Abstract
Purpose: NFL is one of the most representative phenomena of contemporary American culture, working as a means to acculturing other audiences to the U.S. environment. Brazil has the second biggest international audience of the league in the world, and part of it is engaged to social networks during game broadcasts. Methodology: The study adopts the netnographic approach as research method, which was based on monitoring Twitter hashtags launched by ESPN channels in Brazil during three seasons, between 2016 and 2019. Results: Our findings reveal three practices of acculturation: comparison between Brazilian and American features, the embodiment of American rituals and routine changes to adjust to the schedule of the league. Theoretical contributions: This research contributes to marketing literature by showing how fan's interaction on social networks about massively mediated entertainment objects (i.e., media sports) can incorporate and resonate in an acculturation process. Practical contributions: Marketing professionals can look at fannish (i.e., prosumerist) interactions to achieve opportunities and competitive advantages based on reliable information acquired on social networks.
Highlights
Sports represent important aspects of the cultures that give origin to them
Netnography focuses on observing the way informational and social communications and connections happen based on their main contribution in comparison to other ethnographies: revealing how online organizations and cultural forms take place, as well as boosting the discussion about how these forms are maintained and changed (Colliander & Hauge Wien, 2013; Kozinets, 2010; Underberg & Zorn, 2013); mainly, the method used to investigate the preferences of media sports consumers (Filo et al, 2015; Næss, 2017; Stavros et al, 2014)
We identified nine codes related to the acculturation process faced by Brazilian NFL fans
Summary
Sports represent important aspects of the cultures that give origin to them. Many studies show how individuals who have recently arrived to a country, such as immigrants, pilgrims, refugees, use these aspects to adjust themselves to the new cultural contexts they are facing (Allen et al, 2010; Ha et al.,2014; Sawrikar & Muir, 2010), since sports have the ability to express cultures and to participate in the cultural change dynamics (Whannel, 2014; Wenner, 2012).Teoria e Prática em Administração, v. 11, n. 1, p. 75-92.Whannel (2014) categorizes two types of sports modalities: media sports, whose commotion results from their broadcast and widespread in the media; and participation sports, which are legitimated when a big fraction of society practices them. Brazilian NFL fans who engage in social media can practice American cultural aspects intrinsically related to American football consumption.
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