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.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 100840 |
| Journal | Electronic Commerce Research and Applications |
| Volume | 35 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 May 2019 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Box office revenue
- Causal inference
- Dynamic review behavior
- Movie life-cycles
- Netizen reviews
- Promotional reviews
- Reactance theory
- Review credibility
- Review distributions
- Review manipulation
- Unverified reviews
- Verified reviews
- Viewer reviews