Merchandise and retail behaviour at music concerts in sports stadiums

Purpose Live music concerts in sports stadiums have evolved into high-intensity experiential retail environments characterised by constrained infrastructure, high customer throughput and concentrated temporal demand, in which merchandise, food and beverage sales represent key revenue streams. However, limited research examines how emotional, social and digital influences interact with these operational conditions to shape retail decision making. This article investigates how concertgoers evaluate and prioritise on-site retail categories during stadium events. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative research design combined participant observation at nineteen concerts across ten UK sports stadiums with informal conversations involving 375 attendees. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis to identify patterns in retail decision making, identity expression, digital engagement and price negotiation. Findings Findings reveal a strong pattern in which merchandise is prioritised relative to food and beverages. This prioritisation emerges from the interaction between symbolic value and spatial compatibility: merchandise is valued for its role in identity signalling and smartphone-mediated visibility, while also remaining compatible with the embodied and temporal demands of participation. In contrast, food and beverages are perceived as short-lived, more price sensitive and less compatible with immersive, high-density event conditions. Originality/value This study conceptualises stadium concerts as temporary, high-density experiential retail environments and demonstrates that retail category prioritisation is shaped by the interaction between symbolic value and spatial compatibility. The findings extend experiential retail and symbolic consumption research by introducing spatial compatibility as a critical dimension of value creation in time-bound environments, and offer implications for merchandise strategy, retail operations and venue management.