Our perspective on Movie Marketing:
The motion picture industry presents marketing scholars with unique research opportunities. From an economic point of view, movies are a multi-billion dollar industry that seems to be based on a gamble: since 2003, the production and marketing costs of the average major Hollywood movie have reached $100 million, all of which has to be invested up front. Not only are the sunk costs enormous, but a movie’s life cycle is also extremely short - investments are usually either recouped within a year, or never at all.
As an art form, movies can stir our emotions and profoundly affect our daily lives by mirroring and shaping contemporary culture. Fashions, trends, political opinions, and even catchphrases (“I made him an offer he can’t refuse”) find their way from the big screen into society. The life of movie stars, movie charts, and box office flops are a staple of entertainment media coverage. Thus, for the consumer researcher studying hedonic consumption or mood regulation, movies are a fascinating domain. Moreover, rich qualitative and quantitative data - both cross-sectional and longitudinal - is available on nearly every aspect of movie production and distribution, allowing empirical tests of econometric marketing models.
Yet, many unsolved mysteries remain and challenge our scholarly research. Another, maybe even bigger challenge for academics who work in the field of movie marketing is to bring to Hollywood’s attention what we are doing and what we have found -- and to convince the industry that screenwriter William Goldman’s famous quote “Nobody Knows Anything”, which is still widely regarded as the state of affairs in Hollywood, is now clearly outdated.
For an extensive overview on our movie-related academic research and consulting projects, please visit our MovieSuccess-Center website:
Other academic resources on Movie Marketing:
- Basuroy, Suman, Subimal Chatterjee, and S. Abraham Ravid (2003), "How Critical Are Critical Reviews? The Box Office Effects of Film Critics, Star Power, and Budgets," Journal of Marketing, 67 (4), 103-17.
- DeVany, Arthur and Cassey Lee (2001), "Quality Signals in Information Cascades and the Dynamics of the Distribution of Motion Picture Box Office Revenues," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, 25, 593-614.
- Elberse, Anita and Jehoshua Eliashberg (2003), "Demand and Supply Dynamics for Sequentially Released Products in International Markets: The Case of Motion Pictures," Marketing Science, 22 (3), 329-54.
- Eliashberg, Jehoshua, Anita Elberse, and Mark Leenders (forthcoming), "The Motion Picture Industry: Critical Issues in Practice, Current Research, and New Research Directions," Marketing Science.
- Eliashberg, Jehoshua and Steven M. Shugan (1997), "Film critics: Influencers or predictors?," Journal of Marketing, 61 (2), 68-79.
- Krider, Robert E. and Charles B. Weinberg (1998), "Competitive Dynamics and the Introduction of New Products: The Motion Picture Timing Game," Journal of Marketing Research, 35 (1), 1-15.
- Lehmann, Donald R. and Charles B. Weinberg (2000), "Sales Through Sequential Distribution Channels: An Application to Movies and Videos," Journal of Marketing, 64 (3), 18-33.
- Prasad, Ashutosh, Bart Bronnenberg, and Vijay Mahajan (2004), "Product Entry Timing in Dual Distribution Channels: The Case of the Movie Industry," Review of Marketing Science, 2 (4), 1-18.
- Reinstein, David A. and Christopher M. Snyder (2005), "The Influence of Expert Reviews on Consumer Demand for Experience Goods: A Case Study of Movie Critics," Journal of Industrial Economics, 53 (1), 27-51.
- Squire, Jason E. Ed. (2004), The Movie Business Book: Third Edition. New York: Fireside.
- Vogel, Harold L. (2004), Entertainment Industry Economics: A Guide for Financial Analyses. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Key links and databases for movie industry information:
Industry or Practitioner Trade Press
Major Industry Associations
Movie Databases and Reviews
Supranational Film Funding and Industry Information:
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