Analyzing dynamic review manipulation and its impact on movie box office revenue

Abstract We examine dynamic review manipulation behavior for movies and its impacts on box office revenue. To do so, we investigated review distribution patterns of multiple types, viewer and netizen reviews, and from verified and unverified review websites, over a movie’s life cycle. Because the motivational level for promotional reviews varies over the product life cycle, we propose that review distributions differ across review types. We found that the impact of promotional reviews on review distributions was greater in the early stages of a movie opening but the impact disappeared two weeks after the movie release. Also, we show that such impacts occurred because unverified reviews are more vulnerable to the influence of review manipulation. When consumers encountered a higher valence and higher volume of unverified reviews, they perceived these as a sign of review manipulation and exhibited psychological reactance.

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