Acculturation of Brazilian NFL Fans in Virtual Interactions

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.