Seminar (Dept. of Marketing)

Title: Online Word of Mouth and the Performance of New Products

Speaker: Lachlan Deer（Tilburg University）

Time:10:00-11:30am, November 20th (Wednesday), 2024

Venue:Room1008, Mingde Business Building

Language:English

Abstract：

We investigate the effects of online word of mouth on the demand for new products using Twitter data. Twitter can both generate buzz & awareness as well as provide information on product quality that can readily diffuse through the population. Leveraging comprehensive data from the US movie industry and Twitter, we estimate a structural model of consumer demand for attending theatrical releases in 2014-2015 that incorporates both information channels. The results show that both channels are important, but differ across types of movies. We find pre-release tweet volume is the most important channel for large franchise movies, generating buzz that influences box office earnings on the opening weekend. Demand for mid tier movies responds to increasing awareness driven by the volume of tweets posted after a movie is released. In contrast, the sentiment expressed in online WoM after a movie’s release influences box office demand in subsequent weekends for smaller movies.

Short biography：

Lachlan is an Assistant Professor in the Marketing Group at Tilburg University. Prior to his current position, he was as a Postdoctoral Fellow in Marketing at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, following the completion of his PhD at the University of Zurich. Lachlan’s research interests span quantitative marketing, digital and social media marketing. His work leverages reduced-form and structural econometric modelling, natural language processing, social networks, and economic theory to provide actionable guidance for marketers, managers, and policymakers. An advocate for open science, Lachlan actively participates large-scale open science projects aimed at enhancing transparency in business and economics research. Outside of his professional endeavours, he enjoys good coffee, nurturing his growing collection of indoor plants, and collecting and constructing Lego sets.