Search

PurposeThis research aims to identify how important it is that brands incorporate relevant-added value into their esports sponsorships.Design/methodology/approachThis exploratory research applied a convergent-parallel mixed method with equal status. Data were collected by interviewing 22 experts in esports sponsorships and having 5,638 esports fans fill out an online survey. SPSS 25 was used to analyze quantitative data and NVIVO 10 to process qualitative data. Each dataset was analyzed separately and then compared with both having the same level of importance.FindingsThe results revealed that all experts considered the creation of relevant-added value as an essential strategy for successful esports sponsorships and the large majority of fans want sponsors to apply this tactic. Interestingly, while the experts mostly emphasized ways to directly benefit the fan-base, the fans prefer that sponsors focus on directly supporting the esports industry.Practical implicationsBrands should incorporate relevant-added value into their esports sponsorships as it greatly decreases fan resistance to the promotional message, catches the fans' attention and engagement much more easily, has a much higher probability of leading to high positive return on investments (ROIs) and makes for a much more cost-effective investment.Originality/valueThe field of esports sponsorships has received little academic attention and the results are highly significant and relevant for all current and potential esports sponsors looking to increase the effectiveness of their esports sponsorships.

This research aimed to determine if disreputable behaviour in esports is a threat to its sponsors. An exploratory design and a convergent-parallel mixed method with equal status were used. Esports sponsorship experts (N = 22) were interviewed via digital platforms and esports fans (N = 5,638) filled an online survey. Qualitative data was processed on NVivo 10 and quantitative on SPSS 25. The results showed that most experts consider disreputable behaviour as a threat to esports sponsors and roughly one-third of fans have developed negative feelings towards esports sponsors due to disreputable behaviour. The most brand-image threatening types of behaviours are corruption, illegal and unregulated gambling, and toxicity. Despite esports’ rapid growth, the field of esports sponsorships has received poor academic attention. Moreover, the findings are relevant for existing and potential sponsors wishing to understand how esports’ disreputable behaviour can damage their brands and how to proactively avoid this threat.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the importance of promotion expenditures, direct flights, and climate, among other variables commonly used in gravity models, in the attractiveness of international tourists to an insular destination, in this particular case, Madeira. These three variables are rarely present in gravity models that analyse international demand. Given the possibility of endogeneity, a dynamic model is estimated for the annual panel data set of the 13 main tourist-generating markets for Madeira between 2005 and 2018. The results indicate that traditional gravity variables are significant in explaining international demand. They also show that promotion expenditures, climate, and the number of direct flights are important competitive factors. Promotion expenditures are of fundamental importance given the weight of the tourism sector in insular economic activity. Our results contribute to the debate that has already started about effective tourism policy making and strategies in the post-pandemic of COVID-19.

Both esports sponsors and academia are not aware of how disreputable behavior in the esports scene can negatively affect their brands. Hence, this research aimed at identifying which types of disreputable behavior in competitive gaming present the biggest threats to esports sponsors. In this quantitative and exploratory research, a non-probability, purposive, and heterogeneous sampling method was employed to gather a sample of 1,592 esports fans who filled a closed-ended online survey. Results showed that illegal and unregulated gambling was a high-risk threat to esports sponsors; toxic behavior, match-fixing, and cheating were labeled as medium-risk threats; and sexism, cyberattacks, and doping were found to be low-risk threats. Besides being one of the first studies on esports sponsorships, which serves as a basis for future research in this market, the findings contribute to the sustainability of the esports industry and its sponsors. Managerial implications are also discussed.

This research aimed to identify how esports sponsorships affect the sponsors’ brand image. An exploratory focus was adopted along with a convergent-parallel mixed method with equal status. Twenty-two experts in esports sponsorships were interviewed and 5,638 esports fans were surveyed. Quantitative data was processed on SPSS 25 and qualitative data on NVivo 10. The two data sets were analysed separately from one another, but the results were interpreted together and given the same level of importance. The results showed that all experts believe that sponsoring esports can positively affect the sponsors’ brand image and roughly one-third of fans perceive more positively a small number of brands as a result of them sponsoring esports. This image improvement is, however, dependent on multiple variables, including activation strategy, brand type, and target audience. The findings are relevant for academics and companies looking to better understand the brand image effects of sponsoring esports.

