Abstract

NEMESIA, Hijós. Fanatics and the fanaticized: a comparative analysis of consumption practices and loyalty among football supporters and runners . Rev. Mus. Antropol. [online]. 2017, vol.10, n.2, pp.183-192. ISSN 1852-060X.

Abstract With a foundation in fan studies, this article proposes an approach which articulates a comparative perspective with the field of socio-anthropology of sport based upon my fieldwork with football supporters and amateur runners. Through an analysis of my participant observation, I will present the different ways in which the market and cultural industry address football spectators as supporters, partners, and/or fans while some runners are presented as athletes, though they define themselves as fanaticized by this sport. While being a supporter or a runner are two identities with different capacities related to the contemporary and global context of social commodification, the practices of these groups may be associated. Thus, my aim is to study how clubs or brands appeal to consumers, proposing and imagining the ways to be a supporter or to practice a sport. These constructed identities are inherently linked to the current methods of consumption (both in football and sport in general), which can also be understood as results of “fanification” and loyalty strategies in regards to the club or brand.

Keywords : fanatics; fanaticize; running; supporters; loyalty; consumption.

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