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Cited by 8Accounting Theory and Financial ReportingSports Analytics and PerformanceSociology, History and Politics of Sport

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Valuing soccer players: on the valuation dynamics of an online user community

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Detzen, Dominic, Löhlein, Lukas·2024·Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal
DOI 10.1108/aaaj-05-2022-5824
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Abstract

Purpose This paper studies the interactive valuation discourses of an online user community (transfermarkt.de) that seeks to determine market values for soccer players. Despite their seemingly casual nature, these values have featured in newspapers, transfer negotiations, academic research, and capital market communication – and have thus become reified. Design/methodology/approach The paper employs netnographic research methodology to collect and thematically analyze a wide range of user entries on the platform. These entries are studied using theoretical insights from the sociology of quantification and valuation. Findings The analysis reveals how values are constructed in constant interaction between value-proposing users and value-justifying “experts.” This dynamic form of relational valuation positions players relative to one another as well as to actual transactions on the transfer market. In the absence of authoritative guidelines, it is this possibility and affordance for interaction that enacts a coherent valuation regime. The paper further reveals the platform's response to a disruptive event, which risked bringing the user-expert dynamics to a halt, requiring intervention from the platform to repair its valuation frame. Originality/value The paper responds to increased scholarly interests in the valuation of professional athletes. It contributes to the extant literature on valuation, first, by analyzing the dynamic valuation work that feeds into the social construction of values and, second, by studying platform participation and user interaction in a socially engineered online space.

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Citations

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Metadata

Authors
Detzen, D., & Löhlein, L.
Affiliations
WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management (DE)
ORCID
Venue
Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal
Publisher
Emerald
Published
2023-02-28
Volume
37
Issue
2
Pages
608-626
ISSN
0951-3574 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1108/aaaj-05-2022-5824
OpenAlex
W4322213571
Cited by
8
References
4
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1
FWCI
4.65
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Accounting Auditing & Accountability Journal (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • VU Research Portal (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Accounting › Accounting Theory and Financial Reporting
  • Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Sports Analytics and Performance
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Sociology, History and Politics of Sport
Keywords
online communities, sociology of quantification, professional athletes, platform governance, social construction of value, netnography

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