The main goal of this study is to examine the communication that fashion brands make through Facebook. It is intended to ascertain if the fashion brands use a communication strategy based on dialogue with their followers. In order to reach the objectives indicated above, a content analysis has been carried out (quantitative methodology) of 326 publications made through Facebook by H&M, Zara and Ralph Lauren between January 1st and June 30th of 2017. The main results of this work show that, although Facebook has a wide dialogical potential, fashion brands do not use it to a great extent. Although we consider appropriate to have analyzed only the social network Facebook given its importance, this situation could be considered as the main limitation of the present study, since the fashion brands could, or not, be taking advantage of the dialogical potential of other social networks, such as Twitter or Instagram. It could be considered that this research stands out for studying a series of variables that allows organizations to know if they are using the dialogical potential offered by digital communication.

Decision making based on information provided by an enterprise accounting information system, is essential for sustainable development and enterprises growth. Besides widely used prediction models for an assessment of the financial distress, there is also a useful indicator of a capital maintenance evolution, that provides a deeper view to the enterprise growth or decline compared to traditional performance measures. The aim of the contribution is to develop a model for assessment of a capital maintenance evolution using available accounting outputs. Our constructed model and coefficient for a capital maintenance evolution CMEOPNN has been developed using the multi-layer (triple) artificial neural network with a feedforward signal transmission by a backpropagation method and an activation function is a sigmoid function. For construction our model we used 663 Slovak enterprises sample out of 5 most frequented industry sectors with a unified structure of the provided information in the financial statements for 2014-2017.

Purpose This paper aims to determine how important cultural events organized by hotels are when guests select the establishment, determine the most influential source to attract customers to the hotels’ cultural events and measure their ability to meet guests’ expectations. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative exploratory methodology was adopted. Data collection was performed through voluntary and non-probabilistic face-to-face interviews to 2,229 guests and six directors from eight hotels that organize cultural events. Findings The data revealed that, although cultural events organized by hotels were not a selection factor, these were attended by the majority of guests, who felt valued for being asked for feedback by the hotels and were more influenced by marketing communications within the establishments than by word-of-mouth. Originality/value Contrary to cultural events organized by local authorities, cultural events organized by hotels have received little to no academic attention. This research allowed the authors to better understand the factors that may influence hotel selection and guests’ satisfaction.

Tourism promotes job creation and businesses in the economies of many small tourist regions. Consequently, it is worth studying the relationship between this regions and entrepreneurship, whose chosen method of analysis is based on hierarchical OLS regression. This study explored the influences of small tourist remote economies (STRE) topographies, personal characteristics and academic support activities for the pursuit of entrepreneurship activities in explaining students’ intentions, this is the first attempt to provide an understanding of the Theory of Planned Behavior in the context of entrepreneurship of the small tourist remote. It offers a contribution to the literature in the field of entrepreneurship by analyzing a number of factors that reinforce, encourage or discourage students’ intentions to become entrepreneurs in a geographical setting characterized by macroeconomic policies informed by a neo-Keynesian approach. Moreover, this paper provides an understanding of the mechanism leading to the expression of entrepreneurial intentions by students living in one of the most adverse economic environments in the context of the European Union.

Este estudo procurou identificar os pros e os contras do patrocinio de eSports e as taticas para os maximizar e os mitigar, respetivamente. Foi usado um metodo exploratorio focado numa revisao integrativa da literatura. Os elementos mais atrativos sao o aumento do reconhecimento, da imagem e das vendas e a alta aceitacao de patrocinios e boa relacao custo-beneficio. Assim, as marcas devem patrocinar jogadores e torneios profissionais, realizar in-game branding e criar valor adicional relevante o mais rapido possivel. Os elementos de maior risco sao o comportamento desonroso, a influencia negativa dos media, a infância do setor, a vida curta dos videojogos, os investimentos a longo prazo, o baixo desempenho e a baixa visibilidade. Portanto, as marcas devem sincronizar-se com o publico, punir comportamentos desonrosos, promover a aceitacao dos videojogos, estudar o mercado e comprometer-se a longo prazo.

The emergence of social networks has revolutionized the way people communicate and share information. Consequently, it becomes important to analyze the role of these models of collaboration and innovation through social networks in the strategic vision of the responsibility of marketing and communication in tourism industries, mainly the role of Facebook in e-business actions. This chapter presents a qualitative and exploratory analysis of the individuals in the virtual context of the social media, their behaviors, reactions, and attitudes, to perceive which social factors can enhance the appearance of competitive advantages for the organizations. There was a predilection for companies with a greater international connection at the level of clients and also at the level of the operation because there was a predominance of companies related to the tourism sector of Madeira.

