How emotions in online reviews affect movie sales: Evidence from Hollywood

IF 11 1区管理学 Q1 BUSINESS

Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services Pub Date : 2025-04-01 DOI:10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104304

Rahat Ullah , Muhammad Aftab Alam , Atya Zeb

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Movies evoke strong human emotions that resonate in the content of online reviews, known as electronic word of mouth (eWOM). Existing literature suggests that positive content enhances, and negative content reduces movie sales, with negative content having a stronger effect. We demonstrate that there is a limit to the negative emotional content's impact on sales, beyond which it boosts sales. We extract positive and negative emotional content from 80 Hollywood movie reviews (N = 23,046) and empirically examine their influence on movie sales. Results indicate that for high eWOM volume, the effect of positive content increases progressively, while negative content has diminishing returns. Grounded in ‘Emotions as Social Information’ (EASI) theory, this study provides marketers and researchers with a new understanding of how emotional content in eWOM influences moviegoers' choice of movie and sales. Our typology—Flop, Hype, Star, and Hit—helps predict movie sales and design targeted strategies.

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网络评论中的情绪如何影响电影销售：来自好莱坞的证据

电影唤起了强烈的人类情感，这些情感在网上评论的内容中产生共鸣，被称为电子口碑（eom）。现有文献表明，积极的内容会提高电影的销量，消极的内容会降低电影的销量，其中消极的内容效果更强。我们证明了负面情绪内容对销售的影响是有限度的，超过这个限度就会促进销售。我们从80篇好莱坞电影评论（N = 23,046）中提取积极和消极的情感内容，并实证检验它们对电影销售的影响。结果表明，在高eom体积下，正含量的效果逐渐增强，而负含量的效果递减。本研究以“情绪作为社会信息”（EASI）理论为基础，为营销人员和研究人员提供了一种新的理解，即eom中的情绪内容如何影响观影者的电影选择和销售。我们的分类-失败，炒作，明星和热门-帮助预测电影销售和设计有针对性的策略。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services BUSINESS-

CiteScore

20.40

自引率

14.40%

发文量

340

审稿时长

20 days

期刊介绍： The Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services is a prominent publication that serves as a platform for international and interdisciplinary research and discussions in the constantly evolving fields of retailing and services studies. With a specific emphasis on consumer behavior and policy and managerial decisions, the journal aims to foster contributions from academics encompassing diverse disciplines. The primary areas covered by the journal are: Retailing and the sale of goods The provision of consumer services, including transportation, tourism, and leisure.