Music has consistently been documented as a manner to bring people together across cultures throughout the world. In this research, we propose that people use similar musical taste as a strong sign of potential social connection. To investigate this notion, we draw on literature examining how music merges the public/private self, the link to personality, and group identity, as well as how it is linked to romantic relationships. Thus, music can be a tool when wanting to get to know someone else and/or forge a platonic relationship. To test this hypothesis, we designed an experiment comparing music relative to another commonality (sharing a sports team in common) to see which factor is stronger in triggering an online social connection. We argue that people believe they have more in common with someone who shares similar music taste compared to other commonalities. We discuss implications for marketers on music streaming platforms.

Music has consistently been documented as a manner to bring people together across cultures throughout the world. In this research, we propose that people use similar musical tastes as a strong sign of potential social connection. To investigate this notion, we draw on literature examining how music merges the public/private self, the link to personality, and group identity, as well as how it is linked to romantic relationships. Thus, music can be a tool when wanting to get to know someone else and/or forge a platonic relationship. To test this hypothesis, we designed an experiment comparing music relative to another commonality (sharing a sports team in common) to see which factor is stronger in triggering an online social connection. We argue that people believe they have more in common with someone who shares similar music taste compared to other commonalities. We discuss implications for marketers on music streaming platforms.

The sports universe has been around for over a century and yet the at home sports viewing experience has seen little change. Even though our society has seen monumental innovative, technological advances, watching sports at home has not undergone any changes and may soon find itself a thing of the past unless something changes. When the COVID-19 pandemic arose, a problem surfaced of revenue loss and decreasing fan retention leaving teams and leagues stumbling for solutions. RYZE offers a never before seen product that can revolutionize how sports fans watch and engage in sporting events. By taking the lucrative concept of “battle passes” from the video game industry and placing it in the sports industry, RYZE hopes to increase overall fan revenue, retention, and engagement. A clear market size and wide range of potential customers, RYZE looks to help fans stay engaged while also earning prizes. With competition ranging from fantasy sports to virtual reality, RYZE has competitive advantages that give it potential to become a sports fan’s go to product when thinking about their favorite team. RYZE has gone from a propelling question to a bright idea and then to a prototype along with a full pitch deck and hopes to engrain itself in college athletics, MLB, and other professional sports leagues.

The present study explored the relationship between desired purchasing behavior and individual differences using two nationally-representative, longitudinal samples of the U.S. population early in the COVID-19 pandemic. Past research has shown that individual differences provide information about how one might respond to threat. Therefore, we predicted changes in desired purchasing behavior across different sociodemographic variables that might reflect those differences. Specifically, we investigated hypotheses related to political orientation, age, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and whether or not the participant had children. We measured participants’ reported desired purchasing behavior across eleven categories of goods and investigated the connection between specific demographic variables and desired purchasing behavior. We found that conservatives desired to purchase more basic protection goods (guns/ammunition, cash, gas) and that older people desired to purchase more cleaning supplies and toiletries. These findings illustrate possible explanations for purchasing behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic and reveal directions for marketing designed to influence purchasing behavior.

For the Love of the Game is a 15-minute documentary highlighting what the culture of soccer is like in Spain. Filmed completely in Valencia, Spain, this short film shows the actual atmosphere of everyday soccer. People of all ages and backgrounds give depth into what it's like to grow up in Spain with and fall in love with the game.