Do movie contents influence box-office revenues?

This article studies the determinants of box-office revenues in the motion picture industry. We first adopt an approach that takes into account quality signals (e.g. talent concentration, movie budget and Oscar awards, among others) to analyse the empirical relationship between category-specific parenthood ratings (R-ratings) and box-office revenues. Then, by matching movie contents with economic performance records, our original approach reveals that offensive contents like profanity or nudity may be a hindrance to achieve economic returns, while violent contents seems to enhance box-office revenues. Further research is needed to clarify the interaction in this regard between production budget and movie contents.     

基于 TCP/IP 的远程数字监控系统

根据美国国家经济研究局（NBER）的最新宣布,美国经济自2001年3月已经进入衰退。本文认为,美国此次衰退是难以避免的,这是经济周期的必然规律,由于此前虚拟经济与实体经济的发展脱离,形成泡沫,那些过剩的资本终究会退出,于是造成人们心理预期的过度反应,消费和投资需求出现大幅萎缩,而恐怖袭击事件则加速了衰退的进程。对中国而言,美国衰退的影响是利弊兼有,主要表现在出口、引资、经济格局等方面。     

Impact of star and movie buzz on motion picture distribution and box office revenue

This study contributes to research on the impact that consumer buzz has on movie distribution and box office success by examining the impact of buzz generated about the individual stars and about the movie itself. The results indicate that movie buzz is instrumental in boosting box office revenue throughout the theatrical release, not just in the later run, as has been suggested in previous studies. Star buzz can enhance box office receipts during the opening week and can contribute to the public's anticipation of the movie pre-release. However, early buzz can have a negative impact on revenue during subsequent weeks if the movie fails to resonate with the audiences. Model simulations reveal that, even for poorly received films, the overall impact of star buzz is positive because the initial revenue boost normally outweighs the later decline. Thus, this study empirically demonstrates the positive impact of star buzz on revenue, which helps shed light on the long-standing debate regarding the importance of star participation in the success of a movie.     

An Analysis of the Out-of-Market Gap for DVDs in the U.S.

We examine the out-of-market gap – the time between the end of a film’s theatrical run and its release on DVD – for a sample of U.S. films during 1988-2005. The average gap declined from 58.14 days in 1998 to 27.93 days in 2005; by 2005, 39% of the films were released on DVD prior to leaving the theaters. Probit and hazard models are estimated to explore the factors that influence a distributor’s decision to release a film on DVD before it exits the theaters, and the timing of the release for films that appear on DVD after they leave the theaters.      

Should sequels differ from original movies in pre-launch advertising schedule? Lessons from consumers' online search activity

Sequels have become a profitable strategy in the U.S. motion picture industry because of their strong name recognition. However, while the established positioning of a sequel may help insulate it from competing firms' advertising messages, its familiarity may cause moviegoers to be more easily satiated with advertising from the sequel. Therefore, this study examines how sequels differ from original concept movies in terms of their ad effectiveness. We focus our analysis on pre-launch periods, given these periods' importance in shaping the financial outcomes of motion pictures. We consider the weekly online search volume of a movie as a measure of consumer interest in it, and thus as an intermediate response to pre-launch advertising. We then develop a model that assumes ad effectiveness can decline, due to copy and repetition wearout, and increase, due to forgetting, over time. We find that copy wearout is greater for original movies, while repetition wearout and forgetting are greater for sequels. These findings suggest that sequels should allocate more in early pre-launch periods and less immediately before release, relative to originals, to maximize pre-launch consumer interest.     

Motion Pictures Industry: Economies of Scale and Trade

Recent economic theories find industrial structure to be an important determinant of the pattern of trade. In the motion picture industry, economies of scale and imperfect competition, in addition to cultural sovereignty, are conditions sometimes used to justify protectionist policies. This paper examines the significance of the capital-labor ratio, VCRs, market share, tariffs, domestic market size, taste similarities, stars and domestically popular films on international trade in the industry. The results indicate that stars and blockbusters in the domestic market do not seem to influence consumption of films overseas, however, external economies of scale are present in the industry, tariffs are effective trade barriers in the industry, and VCRs increase the chances of piracy.     

Clustering at the Movies

Weekly box office revenues for approximately 100 successful motion pictures are analyzed by use of a finite mixture regression technique to determine if regular sales patterns emerge. Based on an exponential decay model applied to market share data, four clusters of movies, varying in opening strength and decay rate, are found. Characteristics of the clusters and implications for future research are discussed.     

Buzz marketing for movies

In today's dynamic entertainment environment, movies are struggling to stay afloat and remain profitable. Challenges such as piracy, digital theft, competition, overlapping movie campaigns, media fragmentation, and audience saturation are forcing marketers to stretch their film budgets and make every dollar as effective as possible. With more and more entertainment options crowding peoples' lives, marketers must search for innovative ways to reach movie audiences. By breaking through the daily clutter and noise, and capturing peoples' attention to the point that talking about a movie becomes an enjoyable experience to share, buzz marketing is one such promotional posture that drives audiences to theaters. In order to achieve success with buzz marketing, however, marketers must recognize the role it plays in the context of movie differentiation strategies to support the company's overall approach. To that end, this article analyzes buzz marketing as it pertains to six movie differentiation strategies (differentiation with cosmetic movie features, differentiation to reach market segments, growing a movie segment, positioning to support the movie image, positioning to extend the movie image, and differentiation via non-traditional channels) and offers steps for its successful implementation.     

降低头肩视频序列编码码率的一种新方法

由于会计上遵循权责发生制,财务操纵利润有很大的余地,因而关于会计造假的丑闻屡禁不止,这样,就使基于利润为基础的企业价值评估大打折扣。本文介绍了一种源于西方并已发展成熟的价值评估指标--自由现金流量,美国企业公布的年报都要求披露这一数据。相对于国内现通行的各项指标,它有很多突出优势,对进一步了解企业价值有一定的借鉴作用。最后,根据自由现金流量在实际运用中的局限性,提出几点建议。     

Can good marketing carry a bad product? Evidence from the motion picture industry

We examine the relative roles of marketing actions and product quality in determining commercial success. Using the motion picture context, in which product quality is difficult for consumers to anticipate and information on product success is available for different points in time, we model the effects of studio actions and movie quality on a movie’s sales during different phases of its theatrical run. For a sample of 331 recent motion pictures, structural equation modeling demonstrates that studio actions primarily influence early box office results, whereas movie quality influences both short- and long-term theatrical outcomes. The core results are robust across moderating conditions. We identify two data segments with follow-up latent class regressions and explore the degree of studio actions needed to “save” movies of varying quality. We finally offer some implications for research and management.