Online Consumer Reviews: A Complement or a Substitute to Pre- Release Information?

摘要

This article investigates to what extent the online consumer reviews affect the sales in movie theaters and how pre-release information alters this effect. To examine this issue, we use a panel data approach on a new and comprehensive data set that includes five year of weekly data on movie sales and on online consumer reviews coming from the leading French cinema website Allocine. Results indicate that the valence, the volume, the intensity, and the dispersion of online ratings are positively and significantly correlated with sales. Intensity has the strongest economic effect while dispersion has the weakest impact. We examine the complementarity and the substitutability between online consumer reviews and pre-release information, which is measured by advertising (and its decomposition in billboard, radio, press, internet, and theater advertising), star power, saga movies, and e-buzz. Our findings suggest that informative online variables (volume and intensity) are particularly substitutable to the level of pre-release information and its positive effect on sales is higher for niche products. Conversely, persuasive online variables (valence and dispersion) complement the level of pre-release information and they have more effects on hit products. We propose a simple theory to explain these results and discuss implications for management in the motion picture industry.