Digital social media: An interactive technology incorporated as a competitive advantage for business

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 littlestudied 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

How sponsors should bring relevant-added value to esports

This paper aimed to determine what types of relevant-added value esports fans most want sponsors to bring to them and to the competitive gaming industry. A review of the literature permitted the development of a conceptual model which was subsequently improved by analysing empirical data. A quantitative exploratory research was conducted on 1,359 esports fans who were sampled through a non-probability purposive heterogeneous method. Data was collected through a closed-ended online structured survey. The data showed that two of the three most wanted means for bringing relevant added value are by directly helping the esports industry rather than focusing on the fans. Specifically, supporting the tournaments and pro-players and promoting good practice and integrity were highly valued. Most brands are still unaware of how to conduct effective esports sponsorships. By being one of the first studies in this area, this research provides brands with useful guidelines for developing sustainable esports sponsorships.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A Model of the Threats that Disreputable Behavior Present to Esports Sponsors

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.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Esports Sponsorships: The Double-Edged Sword Effect of Having a Very Vocal Audience

Esports fans have been known for being heavy consumers of compet itive gaming content and for being digital natives who love to comment about esports on numerous social platforms. This has attracted various sponsors inter ested in capitalizing in this social buzz. However, there have been signs that this high vocality can in fact heavily damage several sponsors. Hence, this research aimed to determine if esports fans’ high vocality is a benefit and/or a risk to these sponsors. To achieve this, we adopted a qualitative exploratory design to interview, via digital platforms, 10 esports sponsorship experts. In total, we in terviewed two endemic and three non-endemic esports sponsors and five mar keting agencies with experience in esports sponsorships. They were sampled via a nonprobability purposive heterogeneous method and were reached via the companies’ website contact sections. Data were analyzed with the assistance of NVivo 10. The overall results showed that all experts agreed that this high vo cality can both benefit and damage esports sponsors. The uniformity in the an swers showed that this element is not a greater benefit or risk to a particular type of esports sponsor. Ergo we considered that the high vocality of esports fans is a double-edged sword. This study is necessary because, despite esports’ massive growth, this field has received scant scientific attention, with the spe cific areas of esports marketing and esports sponsorships being even more se verely overlooked. Besides, from a business standpoint, the findings are highly significant for every sponsor looking to better comprehend esports and its fan baseinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

How Sponsors Should Bring Relevant-Added Value to Esports

This paper aimed to determine what types of relevant-added value esports fans most want sponsors to bring to them and to the competitive gaming industry. A review of the literature permitted the development of a conceptual model which was subsequently improved by analysing empirical data. A quantitative exploratory research was conducted on 1,359 esports fans who were sampled through a non-probability purposive heterogeneous method. Data was collected through a closed-ended online structured survey. The data showed that two of the three most wanted means for bringing relevant-added value are by directly helping the esports industry rather than focusing on the fans. Specifically, supporting the tournaments and pro-players and promoting good practice and integrity were highly valued. Most brands are still unaware of how to conduct effective esports sponsorships. By being one of the first studies in this area, this research provides brands with useful guidelines for developing sustainable esports sponsorships.JEL Codes - M31; M3

Sponsoring Esports to Improve Brand Image

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.JEL Codes - M31; M3

The benefits and risks of sponsoring eSports: brief literature review

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Business Entrepreneurship And Education

This study is a review of the literature regarding business entrepreneurship and education. The main aim is to study the social and educational factors affecting the creation of self-employment for young people as a contribution to the development of local entrepreneurship, reducing unemployment and leveraging economic development. Of the various social influencers, it was important to understand the role of the family, especially of the parents, in motivating and sustaining the creation of one's own job and in the actions of entrepreneurship. In the same sense, at the educational level, to perceive the consequences of access to new resources that expand and support knowledge and skills acquisition useful for creating one's own job and reducing risk aversion of business activities. Finally, to understand the role of endogenous factors such as intelligence and individual motivation in the pursuit of entrepreneurship activities and their relationship with social and educational influencers

VII International Forum of Management – Madeira: book of proceedings

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Mobile Communication 2012 : Experiències i recerques sobre comunicació mòbil

La comunicació mòbil és un dels temes de més actualitat en diferents fòrums, des de diferents perspectives. Espanya juga un paper important per les dinàmiques i l’evolució del seu mercat. En aquest sentit, el nostre país ofereix un interès específic per l'amplitud del seu parc de dispositius 3G (el segon d'Europa, després d'Itàlia) i per la intensitat del desenvolupament de xarxes socials mòbils, a més de per la creixent implicació d'empreses en la producció i distribució de continguts mòbils. Com va passar amb Internet, es tracta d’un procés d'innovació pel qual els formats de contingut, les pràctiques de consum i els models de negoci característics de la televisió i la xarxa, per exemple, s'adapten, primer, al nou mitjà, per a després desenvolupar formes i models específics que aprofiten les potencialitats de personalització, geolocalització i conectivitat ubiqua