Pro-wrestling fandom and digital archives of wrestling event merchandise

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) has dominated the sports entertainment industry for nearly three decades. Its merchandise has become a part of wrestling history, with fans using social media to share images that document their attendance at live events and their engagement with wrestling-related artifacts, such as event merchandise. Social media platforms such as Instagram provide a digital repository where fans can document their experiences while interacting with other fans.

Face vastaan Heel

Artikkeli käsittelee stereotyyppisen ”hyvän” ja ”pahan” kamppailua yhdysvaltalaisessa televisioidussa showpainissa. Showpaini on yleisöviihdettä, jossa kamppailulajit yhdistyvät teatterimaiseen esiintymiseen käsikirjoitetuissa ja ennalta päätetyissä tarinoissa. Showpaini on suureellista spektaakkelia, jossa käytetään liioiteltuja reaktioita.Tämä artikkeli käsittelee hyvän ja pahan kohtaamista showpainissa yhden erityisen kuvaavan tapausesimerkin kautta, joka on valikoitu yhdysvaltalaisesta WWE-showpainiorganisaatiosta. Tapausesimerkissä ”hyvä” (face) eli Shinsuke Nakamura kohtasi ”pahan” (heel) eli Samoa Joen sarjassa otteluita, jotka televisioitiin suurelle yleisölle ja joihin liittyi runsaasti oheismateriaalia Internetissä. Artikkelimme tarkastelee, kuinka tämä spektaakkelinen kokonaisuus rakennettiin tarinallisesti näistä elementeistä. Kysymme, miten ja millaisista osista televisioitu showpaininarratiivi rakentuu.Avainsanat: showpaini, mediaspektaakkeli, urheiluviihde, face, heel.Face versus Heel. Battle of Good and Evil in American televised professional wrestlingThe article investigates the stereotyped battle of “good” versus “bad” on televised American professional wrestling. Professional wrestling, or “Sports Entertainment” as WWE-promotion calls it, is an extremely popular audiovisual spectacle, which combines elements of sports, martial arts, theatre, and dance performances. It also uses spectacular theatrical reactions and audience participation on competitions, where outcomes are (usually) predetermined.Demonstrating a structural analysis of the narrative, the article focuses on the construction of a professional wrestling spectacle by doing a case study on a series of matches from WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment), where Shinsuke Nakamura, a stereotyped “good” wrestler (so-called Face) fought against Samoa Joe, a stereotyped “evil” wrestler (so-called Heel).Keywords: professional wrestling, show wrestling, media spectacle, sports entertainment, face, heel

A Comprehensive Review of Smart Glasses Technology- Future of Eyewear

This paper breaks down the technology behind smart glasses along with the advancement in this emerging field keeping in mind the hardware, software and research work which major companies have put in to develop a real-life model. This paper also comprises an analysis on the experience of users with different glasses. We have also talked about the new benchmarks which this technology has set in sectors such as medicine, gaming, corporate, sports, entertainment and many others.

Universal Ethics

Ethics is required, if not integrated, in nearly all areas of human interaction involving contracts, communication, and/or all other collaborative activities. Examples include: sports, entertainment, education, and business. Although virtually all activities have some business implications in a utilitarian sense, some activities involve fewer people than others. Soccer, for example, involves more people than, say, archery or chess.

Impact of Doppelganger Brand Image (DBI) on Consumer Behavior

Doppelganger brand images (DBIs) are a collection of disparaging brand images and stories circulated in popular culture, customarily targeted at brands to hold them accountable for any inconsistency in the quality of the products or services provided. If overlooked, DBIs may prove harmful to the brand's equity and value and sometimes even directly lead to a loss in sales. This paper delves into how DBIs affect an end consumer's perception of a brand. It aims to draw insights into a possible change in consumers' attitudes towards purchasing and subsequent consumption of the products and services offered by brands from four different industries(Beverage, Cellular Network, Airlines and Sports Entertainment) after being exposed to DBIs. The research was conducted in three steps, including two quantitative surveys and one qualitative research with the help of in-depth interviews. Through the first quantitative survey, the preferred attributes of four product categories beverages industry, the sports entertainment industry, cellular network industry, and the airline industry, was observed. Next, any changes in the respondents' willingness to consume after they have been exposed to DBIs of four brands from the above four different industries have been mapped. Through in-depth interviews on a sample of respondents, the underlying reasons behind the change or lack thereof were observed. Conducting the qualitative research on each product category's three competitive brands helped in assessing the variation in the level of indifference a consumer has towards a DBI concerning a particular product category. Finally, quantitative research on the selected sample of respondents was used to map any possible difference in attitude towards consumption of the products and services of the brands discussed in the in-depth interviews, which was used to arrive at the findings and conclusion. The novelty of this paper lies in the fact that much of existing research has been done to gauge the effects of negative branding via Doppelganger Brand Images of products on the brand equity and sales, by studying on specific brands/products. The question of “How are consumers impacted by the exposure to the aforementioned negative branding?” has been attempted to be answered through this paper, without restricting our scope to a single business industry or product category. The paper throws light on the emergence of a possible pattern of consumer’s perception towards brands that have been targeted by DBIs, across four product categories, which need to be taken into account by marketers planning on large scale emotional branding campaigns of those product categories.

Value co-creation in sport entertainment between internal and external stakeholders

Purpose Co-creation as a collaborative process between organizations and customers generates unique value for both internal and external stakeholders for the company. Research generally examines and portrays customer-company co-creation as a balanced and harmonious relationship. However, a successful co-creation strategy involves understanding the shared interests of the parties and resolving tensions between internal and external stakeholders to avoid co-destruction. This study aims to draw on the intersection of organizational behavior and marketing literature and to examine shared interests and conflicting tensions involved in the co-creation in the context of sports entertainment. This context allows the researchers to unpack and present a more complex process of co-creation that fosters co-creativity and innovation. Design/methodology/approach Based on a qualitative case-based approach of a major university in the USA, the authors draw on interviews and observations from their athletic administration and fans engaged in a men’s Division I team through an entire season. Findings This qualitative study illustrates an alternative, more complex dilemma of co-creating emotional and symbolic value based on shared interests while reconciling conflicting internal and external stakeholder interests. The findings suggest a tug of war based on tensions, where management adopted contrasting managerial strategies ranging from attempting to reconcile tension through organic co-creation to controlled manufactured creation. Research limitations/implications Emotional and symbolic game experience value is an interdependent process which cannot be created without consumer engagement. Both emotional and symbolic values are enhanced during games to the extent consumers perceive participation in the creative pre-game stages. Originality/value This study draws on sports entertainment to identify sources of tension in co-creation and discuss type of solutions among internal and external stakeholders.