Experts,Information, Reviews,and Coordination: Evidence on How Prizes Affect Sales* |
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Authors: | Nicolas Lagios Pierre-Guillaume Méon |
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Affiliation: | 1. Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), CEBRIG and Dulbéa, Research Fellow F.R.S.-FNRS—Aspirant FNRS, CP-114/03, avenue F.D. Roosevelt 50, Bruxelles, 1050 Belgium;2. Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), CEBRIG and Dulbéa, CP-114/03, avenue F.D. Roosevelt 50, Bruxelles, 1050 Belgium |
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Abstract: | Exploiting the award process, we implement a regression discontinuity design to estimate the effect of winning France's main literary prize, the Goncourt. It increases sales, especially for books that sold fewer copies before the announcement, the number of reviews on Amazon, and the probability of them being negative. The effect is partly driven by an increase in word of mouth. Those findings are consistent with a model where the prize provides information on the existence of a book and acts as a quality signal and a coordination device but prompts consumers to read books that are far from their tastes. |
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