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Arts management
Film critics do not influence moviegoers
Consumers of cultural products with low self esteem read
film reviews more than people whose self esteem is better.
As a result, the reviews have a greater influence on what
film's they decide to see. This is one of the conclusions
of a study by Alain d'Astous and François Colbert,
two HEC Montréal researchers, on the reading of
film reviews and its impact on consumption, the results
of which appeared recently in Gestion (Volume
28, Number 1, Spring 2003). The study also shows that,
among moviegoers, reading reviews is more a way of comparing
their points of view to the views of another person. People
who describe themselves as non-moviegoers are much more
influenced by a specialist's judgment.
The study by researchers at the HEC Montréal, a
Université de Montréal affiliated school,
is one of the first to attempt to shed light on the influence
of specialist movie reviews on consumers of cultural products. “In
all areas of the arts,” the introduction says, “we ascribe
tremendous power to reviews, the ability to make or break
a launch based on a simple newspaper article. We believe
that potential spectators wait to read the reviews so they
can make an informed choice. But what is really happening?”
The researchers did a survey of 120 students whose ages
correspond to the target audience of a large segment of
the movie industry. They could either recommend or advise
against a feature film based on a reading of a review.
To do this, the researchers invented 96 film scripts and
published six film reviews. Why did they decide to base
the study on fictitious films and reviews? “So we could
control all the variables,” Mr. d'Astous answers. “If we
had used films by Steven Spielberg or texts of known reviews,
we would have had a built-in bias.”
The study showed that a very special relationship is established
between a person who reads a review and the writer. “The
person who reads a film review looks beyond the published
text,” explains Alain d'Astous, who has been interested
in the impact of reviews on consumption of cultural products
for the past 15 years. “The reader analyzes the information
in the review in light of the reputation the critic, the
director, the quality of the actors, etc. In addition,
he reads the review with different aspects of his personality.”
The hit movies of the past few months— Hulk, The
Matrix —were accompanied by major advertising campaigns.
But they were also characterized as either good or bad
films in the reviews. The article in Gestion describes
the phenomenon of film reviews in a way that can help
managers reduce the adverse effects of negative reviews
or maximize the impact of a positive review.
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