Digital Marketing have revolutionized the way companies communicate and interact with their publics, in particularly in the Fashion Business. The use of digital communication on a daily is increasingly intense, which leads companies to work the digital business strategy around the objectives, as well as incorporating digital methods into the objectives. According to Hamel, “The advantage of the competitiveness comes from a technological introduction and the constant adaptation along the time to the technological evolution inserted in the strategy of the organization”. So, this research is a qualitative analysis to understand what are the digital factors that contribute to sustainable competitive advantages of organizations which can support strategic and future actions.

The purpose of this research was to identify the main motives that contribute to society’s negative view of videogames and that present a risk to the eSports sponsors’ image. To achieve this, an exploratory, qualitative, and integrative literature review was conducted. According to the theoretical data, there are four main reasons why society has a negative perception of videogames. It is commonly believed that: (1) gaming is an unproductive activity, (2) violent videogames incite aggressive behaviors, (3) videogames lead to gaming-addiction, and (4) eSports lead to eSports-related gambling addiction. However, while the literature presents convincing evidence that gaming can create addiction and that eSports can promote gambling addiction, there is no conclusive evidence to assume that violent videogames lead to aggressiveness and there is evidence showing that playing videogames can be a productive activity. Nevertheless, these four beliefs are a threat to the eSports sponsors’ image and may lead them to cancel their existing sponsorships or lead other brands to not want to sponsor eSports to prevent being associated with these negative notions. This research will help expand the minor literature on eSports sponsorships and advance the knowledge of why some eSports sponsorships are terminated and why some brands may be reluctant to sponsor eSports.

Purpose – This paper aims to understand the contribution made by Facebook as a marketing tool for companies, and through empirical observation (interviews and questionnaires) and theoretical analysis (studies and academic literature on the subject), to analyse the reactions of individuals in social media (particularly in Facebook) and its confluence with the organizations. The overall aim is subdivided into three objectives covering more precisely the two poles of marketing communication (the consumers and the businesses), within the context of Facebook: to learn about the users’ vision on Facebook and their point of view on being a part of it; to understand the strategic vision of Facebook from those responsible for marketing and communication in companies; and to analyse the role of Facebook in marketing activities and interactive communication (users and companies). Design/methodology/approach – The first part of this study is a theoretical study of the area and existing published research. The second part is a qualitative study. In this sense, the theoretical analysis in the field of social networks supports the propositions discussed in the empirical analysis, which is based on a random sample of individuals and representative companies. The analysed universe consists of a randomly unrepresentative group of consumers living in Portugal, particularly in the cities of Funchal (Madeira) and Lisbon, and company representatives established in Funchal (Madeira), to understand if the theoretical arguments are also verified in these regions regardless of their particular characteristics, especially the geographical and demographic. Findings – Today the focus continues to be very connected to sales and promotions and to traditional communication channels when it should move to create interactions with meaning for the audience through content before focusing on sales. Organizations should consider the way they communicate with their target audience and consider social networks and mobile technologies as a new way of expanding the business, adapting to this new consumer not contemplated by the traditional marketing and communication media. Research limitations/implications – Furthermore, the existing literature quickly becomes obsolete without addressing the issue in depth, sometimes referring qualitative studies based on demographic and geographic variables and traditional models. Moreover, most of the authors are Anglo-Saxon and discuss realities away from the one studied here. Geographical location and time are also other important limitations, as in Portugal, the phenomenon is recent and both individual users and company representatives (who constituted the study sample) have little practical experience in the use of online technologies and social networks; probably the main setback is the limited period of the study, concentrating the analyses on the current interviewee experience instead of an evolutionary people's behaviour analyses concerning the use of social networks. Although the evolution of information technology is a catalyst for a more intense online social experience, it is important to understand how to live the virtual experience and how the communication between individuals and companies evolves (how to adapt to this new consumer audience), face the current short-term models based on offline actions, reactive strategic actions, misperception of users and lack of information on social network consumers’ life. Practical implications – Organizations should consider the way they communicate with their target audience and consider social networks and mobile technologies as a new way of expanding the business, adapting to this new consumer not contemplated by the traditional marketing and communication media. The study presents a qualitative analysis of the behaviour, the reactions and the attitudes of individuals towards organizations, with the aim of understanding which are the social factors that contribute to sustainable competitive advantage to organizations and support strategies and future actions. Social implications – The social aspects are a part of the experience in the Facebook community and also of the shopping experience. So it is important to monitor these behaviours in Facebook or other networks to perceive users of social networks, and consequently define marketing and communications actions to transform fans into customers. Relevant factors come associated with tacit knowledge of the organization, particularly those related with learning and social interaction of the organization and organization knowledge about virtual communities. To a higher coexistence of these factors, the more difficult the replication is, and the higher the strengthening of the hypothesis of sustainability of competitive advantage. Originality/value – Organizational survival increasingly depends on the socialization, sharing interests and activities with the audience linked to the incorporation of digital technologies in their activities, especially those related to social networks. Technology emerges as a support for the satisfaction of social connection, transforming communication between people and companies, making it much more dynamic and transparent. As we have seen, there are many positive factors associated with the participation in the social networks. Prominent among these are the interactivity, the detection of customer needs, the adjustment of supply, transmission of content without geographical boundaries and the ease of implementation of viral marketing campaigns.

