On the Evolution of Pre-Release Consumer Buzz and New Product Success
(R2020-83403)

AUTHORS

Carolin Haiduk, University of Hamburg; Thomas Schreiner, University of Hamburg; Timo Mandler, Toulouse Business School

KEYWORDS

Pre-release consumer buzz; New product launch; Social media

ABSTRACT

Despite recent advances regarding the conceptualization and consequences of pre-release consumer buzz (e.g., Divakaran et al. 2017; Houston et al. 2018), little is known about its evolution over time. Using social media data related to 208 movies released in 2016 and 2017 in the US, we investigate the evolutionary patterns of three distinct buzz dimensions (anticipatory communication, search, and participation) and their impact on new products’ market success. The results of our empirical study suggest that buzz dimensions affect market performance in different ways. While communication and search have a positive impact on total box office sales, participation appears to affect the way consumers adopt the product over time (i.e., diffusion patterns). These findings have important implications for the way new products should be promoted online prior to their release.