Gabriele Murtas

Purpose: Digital merchandise has recently transformed the consumption of sports. Existing research has focused on individual adoption behaviors or broader cultural implications, overlooking how fans collectively construct meanings around these digital innovations. As authenticity and belonging are central to fan identity, however, examining how digital merchandise is socially represented offers deeper insights into its integration within fandom than individual adoption metrics alone. To address this gap, this research aims to examine how football fans collectively represent the meanings of fan tokens as a form of digital merchandise. Design/methodology/approach: Drawing on Social Representation Theory, this study involved 20 focus groups and 84 in-depth interviews with a total of 166 participants to investigate how digital merchandizing has transformed sports consumption and fan engagement. Findings: The study reveals two hegemonic social representations of fan tokens: as fundraising instruments for clubs and as mechanisms for fan engagement and base expansion. Each hegemonic representation generates opposing polemical representations, with supporters framing fan tokens as investments in their passion and tools for expanding the fan base, while detractors perceive them as exploitative mechanisms that threaten authentic fandom values. Unlike traditional merchandise, digital merchandise disrupts established anchoring mechanisms and generates strong polarizing ideological divisions. Originality/value: This research contributes to the literature on sport merchandizing by demonstrating that digital merchandise elicits more divisive social representations than traditional merchandise, which may further jeopardize fan community cohesion. The study offers deeper insights into digital merchandise integration within fandom by examining collective meaning construction rather than focusing solely on individual adoption metrics.

Consumers' increasing environmental concerns are prompting a shift in fashion consumption, fueling the remarkable growth of the second‐hand market. Over the last decade, this trend has spurred the emergence of a plethora of online platforms dedicated to the resale of pre‐loved fashion items. As consumers can easily access luxury garments at affordable prices through second‐hand platforms, the rapid expansion of these indirect channels holds the potential to further redefine how consumers experience and access luxury, significantly contributing to its democratization. While scholarly interest in second‐hand luxury has recently surged, current research has overlooked the experience consumers live when purchasing from such channels. Our research aims to fill this gap by delving into the customers' journey within these marketplaces, unraveling their experiences, perceptions, and decision‐making processes when purchasing second‐hand luxury. Twenty‐four in‐depth interviews with established luxury consumers who have recently purchased second‐hand luxury items through these platforms were conducted. The customer experience and journey framework was applied as a theoretical lens to make sense of such interactions. The findings reveal that consumers are drawn by the perceived endless availability of luxury items and the opportunity to compare different listings. Still, concerns over brand dilution, counterfeiting, and the absence of a sought‐after luxury experience pose significant challenges during the customer journey. This research contributes to the emerging field of second‐hand luxury by shedding light on the intricacies of the customer experience within these platforms. The article concludes with managerial insights aimed at assisting luxury brand managers in developing strategies and tactics in a market environment where second‐hand platforms are gaining momentum.

The renewed interest in the market as a unit of analysis has increased adoption of a market system dynamics (MSD) perspective. Since studies drawing on MSD have significant overlaps with other research traditions equally focused on market changes, we trace the theoretical boundaries of the literature on MSD, and unpack its evolution, in order to appreciate conceptual achievements and research directions. Building on change-process theorizing and on a reiterative processual multi-stage research strategy, we conduct a systematic review of the literature on MSD. We organize the findings into three stages of MSD’s maturation–infancy, adolescence, and adulthood–and show that MSD has grown into a market approach that is ever more multi-actor, theoretically-plural, and based on longitudinal methodologies. The existing literature has gradually shifted towards a balance in agency and structure in market change, and towards a more cautious view on the consumer’s role. Under-researched areas are pinpointed, along with research avenues that can further reinforce MSD.