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The Twitter Effect: Social Media Usage as a Contributor to Movie Success

Author

Listed:
  • Julianne Treme

    (University of North Carolina Wilmington)

  • Zoe VanDerPloeg

    (University of North Carolina Wilmington)

Abstract

This paper examines whether an online social media presence affects box office revenues in both domestic and foreign markets using a star's Twitter account as a measure of star power. The results suggest that there is a negative social media effect on box office performance in foreign markets, as a Twitter presence decreased revenues by an average of approximately $30 million. Moviegoers seem disinclined to see movies in theaters featuring female stars that are active in social media, suggesting that special care should be exercised when selecting female leads. Studios should take into account not just an actress's professional accomplishments, but also their overall presence and popularity as a public figure on social media.

Suggested Citation

  • Julianne Treme & Zoe VanDerPloeg, 2014. "The Twitter Effect: Social Media Usage as a Contributor to Movie Success," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 34(2), pages 793-809.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-13-00821
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    File URL: http://www.accessecon.com/Pubs/EB/2014/Volume34/EB-14-V34-I2-P73.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bernard J. Jansen & Mimi Zhang & Kate Sobel & Abdur Chowdury, 2009. "Twitter power: Tweets as electronic word of mouth," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 60(11), pages 2169-2188, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Oasis Kodila-Tedika, 2021. "Natural resource governance: does social media matter?," Mineral Economics, Springer;Raw Materials Group (RMG);Luleå University of Technology, vol. 34(1), pages 127-140, April.
    2. Jordi McKenzie, 2023. "The economics of movies (revisited): A survey of recent literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(2), pages 480-525, April.
    3. Leighton Vaughan Williams & J. James Reade, 2016. "Prediction Markets, Social Media and Information Efficiency," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(3), pages 518-556, August.
    4. Leighton Vaughan Williams & James Reade, 2014. "Prediction Markets, Twitter and Bigotgate," Economics Discussion Papers em-dp2014-09, Department of Economics, University of Reading.
    5. Baranowski Paweł & Korczak Karol & Zając Jarosław, 2020. "Forecasting Cinema Attendance at the Movie Show Level: Evidence from Poland," Business Systems Research, Sciendo, vol. 11(1), pages 73-88, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Twitter; Social Media; Movies; Box Office; Star Power; Popular Media; Gender; Culture;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L8 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services
    • M3 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Marketing and Advertising

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