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Is everybody an expert? An investigation into the impact of professional versus user reviews on movie revenues

Basuroy, Suman ; Abraham Ravid, S. LU ; Gretz, Richard T. and Allen, B. J. (2020) In Journal of Cultural Economics 44(1). p.57-96
Abstract

This study is the first attempt to examine the effect of electronic word of mouth (user reviews) relative to expert reviews on moviegoing decisions. For the first time, we use time-varying data on expert reviews. We find that expert ratings matter much more for moviegoing decisions than user ratings and volume. Our data also show that experts tend to be more critical but more consistent in their reviews than users. We find that experts, but not eWOM, affect wide release moviegoing, contrary to industry thinking. Finally, we show that experts’ reviews matter most when consumers and critics are in closer agreement about the quality of the film. The study uses OLS as well as instrumental variables analysis to account for possible... (More)

This study is the first attempt to examine the effect of electronic word of mouth (user reviews) relative to expert reviews on moviegoing decisions. For the first time, we use time-varying data on expert reviews. We find that expert ratings matter much more for moviegoing decisions than user ratings and volume. Our data also show that experts tend to be more critical but more consistent in their reviews than users. We find that experts, but not eWOM, affect wide release moviegoing, contrary to industry thinking. Finally, we show that experts’ reviews matter most when consumers and critics are in closer agreement about the quality of the film. The study uses OLS as well as instrumental variables analysis to account for possible endogeneity.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
eWOM valence, eWOM volume, Expert reviews, Movies
in
Journal of Cultural Economics
volume
44
issue
1
pages
40 pages
publisher
Springer
external identifiers
  • scopus:85065392572
ISSN
0885-2545
DOI
10.1007/s10824-019-09350-7
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
173ba7f2-d7ae-4cec-9dc8-298d036522d2
date added to LUP
2019-06-04 12:27:55
date last changed
2022-04-26 00:58:12
@article{173ba7f2-d7ae-4cec-9dc8-298d036522d2,
  abstract     = {{<p>This study is the first attempt to examine the effect of electronic word of mouth (user reviews) relative to expert reviews on moviegoing decisions. For the first time, we use time-varying data on expert reviews. We find that expert ratings matter much more for moviegoing decisions than user ratings and volume. Our data also show that experts tend to be more critical but more consistent in their reviews than users. We find that experts, but not eWOM, affect wide release moviegoing, contrary to industry thinking. Finally, we show that experts’ reviews matter most when consumers and critics are in closer agreement about the quality of the film. The study uses OLS as well as instrumental variables analysis to account for possible endogeneity.</p>}},
  author       = {{Basuroy, Suman and Abraham Ravid, S. and Gretz, Richard T. and Allen, B. J.}},
  issn         = {{0885-2545}},
  keywords     = {{eWOM valence; eWOM volume; Expert reviews; Movies}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{57--96}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  series       = {{Journal of Cultural Economics}},
  title        = {{Is everybody an expert? An investigation into the impact of professional versus user reviews on movie revenues}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10824-019-09350-7}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s10824-019-09350-7}},
  volume       = {{44}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}