Digital marketing in the tennis ecosystem: a systematic review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v68.115844Keywords:
racket sports, business, digital marketing, strategy, internet, social mediaAbstract
Introduction: the use of digital marketing plans is a common business operation implemented by sports organizations and individuals to increase visibility and market their products and services to their stakeholders. in the case of tennis, this has been a sustained trend since the beginning of the game as a global phenomenon.
Objective: this systematic review aimed to provide an overview of the current state of research in digital marketing in tennis up to April 2025. the review focused on identifying the main areas and themes related to digital marketing plans in tennis, as well as the specific digital marketing tools examined in these studies.
Methodology: the leading sport and science research databases, Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed, were comprehensively searched using the guidelines set by PRISMA. studies were included if they were written in English and focused on marketing, digital, and tennis as the main keywords. the search initially yielded 665 articles, with 19 meeting all inclusion criteria.
Results: the thematic analysis identified four main themes: (a) tennis tournaments and organizations, (b) tennis populations, (c) tennis products or trends, and (d) platforms, tools, or devices. the review found a scarcity of studies in this area, with only 19 articles fulfilling all criteria.
Discussion: the results revealed that the most studied themes focused on tennis tournaments, populations, and products. however, the limited number of studies suggests a gap in research concerning digital marketing strategies in tennis.
Conclusions: the review highlighted the need for further research on digital marketing in tennis and offered practical applications for both researchers and practitioners, emphasizing the importance of future research directions for the promotion of tennis.
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