Making digital stuff ownable with blockchain technology: The case of NBA Topshot NFTs
(A2023-114164)

AUTHORS

Konstantinos Lianidis, University of Southern Denmark, Department of Business & Management; Domen Bajde, University of Southern Denmark; Mikkel Nøjgaard, University of Southern Denmark

ABSTRACT

Despite the popularity of access-based consumption, many consumers still prefer to own their digital products. Blockchain technology, via the implementation of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), offers the possibility to link digital products with unique identifiers that verify and validate their ownership. However, the technical capacity for ownership identification alone is insufficient to help us understand why consumers desire to own digital products, and/or how to approach emergent forms of blockchain marketing and consumption. Based on initial findings from our work-in-progress exploratory study on digital sports collectibles, we outline the mechanism through which infinitely replicable digital objects are transformed into unique possessions.