants to use their posts/comments must be usually asked and got.
3.2. Research Design
The keywords for a proper methodology of an (e-)ethnographic enquiry are:
- objectivity, i.e. “the replicability of scientific findings” (LeCompte & Goetz,
1982);
- validity, i.e. “the extent to which scientific observations and measurements are
authentic representations of some reality” (LeCompte & Goetz, 1982).
To reach such validity and objectivity, ethnographers make, among other means of
inquiry (e.g. interviews), a large use of „case studies‟, i.e. “an empirical inquiry that
investigates a contemporary phenomenon in depth and within its real-life context,
especially when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident”
(Yin, 2009). The aim of case study research is hence to look for explanations and to gain
understanding of the phenomenon through multiple data sources, using (primary and
secondary) data within each case or cases, therefore allowing the researcher to look in
context and in depth at a phenomenon.
Additionally, case study research also enables a phenomenon to be studied over a
period of time, that is, a „longitudinal study‟.
By using several different sources of data or different methods of data collection, the
research findings are strengthened by the evidences coming from „data triangulation‟, i.e.
an investigation of the phenomenon from different perspectives providing robust
arguments in favor of the findings. Multiple informants and methods of data gathering or
triangulation within a same study are themselves recursive checks against the validity of
the researchers‟ interpretations (Ambert et al., 1995).
As a consequence of this brief methodological premise, my thesis is characterized by a
„descriptive-longitudinal‟ research design, with four specific EU‟s Facebook pages
representing the „case studies‟ and „triangulation‟ guaranteed by data gathered from two

32. 32
Operational
Steps
Construction
of an
indicator
Indicator‟
states
different methods, at different points in time, in different online spaces and from different
informants (cfr. 3.5.).
The labels to be investigated operate in the food market to indicate to consumers that
the products benefit from the European Union (EU) designation as PDO – PGI - TSG and
the ethnographic approach is helpful in identifying and exploring the patterns of such
quality labels to the political economy of language and the users‟ experience on
Facebook.
Ethnographic content analysis is crucial for examining linguistic, textual and other
semiotic aspects of language practices, whilst sentiment analysis is important to achieve a
better understanding of the phenomenon and its relations from a less subjective
standpoint.
As I have stated above, the process of empirical research ranges from theoretical
conceptualization to operationalization, where the latter is made through a series of
successive steps (Memoli, 2004):
Construction of an indicator(s)
Observation Codification and
Building data standardization
Detection
Thus, the first step I have had to deal with has been the construction of an indicator.
Taken for granted that the ultimate concept I am referring to is the „European identity‟
seen as an ongoing process addressed toward a greater common perception,
understanding and sharing among European citizens, I have thought the best indicator to,
indeed, indicate and represent such a concept would have been the people‟ „sentiment‟,
i.e. the set of perceptions, feelings and opinion of (mainly) Europeans towards the EU
conveyed – in this case – through the European quality label PDO – PGI – TSG shared
and communicated on Facebook.
I have chosen this specific indicator among the many possible others because of its
closeness and, so to speak, „intimacy‟ to people: usually humans have a tight and intimate
relationship with food because food is something we put „inside‟ ourselves: in our bodies
and, consequently, in our minds and souls. Hence food, before being assumed, has firstly
to be „trusted‟ as safe, nutrient, healthy, tasty, etc., in a decreasing order going from the
basic need of safety – coming from the primordial need to assure the continuity of the
species – to the more personal nuances of taste. To gain the just mentioned trust is then
the final objective of every edible product and of every related communication. For all
the reasons above, I have thought the indicator „sentiment‟ – read it also as „trust/distrust‟
– towards the European quality labels would have represented the best indicator of the
sentiment towards the EU which, ultimately, also affects the European identity (Fig. 5).
However, it should be remembered that neither a single nor multiple indicators are
never capable of „expressing‟ a concept in all its semantic extension: a total „coverage‟ of
a concept‟ semantic extension is not feasible. Therefore, an indicator may overlap only
partially to the concept for which has been chosen (Memoli, 2004).
Concluding, I have individuated three different indicator‟ states which are measurable
both qualitatively and quantitatively, i.e. positive, negative or neutral sentiment‟ states
(Fig. 7).

