Creating social legacy: flow in mega event ceremonies

The article offers a novel conceptual framework linking narrative, attention, immersion, and flow as antecedents of social legacy using examples of polysemic events, such as mega-event ceremonies. By doing this the article uses a multidisciplinary approach to conceptualize the connection between narrative and social legacy, a relationship currently overlooked. Through the creation of this framework, we propose several key findings. First, narrative within polysemic events is useful for creating a targeted social legacy. This happens when the consumer’s attention is caught and maintained by the narrative, allowing them to become immersed in their experience. Second, we suggest that to optimize this process, the narrative must position consumers within a state of flow. Once in this state of flow, the individual’s goals shift to reflect that of the narrative, thus contributing to social legacy. In proposing this framework, this article makes a valuable contribution by addressing the surprisingly overlooked links between narrative, flow, and social legacy. Using the case of ceremonies, the article also adds to the limited literature surrounding the social legacy of mega-events, currently dominated by economic perspectives.