Abstract

This research explores user impressions of 360° video as a platform for sponsorship activation, seeking to examine consumers’ responses to 360° virtual environments as a form of extended reality (XR) marketing as well as the structural and experiential antecedents to XR’s potential as a vehicle for brand marketing and sponsorship activation. GoPro was selected as a case study for analysis; 25 brand posts on GoPro’s YouTube channel were identified featuring 360° video integration as sponsorship communications, for which all video metadata and user comments were collected using programming software R to access YouTube’s standard application programming interface (API). Coding of the user commentary data subsequently revealed four primary themes, indicative of users’ impressions of 360° video technology. Notably, the study’s findings suggest that effective 360° integrations—alongside positive user experiences and access to the technology—pose tangible benefits to consumers’ attitudes and experiences, and present sponsors with a viable media through which to activate partnerships.

摘要

本研究探讨了用户对 360° 视频作为赞助激活平台的印象，试图检查消费者对 360° 虚拟环境作为一种扩展现实 (XR) 营销形式的反应，以及 XR 作为一种潜力的结构和体验前因品牌营销和赞助激活的工具。GoPro 被选为案例研究进行分析；GoPro 的 YouTube 频道上的 25 个品牌帖子被确定为以 360° 视频集成为赞助通信，所有视频元数据和用户评论都是使用编程软件R收集的访问 YouTube 的标准应用程序编程接口 (API)。用户评论数据的编码随后揭示了四个主要主题，表明用户对 360° 视频技术的印象。值得注意的是，该研究的结果表明，有效的 360 度整合——连同积极的用户体验和技术的获取——为消费者的态度和体验带来了切实的好处，并为赞助商提供了一个可行的媒体来激活合作伙伴关系。