Everybody's a critic: influencability of motion picture evaluations from expert and consumer reviews

Entertainment product reviews are the subject of research in three fields; marketing research looks at review effects on movie performance and profitability, communication research inspects the rise of online consumer reviews, and a much smaller number of investigators focus on possible influences others' opinions can have on an individual's entertainment evaluation. The current study attempted to combine these fields by proposing an exploratory model that charts influence of critical reviews versus consumer reviews on post-viewing evaluation with involvement as a potential moderator, and tested this model for a short film in a controlled experiment. The results indicated polarised negative reviews can reduce enjoyment and involvement, though conclusions are tentative. Recommendations are made from the data to develop a confirmatory model that can unite the disparate fields of research.

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