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Super returns to Super Bowl ads?

Author

Listed:
  • Seth Stephens-Davidowitz

    (The Wharton School)

  • Hal Varian

    (University of California at Berkeley and Google)

  • Michael D. Smith

    (Carnegie Mellon University)

Abstract

This paper uses a natural experiment—the Super Bowl—to study the causal effect of advertising on demand for movies. Identification of the causal effect rests on two points: 1) Super Bowl ads are purchased before advertisers know which teams will play; 2) home cities of the teams that are playing will have proportionally more viewers than viewers in other cities. We find that the movies in our sample experience on average incremental opening weekend ticket sales of about $8.4 million from a $3 million Super Bowl advertisement.

Suggested Citation

  • Seth Stephens-Davidowitz & Hal Varian & Michael D. Smith, 2017. "Super returns to Super Bowl ads?," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 1-28, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:qmktec:v:15:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1007_s11129-016-9179-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s11129-016-9179-0
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    10. Yelkur, Rama & Tomkovick, Chuck & Traczyk, Patty, 2004. "Super Bowl Advertising Effectiveness: Hollywood Finds the Games Golden," Journal of Advertising Research, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(1), pages 143-159, March.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Ma, Junzhao & Seenivasan, Satheesh & Yan, Bingyu, 2020. "Media influences on consumption trends: Effects of the film Food, Inc. on organic food sales in the U.S," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 320-335.
    2. He, Chen & Klein, Tobias, 2018. "Advertising as a Reminder : Evidence from the Dutch State Lottery," Other publications TiSEM 0791692c-433c-4e8d-8374-a, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    3. He, Chen, 2018. "Essays on the role and effects of advertising," Other publications TiSEM 47a3272a-54f1-4a90-9714-c, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    4. Nocito, Samuel & Sartarelli, Marcello & Sobbrio, Francesco, 2023. "A beam of light: Media, tourism and economic development," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    5. 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.
    6. Samuel Nocito & Marcello Sartarelli & Francesco Sobbrio, 2021. "A Beam of Light: Media, Tourism & Economic Development," CESifo Working Paper Series 9055, CESifo.
    7. Wesley R. Hartmann & Daniel Klapper, 2018. "Super Bowl Ads," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 37(1), pages 78-96, January.
    8. Chen He & Tobias J. Klein, 2023. "Advertising as a Reminder: Evidence from the Dutch State Lottery," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 42(5), pages 892-909, September.
    9. Allison Koenecke & Hal Varian, 2020. "Synthetic Data Generation for Economists," Papers 2011.01374, arXiv.org, revised Nov 2020.
    10. Andrey Simonov & Szymon Sacher & Jean-Pierre Dubé & Shirsho Biswas, 2022. "Frontiers: The Persuasive Effect of Fox News: Noncompliance with Social Distancing During the COVID-19 Pandemic," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 41(2), pages 230-242, March.
    11. Michael Thomas, 2020. "Spillovers from Mass Advertising: An Identification Strategy," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 39(4), pages 807-826, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Advertising effectiveness; Measurement; Movies; Super bowl;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L82 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Entertainment; Media
    • M37 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Marketing and Advertising - - - Advertising

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