Impact of online information on the diffusion of movies: Focusing on cultural differences

To ensure a movie's success, managers must understand why consumers buy tickets. Some are induced by trailers or movie posters while others are triggered by their friends' recommendations. Using Bass's (1969) terms, we may classify the former as innovators, who are influenced by external factors including advertisements and media reports, and the latter as imitators, who are affected by internal factors such as word-of-mouth. Regardless of their motivation, in the digital era, consumers easily obtain movie-related information through websites or social networking services. Therefore, marketers should focus on how online information influences product diffusion. Additionally, each country's unique cultural background results in different consumer behavior. The current study applies the Bass diffusion model to explore key differences in the diffusion patterns of movies between culturally distinctive markets. Further, this study aims to identify the factors that result in innovation and imitation effects in the markets.