IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/mktlet/v25y2014i4p385-396.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Star power in the eye of the beholder: A study of the influence of stars in the movie industry

Author

Listed:
  • Angela Liu
  • Yong Liu
  • Tridib Mazumdar

Abstract

Organizations employ various risk-mitigation strategies to cope with the uncertainty in marketing new products. In the motion picture industry, an important strategy is to cast star actors and actresses in movies. The ultimate box-office success, however, depends on multiple stakeholders involved with financing, making, distributing, and watching the movie. In pursuing different goals and interests, the stakeholders may look for different aspects of star power to mitigate their own risk. This paper examines how the influence of stars varies across key stakeholders in the movie market. The results show that, in general, stars have a greater impact on the stakeholders involved in the earlier stages of movie development and exhibition (where the risks are greater) than on those in later stages. Movie project financiers and exhibitors are strongly and directly influenced by star power, but news media and movie audiences are influenced less and only indirectly. Situated at the early stage of the movie “value chain,” the financiers are most concerned with stars’ past box-office performance. Exhibitors, however, are influenced by the “match” between a star’s genre participation history and the genre of a specific movie. By contrast, news media and movie audiences are influenced indirectly through the stars’ impact on earlier stakeholders and their decisions. The findings shed light on the value of employing star elements in new products, the marketing of stars, and movie promotion strategies. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Angela Liu & Yong Liu & Tridib Mazumdar, 2014. "Star power in the eye of the beholder: A study of the influence of stars in the movie industry," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 25(4), pages 385-396, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:mktlet:v:25:y:2014:i:4:p:385-396
    DOI: 10.1007/s11002-013-9258-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11002-013-9258-x
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11002-013-9258-x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Karniouchina, Ekaterina V., 2011. "Impact of star and movie buzz on motion picture distribution and box office revenue," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 62-74.
    2. Robert E. Krider & Tieshan Li & Yong Liu & Charles B. Weinberg, 2005. "The Lead-Lag Puzzle of Demand and Distribution: A Graphical Method Applied to Movies," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(4), pages 635-645, April.
    3. Adler, Moshe, 1985. "Stardom and Talent," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(1), pages 208-212, March.
    4. Liran Einav, 2010. "Not All Rivals Look Alike: Estimating An Equilibrium Model Of The Release Date Timing Game," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 48(2), pages 369-390, April.
    5. Elberse, Anita & Anand, Bharat, 2007. "The effectiveness of pre-release advertising for motion pictures: An empirical investigation using a simulated market," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 19(3-4), pages 319-343, October.
    6. Moul,Charles C. (ed.), 2005. "A Concise Handbook of Movie Industry Economics," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521843843, October.
    7. Anita Elberse & Jehoshua Eliashberg, 2003. "Demand and Supply Dynamics for Sequentially Released Products in International Markets: The Case of Motion Pictures," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(3), pages 329-354.
    8. Ravid, S Abraham, 1999. "Information, Blockbusters, and Stars: A Study of the Film Industry," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 72(4), pages 463-492, October.
    9. De Vany, A. & Walls, W.D., 1999. ""Uncertainty in the Movies: Does Star Power Reduce the Terror of the Box Office?"," Papers 98-99-10, California Irvine - School of Social Sciences.
    10. Liran Einav, 2007. "Seasonality in the U.S. motion picture industry," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 38(1), pages 127-145, March.
    11. David S. Evans & Richard Schmalensee, 2005. "The Industrial Organization of Markets with Two-Sided Platforms," NBER Working Papers 11603, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Chakravarty, Anindita & Liu, Yong & Mazumdar, Tridib, 2010. "The Differential Effects of Online Word-of-Mouth and Critics' Reviews on Pre-release Movie Evaluation," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 185-197.
    13. Arthur De Vany & W. Walls, 1999. "Uncertainty in the Movie Industry: Does Star Power Reduce the Terror of the Box Office?," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 23(4), pages 285-318, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Fei Peng & Lili Kang & Sajid Anwar & Xue Li, 2019. "Star power and box office revenues: evidence from China," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 43(2), pages 247-278, June.
    2. Pantelis Loupos & Yvette Peng & Sute Li & Hao Hao, 2023. "What reviews foretell about opening weekend box office revenue: the harbinger of failure effect in the movie industry," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 34(3), pages 513-534, September.
    3. Jordi McKenzie, 2023. "The economics of movies (revisited): A survey of recent literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(2), pages 480-525, April.
    4. Lili Kang & Fei Peng, 2024. "Star power as quality signal or marketing effect? A path analysis on China's motion‐picture industry," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(3), pages 3639-3655, July.
    5. Ronny Behrens & Natasha Zhang Foutz & Michael Franklin & Jannis Funk & Fernanda Gutierrez-Navratil & Julian Hofmann & Ulrike Leibfried, 2021. "Leveraging analytics to produce compelling and profitable film content," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 45(2), pages 171-211, June.