33. 33
Dependent
and
Independent
Variables
Classification
Concept European Identity
Indicator Sentiment
States Positive/Negative/Neutral
Measurable
Fig. 7 – The process from the concept to the measurable states
Such people‟ sentiment states represent the „dependent variable‟ of my investigation,
whereas the European posts on Facebook represent the „independent variable‟, with the
latter naturally influencing the former:
Independent Variable: European posts on Facebook
Dependent Variable: people‟ sentiment states
On the one hand, the variables are inherently qualitative because they characterize the
phenomenon for its uniqueness, and their observation is limited and not replicable in the
same conditions (Memoli, 2004); on the other hand, for the variables to be measured also
quantitatively, it is necessary to adopt one of the procedures for operationalization, which
are:
Classification
Sorting
Count
Measurement
Given the indicator and the variables, and after having tried to assign different values to
the different people‟ sentiment states, I noticed as the most appropriate procedure for
operationalization would have been the „classification‟ procedure since none of the others
would have better represented the quantitative measure.
Thus, I have assigned to the sentiment‟ states the following classes (Tab. 1):
Sentences with positive opinions/sentiment = class: Positive
Sentences with negative opinions/sentiment = class: Negative
Sentences without opinions/sentiment = class: Neutral
Indicator Operationalization Registration on variable
Sentiment Classification Positive – Negative – Neutral
Table 1 – Procedure for operationalization and dependent variable‟s values.

34. 34
Research
Question‟
structure
An
intellectual
exercise
Everything
is data
Data
collection
approach
First part
Hence, under the light of what I have just stated, it is now possible to recall the research
question leading my thesis in order to show and explain its underlying methodological
structure:
The posts (Independent Variable) on European quality labels
(PDO - PGI - TSG) published on the Facebook pages of the
EU generate in people positive, negative or neutral sentiments
(Dependent Variable  Operationalization: Classification
[Positive – Negative – Neutral] towards the EU itself?
To conclude, I must reveal as what I have just stated for – and inferred from – the
operationalization procedure about the indicator‟ states is actually just an intellectual
exercise. In fact, as I will explain in the following sections about the software „Radian6‟
(section 3.3.3.) and the sentiment analysis (section 3.4.2.), such classification of the
sentiment‟ states is automatically performed by the Radian6 platform.
My intent in doing this intellectual exercise was exclusively to demonstrate how it is
possible to also operationalize and measure even abstract concepts as opinions or
sentiments.
3.3. Data Collection
The quintessence of (e-)ethnography is to understand and to reconstruct how people
construct meaning in a given socio-cultural space. Thus, on the one side, ethnographers
are encountering data occurring in natural conditions, i.e. any action that human beings
do take will never be the same as the one that has been taken place before. However, on
the other side, human beings work in certain patterns and that means that, even if the
situations will never be the same again, the situations can be similar and the underlying
principles behind those similar situations will be similar as well. Hence, to sum up, for
ethnographers everything is data.
But, since for both offline and online ethnography is not possible to follow everything,
it is necessary to make a selection when it comes to collect data. Specifically, e-
ethnography is based primarily on analysis of texts, chats, messages and comments or on
interviews and recording of actions in Internet communication groups such as forums and
communities that supply clearer boundaries to the qualitative researcher.
Therefore, to select the data for this study, I have used a data triangulation approach,
i.e. data have been gathered at different points in time, in different spaces and from
different informants.
The first part of data collection has started with me, novice ethnographer, joining four
Facebook pages (see below) in order to carry out a daily monitoring, lurking in a
unobtrusive and anonymous way. Such monitoring has been made lurking at the posts
and relative comments with the intent of selecting interesting conversations about the
topic of this work. When I have noticed an interesting conversation, I have made a
screen-shot of the web-page and taken field-notes about the post, the comments and the
protagonists in order to be able to retrieve the context in the later phase of analysis.
Moreover, because it is a longitudinal study, I came back periodically (every 14 days) to
check whether there were further comments to that specific post, both to keep a visual
track of the possible changes and to have more material in case the post would have been
deleted for any reason.