In a more transparent and dynamic world, in which consumers trust other consumers more for advice and recommendations on products and services, the continuity of organizations appears to be associated with socialization, the sharing of interests and the interaction with the audience. This is associated with the incorporation of digital technologies to business, specifically the use of social media. Consequently, it is timely and interesting to explore the phenomenon of virtual socialization, although it is a little-studied field and what is needed is an innovative and theoretical approach based upon theories of marketing and communication. Expertise in these areas is present in all organizations and their performance is important for appropriate development of them. This work is a qualitative analysis about the behavior, reactions and attitudes of individuals to organizations, in order to understand the social factors that contribute to sustainable competitive advantages of organizations which can support strategic and future actions. We conclude that relevant factors associated with the tacit knowledge of the organization, specifically to learning and social interaction of the organization and their knowledge of virtual communities. The higher the coexistence of factors, the more difficult is the replication and greater will be the hypothesis of sustainable competitive advantage.

Today, social media are the new way of public and political communication in digital marketing. Companies or organizations are no longer the exclusive owners of the relation of consumers with their products/services; instead, the survival of the organizations depends of the effective utilization of the social media. New web technologies have made it easy for anyone to create and distribute their own content. A tweet can be viewed by virtually millions of people for free, and advertisers don’t have to pay publishers huge sums of money to embed their messages. More consumers are on social media than ever before, and every second a company is not engaged is a wasted opportunity [1]. Consumers trust other people to provide recommendations about products and services in a very active way and it is important to know how and why social media influence organizations. This study analyzes through a literature review the importance of public and political communication through social media and proposes a model of business for successful marketing strategies.

La reinvencion de las sociedades y de las organizaciones aparece vinculada a la esencia social del ser humano y a la motivacion de la evolucion de la especie como un reflejo de la aglomeracion de la conducta individual de una sociedad. Y la satisfaccion de las necesidades de conexion social, han permitido el desarrollo de herramientas tecnologicas relacionadas con los blogs y las redes sociales a un alto nivel de cumplimiento en un corto periodo de tiempo. La tecnologia se presenta como un apoyo a estas necesidades humanas, haciendolas mas dinamicas y transparentes, y que influye en la comunicacion entre personas y organizaciones, por lo que la continuidad de las organizaciones esta asociada con la socializacion, que comparten intereses e interactuan con su publico y es inseparable de la incorporacion de la tecnologia digital en sus actividades, incluidas las relacionadas con los blogs y las redes sociales. El poder de millones de personas junto con el rapido desarrollo tecnologico, independientemente del exito, refuerza la "ola" de los catalizadores del cambio social, lo cual aumenta el grado de complejidad en la gestion de los negocios tradicionales y reduce el control de estrategias de comunicacion para las empresas. Abstract The reinvention of societies and organizations appears linked to the social essence of human beings and the species‘ evolving motivation as a reflection of the agglomeration of individual behavior of a society. The satisfaction of social connection needs has allowed that the development of technological tools related to blogs and social media to a high level of compliance in a short period. This technology comes as a support to these human needs, making them more dynamic and transparent and influencing the communication between people and organizations, so that the continuity of organizations is associated with socialization, sharing interests and interacting with its audience and it is inseparable to the incorporation of digital technology in their activity, including those related to blogs and social media. The power of millions of people combined with rapid technological development, regardless of success, reinforces the "wave" of catalysts of social change, which together increase the degree of complexity in the management of traditional businesses and reduces the control of communication strategies for companies. Thus the need to understand how the new relationships are formed in social media and the impact of technology.