NFTByBrands: Value Identification Framework for Analysis and Design of NFT Initiatives

ABSTRACT

Nonfungible tokens (NFTs) are digital certificates of ownership that can be attached to virtual or physical assets. Recently, they have become increasingly popular, especially with the advent of the metaverse, virtual spaces shared and accessible online. Many brands are launching NFT initiatives for various reasons, including retaining customers, developing new revenue streams, or demonstrating that they are keeping up with the latest technological advances. As for any product or service, to increase the likelihood of success of NFT initiatives, it is key to design them so as to provide value to the targeted audience. In previous research, the notion of “value” of NFTs has been essentially seen through the lenses of financial return. However, NFT initiatives can provide other types of values to the targeted audience. This paper presents the NFTByBrands framework that can be used to identify the potential types of values that can be delivered by brands through NFT initiatives, and can help guide brands in this endeavor. It is built upon customer perceived value theory, and an analysis of 50 NFT initiatives launched by 42 brands. The framework can also be used as a basis for further research on the value of NFTs, and a research agenda is proposed in the article.

KEY WORDS AND PHRASES:

• Nonfungible tokens
• NFT
• perceived value
• blockchain
• brand management
• NFT value

Disclosure statement

No potential conflicts of interest are reported by the authors(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Claire Deventer

CLAIRE DEVENTER ([email protected]; corresponding author) is a researcher in digital marketing at the NaDI-CeRCLe research center of the University of Namur, Belgium. Her research interests focus on the impact of technology on customer behavior and experience. Her work includes analyses of product configurator systems, product recommendation systems, chatbots, and more recently nonfungible tokens.

Victor Amaral de Sousa

VICTOR AMARAL DE SOUSA ([email protected]) is a researcher at the University of Namur in the Namur Digital Institute, and at the KU Leuven in the Research Center for Management Informatics, both in Belgium. His research interests include blockchain technology, smart contracts, business process management, and model-driven engineering. His research focuses on the modeling and generation of blockchain-based information systems to support cross-organizational business processes. He is one of the main organizers of the Blockchain for Information Systems (BC4IS) being held annually in conjunction with top conferences in the field of information systems.

Lhorie Pirnay

LHORIE PIRNAY ([email protected]) is a researcher in the Management of Information and Digital Transformation Research Center in the Business Administration Department at the University of Namur, Belgium. Her research focuses on performance management and data analysis. More specifically, her current research interests focus on the detection and validation of cause-and-effect relationships in strategy maps for balanced scorecards.