Fandom and activism: Experimenting with memetic communication appeals about human rights issues during the 2022 winter Olympic games

Authors

Alicia Mason, Pittsburg State UniversityFollow
Elizabeth Spencer, University of KentuckyFollow
Tricia Combs, Pittsburg State UniversityFollow
Tanner Glenn, Pittsburg State UniversityFollow
Brooklyn Peterson, Pittsburg State UniversityFollow
Isaac Lewis, Pittsburg State UniversityFollow
Emerson Tice, Pittsburg State UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Winter 12-4-2023

Abstract

In the sports context, activism is a popular focus of inquiry. In fact, scholars have posited that sports present an ideal platform for human rights and political activism and protest (Agyemang, Singer, & DeLorme, 2010; Coombs & Cassilo, 2017; Kaufman & Wolff, 2010). This study aims to analyze the persuasiveness of memetic communication in the global sports context by investigating the influence of exposure to social advocacy memes on issue importance and general attitudes toward global human rights. This experiment relied on MTurk participants in an online experiment using Qualtrics software hosted by the Communication Research Lab at a Midwest University. We measure the persuasive influence of a variety of persuasive strategies (e.g., assertive, comparative, calls to action, and appeals to self-efficacy) as well as explicit affiliations within a real-time global sports context (e.g., 2022 Winter Olympics). These findings add to existing scholarship by focusing on post-exposure behavioral intentions (e.g., diffusion intentions, advocacy intentions, consumption intentions, and information-seeking intentions) likely to spur activism and advocacy. These findings support the position that memetic communications help to serve as a motivational catalyst for information-seeking behaviors about global human rights issues in real-time global sports contexts. Discussion and limitations are provided.

Comments

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https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003455103-4/fandom-activism-alicia-mason-elizabeth-spencer-tricia-combs-tanner-glenn-isaac-lewis-brooklyn-peterson-emerson-tice?context=ubx&refId=6fb6e3d0-c6d2-4546-a9b1-26bffae3f77f

Recommended Citation

Mason, A.M., Spencer, E.A., Combs, T., Glenn, T., Lewis, I., Peterson, B. L., & Tice, E. (2023). Fandom & Activism: Experimenting with memetic communication appeals about human rights issues during the 2022 Winter Olympic games. In Abeza, G., & Sanderson, J. (Eds.). (2023). Social Media in Sport: Evidence-Based Perspectives (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003455103