Sports fandom in the metaverse: marketing implications and research agenda
本文通过社会认同理论，结合市场证据和现有研究，探讨体育品牌如何在元宇宙中有效吸引粉丝，提出通过独家体验、粉丝展示和沉浸式互动来增强粉丝认同，并指出未来研究方向。
Abstract The metaverse is transforming how sports fans consume sports, express their fandom, and interact with sports brands representing professional sports leagues, teams and athletes. However, scholars and practitioners lack an understanding of how sports brands can effectively appeal to their fans using the metaverse. This conceptual study aims to address this gap by combining marketplace evidence and extant research through the lens of social identity theory. The study suggests that sports brands should engage their fans in the metaverse by offering exclusive experiences that strengthen fans’ identification as a fan, facilitating opportunities for fans to demonstrate their fandom and reinforce their association with the fan community, and fostering immersive experiences that enable fans to interact with each other and the sports brand. This study outlines several potential areas for future research based on three themes, namely experiences, personalization, and inclusivity. By addressing these areas, sports brands can better understand and optimize their engagement strategies with fans using the metaverse.