E-Word of Mouth: Early Predictor Of Audience Engagement — How Pre-Release "E-WOM" Drives Box-Office Outcomes of Movies
C. Samuel Craig and William H. Greene
Stern School of Business
Anthony Versaci
AIG
Management slant
- Higher levels of online peer-to-peer conversations, awareness, and intention to see a particular film at least 3 weeks prior to its release are predictive of success on the opening weekend.
- Studios need to establish benchmark levels of such word-of-mouth activity for their and other studios' films for the weeks leading up to release.
- When the levels are not sufficient to ensure box-office success, studios must...