    6. Kang, Lili & Peng, Fei & Anwar, Sajid, 2022. "All that glitters is not gold: Do movie quality and contents influence box-office revenues in China?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 492-510.
    7. François A. Carrillat & Renaud Legoux & Allègre L. Hadida, 2018. "Debates and assumptions about motion picture performance: a meta-analysis," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 46(2), pages 273-299, March.
    8. Verdiana Giannetti & Jieke Chen, 2023. "An investigation of the impact of Black male and female actors on US movies’ box-office across countries," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 34(2), pages 269-291, June.
    9. Fan, Liu & Zhang, Xiaoping & Rai, Laxmisha, 2021. "When should star power and eWOM be responsible for the box office performance? - An empirical study based on signaling theory," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    10. Moon, Sangkil & Jalali, Nima & Song, Reo, 2022. "Green-lighting scripts in the movie pre-production stage: An application of consumption experience carryover theory," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 332-345.
    11. Hofmann, Julian & Clement, Michel & Völckner, Franziska & Hennig-Thurau, Thorsten, 2017. "Empirical generalizations on the impact of stars on the economic success of movies," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 442-461.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jordi McKenzie, 2023. "The economics of movies (revisited): A survey of recent literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(2), pages 480-525, April.
    2. Gaenssle Sophia & Budzinski Oliver & Astakhova Daria, 2018. "Conquering the Box Office: Factors Influencing Success of International Movies in Russia," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 17(4), pages 245-266, December.
    3. Hofmann, Julian & Clement, Michel & Völckner, Franziska & Hennig-Thurau, Thorsten, 2017. "Empirical generalizations on the impact of stars on the economic success of movies," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 442-461.
    4. Angela (Xia) Liu & Tridib Mazumdar & Bo Li, 2015. "Counterfactual Decomposition of Movie Star Effects with Star Selection," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 61(7), pages 1704-1721, July.
    5. Suman Basuroy & S. Abraham Ravid & Richard T. Gretz & B. J. Allen, 2020. "Is everybody an expert? An investigation into the impact of professional versus user reviews on movie revenues," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 44(1), pages 57-96, March.
    6. Amanda S. King & John T. King & Michael Reksulak, 2017. "Signaling for access to high-demand markets: evidence from the US motion picture industry," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 41(4), pages 441-465, November.
    7. Judy Ma & Dongling Huang & M. Kumar & Andrei Strijnev, 2015. "The impact of supplier bargaining power on the advertising costs of movie sequels," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 39(1), pages 43-64, February.
    8. Wen-jhan Jane & Wei-peng Chen & Yuan-lin Hsu, 2015. "The impact of deregulation on the movie box office after Taiwan’s entry into the WTO: the difference-in-differences estimation," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 5(2), pages 289-308, December.
    9. Fernanda Gutierrez-Navratil & Victor Fernandez-Blanco & Luis Orea & Juan Prieto-Rodriguez, 2014. "How do your rivals’ releasing dates affect your box office?," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 38(1), pages 71-84, February.
    10. Kang, Lili & Peng, Fei & Anwar, Sajid, 2022. "All that glitters is not gold: Do movie quality and contents influence box-office revenues in China?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 492-510.
    11. Ana Suárez-Vázquez & José Quevedo, 2015. "Analyzing superstars’ power using support vector machines," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 49(4), pages 1521-1542, December.
    12. Fan, Liu & Zhang, Xiaoping & Rai, Laxmisha, 2021. "When should star power and eWOM be responsible for the box office performance? - An empirical study based on signaling theory," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    13. Jordi McKenzie, 2009. "Revealed word-of-mouth demand and adaptive supply: survival of motion pictures at the Australian box office," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 33(4), pages 279-299, November.
    14. Sven Heidenreich & Franziska Handrich & Tobias Kraemer, 2023. "Flawless victory! Investigating search and experience qualities as antecedent predictors of video game success," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 33(1), pages 1-20, December.
    15. Delre, Sebastiano A. & Panico, Claudio & Wierenga, Berend, 2017. "Competitive strategies in the motion picture industry: An ABM to study investment decisions," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 69-99.
    16. Yanhao Max Wei, 2020. "The Similarity Network of Motion Pictures," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(4), pages 1647-1671, April.
    17. Darren Filson & James H. Havlicek, 2018. "The performance of global film franchises: installment effects and extension decisions," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 42(3), pages 447-467, August.
    18. Fei Peng & Lili Kang & Sajid Anwar & Xue Li, 2019. "Star power and box office revenues: evidence from China," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 43(2), pages 247-278, June.
    19. repec:lan:wpaper:1176 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. repec:lan:wpaper:1111 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. repec:lan:wpaper:1089 is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Darlene C Chisholm, 2011. "Motion Pictures," Chapters, in: Ruth Towse (ed.), A Handbook of Cultural Economics, Second Edition, chapter 39, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    23. Kim, Ho & Hanssens, Dominique M., 2017. "Advertising and Word-of-Mouth Effects on Pre-launch Consumer Interest and Initial Sales of Experience Products," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 57-74.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:mktlet:v:25:y:2014:i:4:p:385-396. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.