Exploring fan engagement and value co-creation in virtual sport communities: a comparative study of virtual sport communities over time

This study investigates how sport organisations can employ value co-creation through virtual platforms. The research utilises two distinct datasets, incorporating both manual data analysis and AI-driven analysis with Python to examine a large volume of comments from various virtual sports communities across two different years. This method enables temporal analysis by assessing interactions over different periods, providing insights into the evolution of interaction patterns, content themes, and fan behaviour across seasons or years. The findings highlight the crucial role of virtual communities in offering online social support and enhancing relationship quality among club members. The study demonstrates how virtual communities serve as a rich environment for facilitating value co-creation within sport organisations. A key contribution of this research is its focus on relational dynamics within sport clubs and the significant influence of online social support, explored through temporal analysis. The study reveals that online social support draws fans to these communities and encourages active participation across various social media channels. This participatory engagement benefits both the clubs and their fans, establishing a new theoretical framework for understanding value co-creation in sports.