Reviewing the Reviewers: The Impact of Individual Film Critics on Box Office Performance

25 Pages Posted: 12 Feb 2014

See all articles by Peter Boatwright

Peter Boatwright

Carnegie Mellon University - David A. Tepper School of Business

Suman Basuroy

University of Oklahoma - Division of Marketing

Wagner A. Kamakura

Rice University

Date Written: February 1, 2006

Abstract

Critics and their opinions or critical reviews play a major role in many markets. Marketing research on how critics impact product performance has so far examined an aggregate critic effect. An obstacle in studies examining the relationship of aggregate critical opinion and product sales is the close association between the intrinsic quality of a product and the aggregate opinion regarding the product. Our analysis parses out these two effects, allowing us to distinguish individual critics who are simply good at identifying products with popular appeal from those who act as opinion leaders and engender early product sales. The role of critics is especially prominent in the film business, in which one finds multiple expert opinions about each movie and where critics’ endorsements are used in advertising. In the context of the motion picture industry, our research investigates the impact of individual film critics on the market performance of movies, where specific key critics and reviewers may serve as market gatekeepers, and where various critics may have different types of impacts on product performance.

Keywords: Entertainment marketing, Motion picture distribution and exhibition, Movie choice, Predictors, Influencers, Wide-release, Platform-release, Movie critics, Stochastic variable selection, Bayesian models, New product research

Suggested Citation

Boatwright, Peter and Basuroy, Suman and Kamakura, Wagner A., Reviewing the Reviewers: The Impact of Individual Film Critics on Box Office Performance (February 1, 2006). Quantitative Marketing and Economics, Vol. 2007, No. 5, 2007, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2392647

Peter Boatwright (Contact Author)

Carnegie Mellon University - David A. Tepper School of Business ( email )

5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890
United States

Suman Basuroy

University of Oklahoma - Division of Marketing ( email )

United States

Wagner A. Kamakura

Rice University ( email )

6100 South Main Street
P.O. Box 1892
Houston, TX 77005-1892
United States
(713) 348-6307 (Phone)

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