On bizarreness in the entertainment industry

Abstract

Examines the use of the bizarre or the outrageous in the entertainment industry as a promotion strategy, and specifically the propensity of rock/pop artistes to engage in bizarre or outrageous acts or conduct. Provides a brief survey of the practice. Next, using economic theories of human behavior to maximize expected utility and minimize transaction and learning costs, shows that what may appear as a thoughtless act or outrageous behavior by an artiste could in fact be a well‐thought‐out promotion strategy with valid economic underpinnings designed to promote the artiste. Such acts do not only confer uniqueness on the individual artiste, but are also useful in reducing the learning and transaction costs incurred by fans, and hence beneficial to both the artistes and the consumers. Suggests some less controversial but effective strategies for promoting artistes.

Citation

Sergius Koku, P. (1995), "On bizarreness in the entertainment industry", Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 9 No. 4, pp. 19-30. https://doi.org/10.1108/08876049510094478