The purpose of this paper is to analyse culture and its influence on the way people evaluate different movie characteristics such as budget, stars, being a sequel, and genre.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse culture and its influence on the way people evaluate different movie characteristics such as budget, stars, being a sequel, and genre.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper examines the moderating effect that two of Hofstede's cultural dimensions have on five important movie characteristics related to the ultimate success of a movie. Based on the recommendations and analytical framework provided by Sharma et al. moderated multiple regression was performed, followed by a subgroup analysis.
Findings
The results indicate that the presence of stars and being a sequel are considered positive signals for the quality of a movie across cultures, associated with higher revenues only in countries with high uncertainty avoidance. Initial investments in a movie are important regardless of the culture of the audience. In terms of film genre, our results demonstrate in agreement with our expectations that drama as a genre is preferred in cultures with lower masculine scores. However, the action genre seems to be a universal genre regardless of the culture of the viewers, and is associated with positive increase in revenues in all countries.
Research limitations/implications
The study has an issue with missing data. However, it provides some important insights on the moderating role of culture and on universal movie characteristics that require further investigation.
Practical implications
Considering cultural variations across different markets is especially important for culturally embedded products such as motion pictures. The results of the current research suggest that studio executives may select appropriate markets to enter depending on the characteristics of the movie and cultural background of these markets.
Originality/value
The paper adds to an underdeveloped area in motion picture research, investigating the relationship between culture and movie characteristics. Moreover, the findings can be extended to other experiential products with significant cultural content, such as books, theatrical performances, etc. Future research can identify other factors that are important for the success of movies in an international context. After identifying relevant factors countries may be clustered into homogeneous segments and different strategies may be developed and targeted to specific segments.
Details
Keywords
Desislava G. Budeva and Michael R. Mullen
This paper aims to investigate the influence of economic and cultural factors, separately and combined, on international country segments and to reveal the stability of factors…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the influence of economic and cultural factors, separately and combined, on international country segments and to reveal the stability of factors and country segments over time.
Design/methodology/approach
Principal component analysis is used to develop three economic factors and two cultural factors borrowed from the World Value Survey. Cluster analysis is used to form country clusters based on the economic and cultural factors, separately, and then combined, to detect whether both economics and culture need to be included as bases for macro-country segmentation. Further, the authors look at these issues across time, the beginning of the decade (1990) and then at the end of the decade (1999).
Findings
Results support the hypotheses that economics and culture are both necessary for country-level segmentation but reject the hypothesis of cultural convergence as a consequence of technological development and industrialization. The authors confirm that cultural values and beliefs, although persistent, may change gradually under the influence of environmental forces such as economic development. The results support the instability of country segment membership when analyzed over one decade. Economic changes in some countries lead to their movement across segments.
Practical implications
Results suggest that managers concerned with international segmentation should include both economic and cultural variables and reevaluate country segment membership continuously rather than relying on results obtained in a single period.
Originality/value
Many international segmentation studies have used macro-level, secondary data to identify country clusters based on similarities in political, economic, geographic or cultural variables for a single period. This study extends existing international segmentation models by examining economic and cultural variables (separately, and then combined), and segment membership over time.