From Blockbuster to Neighbourhood Buster: The Effect of Films on Barcelona

In recent years, cities such as Venice, Dubrovnik, Paris and Barcelona have experienced an exponential increase in visitor numbers leading to episodes of tourismphobia by anti-tourism movements, or even the decline of the destination. Among other solutions, some destinations see film-induced tourism as a possible way of diversifying tourism supply and demand. Through the analysis of the locations of six thematic film routes in Barcelona compared to the same locations on the largest online travel review platform, TripAdvisor, it is concluded that, far from spreading out tourist flows, fiction-induced tourism in Barcelona has concentrated tourism at the main attractions of the city. Only a few exceptions of films with minor audiences lead tourists off the beaten track. Overall, this paper provides a set of recommendations, strategies and challenges for destination managers to help alleviate overtourism and to offer more sustainable tourism away from spots that attract mass tourism.This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (grants ID ECO2017-88984-R, TIN2015-71799-C2-2-P, and HAR2016-77734-P), and the support of the Institute of Social Development and Territory INDEST of University of Lleida (call 2018CRINDESTABC). First author also acknowledges the support of the Spanish Education Ministry for the abroad mobility stay “José Castillejo” (Ref. Number CAS19/00362)

Improving productivity in Hollywood with data science: Using emotional arcs of movies to drive product and service innovation in entertainment industries

Improving productivity in the entertainment industry is a very challenging task as it heavily depends on generating attractive content for the consumers. The consumer-centric design (putting the consumers at the centre of the content development and production) focuses on ways in which businesses can design customized services and products which accurately reflect consumer preferences. We propose a new framework which allows to use data science to optimize content-generation in entertainment and test this framework for the motion picture industry. We use the natural language processing methodology combined with econometric analysis to explore whether and to what extent emotions shape consumer preferences for media and entertainment content, which, in turn, affect revenue streams. By analyzing 6,174 movie scripts, we generate the emotional trajectory of each motion picture. We then combine the obtained mappings into clusters which represent groupings of consumer emotional journeys. These clusters are then plugged into an econometric model to predict overall success parameters of the movies including box office revenues, viewer satisfaction levels (captured by IMDb ratings), awards, as well as the number of viewers’ and critics’ reviews. We find that emotional arcs in movies can be partitioned into 6 basic shapes. The highest box offices are associated with the Man in a Hole shape which is characterized by an emotional fall followed by an emotional rise. This U-shaped emotional arc results in financially successful movies irrespective of genre and production budget. Implications of this analysis for generating on-demand content and improving productivity in entertainment industries are discussed

A little bluebird told me : social media conversation effects on business outcomes-evidence from the movie industry

textIn this dissertation, I examine how online conversations as electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) information via social media networks affect business outcomes. Using data from the movie industry, my goal is to show how conversation quantity and quality, defined here as volumes and valence, on social network sites affect important business outcomes such as sales. Using a dynamic simultaneous equation system, I find that social media conversations can be a precursor to and an outcome of sales. Aggregated data from multiple sources show how social media variables and other key variables—volume, valence, and other information related to movies such as YouTube views, ratings, advertising, production budget, number of screens—contribute to box-office and home video sales through eWOM via social media. Findings highlight that eWOM volume correlates with box-office performance and home video sales: the more positive and strong the conversation, the higher the box office and home video sales. The study extends prior research on WOM and offers insight into how film studios can strategically manage social media to enhance box office and home video revenue.Advertisin

Cultural capital investment interim impact evaluation

This report provides interim impact evaluation evidence on a major initiative to develop the quality and opportunity of cultural provision in the East Midlands. Eight venues across the region have been supported through an investment totalling £120 million, which include a mix of brand new buildings and bringing new life to existing facilities. This report sets out what the investment has achieved so far and how information on the impact of the venues will be collected in the future

Internet television use: Motivations and preferences for watching television online among college students

The present study examined the television viewing habits of college students to determine differences between motivations and preferences for watching television online versus on a broadcast receiver. A convenience sample of 136 RIT students responded to an online survey. The study found that like the TV viewers of the 1980s, television viewers today are still motivated by relaxation, escape, and the desire to pass the time and to socially interact with companions-- no matter which medium. The ability to control the television experience, to choose when to watch programming, and the convenience that Internet television offers are reasons why college students are using alternatives to the traditional broadcast receiver

