Introduction or preface

- Due to some different factors, the communication role of packaging is becoming more important for numerous products. To communicate effectively, marketers need to know how communication actually works. On the basis of this consideration, supported by several theoretical and empirical evidences, the authors refer to the model of the communication process in order to develop a field research. This model explains the relations between the sender and the receiver, and the related encoding and decoding process. The aim is first of all to point out, classify, and analyze the main contents of the message and the components of packaging used by a sample of wineries in the Collio and Colli Orientali del Friuli area, and then to relate these aspects with the structural and competitive features of the firms.