CHORUS Deliverable 2.2: Second report - identification of multi-disciplinary key issues for gap analysis toward EU multimedia search engines roadmap

After addressing the state-of-the-art during the first year of Chorus and establishing the existing landscape in multimedia search engines, we have identified and analyzed gaps within European research effort during our second year. In this period we focused on three directions, notably technological issues, user-centred issues and use-cases and socio- economic and legal aspects. These were assessed by two central studies: firstly, a concerted vision of functional breakdown of generic multimedia search engine, and secondly, a representative use-cases descriptions with the related discussion on requirement for technological challenges. Both studies have been carried out in cooperation and consultation with the community at large through EC concertation meetings (multimedia search engines cluster), several meetings with our Think-Tank, presentations in international conferences, and surveys addressed to EU projects coordinators as well as National initiatives coordinators. Based on the obtained feedback we identified two types of gaps, namely core technological gaps that involve research challenges, and “enablers”, which are not necessarily technical research challenges, but have impact on innovation progress. New socio-economic trends are presented as well as emerging legal challenges

The impact of virtual reality in the motion picture industry regarding brand coolness, emotional responses, and WOM

The main goal of the present dissertation is to understand how virtual reality impacts the motion picture industry regarding the constructs of brand coolness, empathy, sympathy, and word-ofmouth in comparison with the traditional 2D screens, while also considering the importance of the movie content. Thus, the study consists of a quantitative research which is based on a factorial research design, considering the interactions between the two technological formats (2D and VR) and the two movies (“Crow: The Legend” and “Is Anna Ok?”). The chosen methodology allows us to determine that a movie experienced in VR has more positive scores regarding brand coolness, emotional responses (empathy and sympathy), and WOM, than when the same movie is presented in 2D screens. However, the Two-Way ANOVA analysis also determines that the movie content itself affects brand coolness perceptions and sympathy responses more than the technological format. Meaning that the story content has a higher influential power on how the movie is perceived by the audience when considering these constructs than the technological format. On the other hand, regarding empathy responses and WOM, the technological format proved to have a higher impact than the story content. Additionally, further analysis allowed us to understand how brand coolness is perceived regarding movies and how emotional responses to movies influence the audience’s attitudes and coolness perceptions. The theoretical and managerial implications of these findings are also explained.O principal objetivo da presente dissertação é compreender como a realidade virtual tem impacto na indústria cinematográfica no que diz respeito à construção de brand coolness, empatia, simpatia e word-of-mouth em comparação com os tradicionais ecrãs 2D, considerando também a importância do conteúdo do filme. Assim, o estudo consiste numa pesquisa quantitativa que se baseia numa pesquisa factorial, considerando as interações entre os dois formatos tecnológicos (2D e VR) e os dois filmes ("Crow: The Legend" e "Is Anna Ok?"). A metodologia escolhida permite-nos determinar que um filme experienciado em RV tem pontuações mais positivas em relação a brand coolness, respostas emocionais (empatia e simpatia), e WOM, do que quando o mesmo filme é apresentado em 2D. Contudo, a análise ANOVA bidirecional determina também que o próprio conteúdo do filme afeta mais as perceções de brand coolness e as respostas de simpatia do que o formato tecnológico. O que significa que o conteúdo da história tem um poder de influência maior na forma como o filme é percecionado pelo público relativamente a estes conceitos do que o formato tecnológico. Contrariamente, considerando as respostas de empatia e WOM, o formato tecnológico provou ter um maior impacto do que o conteúdo da história. Adicionalmente, uma análise mais aprofundada permitiu-nos compreender como brand coolness é percecionado em relação aos filmes e como as respostas emocionais aos mesmos influenciam as atitudes e perceções de brand coolness do público. As implicações teóricas e de gestão destas descobertas são também explicadas

CHORUS Deliverable 2.1: State of the Art on Multimedia Search Engines

Based on the information provided by European projects and national initiatives related to multimedia search as well as domains experts that participated in the CHORUS Think-thanks and workshops, this document reports on the state of the art related to multimedia content search from, a technical, and socio-economic perspective. The technical perspective includes an up to date view on content based indexing and retrieval technologies, multimedia search in the context of mobile devices and peer-to-peer networks, and an overview of current evaluation and benchmark inititiatives to measure the performance of multimedia search engines. From a socio-economic perspective we inventorize the impact and legal consequences of these technical advances and point out future directions of research