! ! ! ! !
Cross'Media!Brand!Extensions:!Extending!Beyond!
the!Silver!Screen!
! ! ! Paul!Constantin!Resch! Student!Number:!10652043! Final!Draft!–!27th!June!2014! ! ! Master!of!Business!Studies! Entrepreneurship!and!Management!in!the!Creative!Industries!Track! University!of!Amsterdam! ! First!Supervisor:!dr.!Frederik!Situmeang! Second!Supervisor:!prof.!dr.!Nachoem!Wijnberg! !Table!of!Contents!
Abstract! 4! I.!Introduction! 5! II.!Literature!Review! 7! The$Videogame$Industry$ 7! The$Motion$Picture$Industry$and$its$Standing$within$Academic$Research$ 9! The$Intricacies$of$Media$Franchises$and$Cross?Branding$ 11! Brand$Extensions$and$Spillover$ 14! Brand$Extensions$of$Experience$Goods$ 18! Reviews$as$Quality$Indicators$ 21! Dual$Processing$Path$Models$ 24! Theoretical$Model$ 29! III.!Methods! 31! Empirical$Setting$ 31! Model$Specification$ 32! Variables$and$Data$Collection$ 33! IV.!Results! 36! Discussion! 40! Academic$and$Managerial$Implications$ 42! Limitations$and$Directions$for$Future$Research$ 45! Works!Cited! 48! ! !!
Abstract!
! Author:!Paul!Constantin!Resch! Keywords:!experience!goods,!cross'media,!brand!extensions,!video!games,!motion!pictures! ! Motion!pictures’!and!to!a!lesser!extent!video!games’!properties!have!been!largely!explored! within! academic! research.! Their! financial! potential! for! revenue! generation! and! cultural! importance! has! marked! these! two! types! of! entertainment! goods! as! being! deserving! of! research.! One! aspect! which! remains! relatively! unexplored! however! seems! to! be! how! the! properties!of!related!media!installments!affect!each!other,!forming!the!main!focus!of!this! thesis.!The!research!at!hand!seeks!to!reveal!how!the!properties!of!motion!pictures,!such!as! their! image! and! awareness,! affect! the! sales! of! video! games! based! on! them,! when! considering!them!as!brand!extensions.!In!addition!to!this,!interaction!effects!are!investigated! within!the!realm!of!systematic!and!heuristic!processing.!Results!show!that!both!parent!brand! awareness!and!image!affect!the!sales!of!motion!picture!based!videogames.!These!insights! have!important!academic!implications,!expanding!the!study!of!cross!media!and!experience! goods! in! general.! In! addition! to! this! the! study! at! hand! carries! important! managerial! implications,! in! regards! to! the! production! and! release! of! both! motion! pictures! and! their!I.!Introduction!!
!The!properties!of!motion!pictures!and!(to!a!lesser!extent)!video!games!have!been!thoroughly! analyzed!within!marketing!literature.!Entertainment!products!in!general!warrant!the!amount! of! attention! they! are! getting! within! academic! research,! due! to! their! ability! to! quickly! generate!large!amounts!of!revenue.!One!very!commonly!analyzed!aspect,!especially!within! the! realm! of! motion! pictures,! is! the! concept! of! brand! extensions.! Brand! extensions! in! general!form!a!cornerstone!of!branding!and!marketing!literature.!Many!of!their!properties! have!been!researched!and!made!available!by!prolific!papers!such!as!Aaker!&!Keller!(1990,! 1992);! Smith! &! Park! (1992).! Many! of! these! insights! are! starting! to! be! applied! to! novel! product!categories,!especially!to!the!focus!of!this!paper:!experience!goods.!Scholars!such!as! Hennig'Thurau,!Houston,!&!Heitjans!(2009),!have!analyzed!the!properties!of!motion!picture! sequels!in!order!to!build!a!model!to!predict!profitability!of!possible!brand!extensions.!Others! such!as!Basuroy!&!Chatterjee!(2008),!have!taken!to!analyzing!timing!differences!and!amount! of!intermediate!sequels’!effect!on!the!profitability!of!new!sequels.!Another!important!aspect! which! has! received! a! large! amount! of! attention! within! the! academic! community! is! the! influence!of!consumer!and!expert!reviews!on!either!motion!pictures!(Eliashberg!&!Shugan,! 1997;! Gemser,! Oostrum,! &! Leenders,! 2006)! or! video! games! (Zhu! &! Zhang,! 2010).! Here! properties!such!as!the!ability!of!reviews!to!predict!or!influence!sales!are!analyzed!and!the! difference!of!impact!between!consumer!and!expert!reviews!has!been!researched.!!
While!many!of!the!aforementioned!properties!have!been!researched!in!the!context! of! experience! goods,! when! considering! related! media! products! within! the! same! franchise! (such!as!a!motion!picture!and!a!related!video!game),!these!elements,!and!especially!the!way! they! might! affect! each! other,! remain! yet! to! be! explored.! There! currently! is! no! conclusive!
quantitative! study! that! analyzes! the! properties! of! related! cross'media! products! within! a! media! franchise! and! how! some! of! the! aforementioned! properties! could! affect! such! products’!market!performance.!Research!on!cross'media!products!in!general!seems!to!be!in! its!infancy!as!the!very!concept!of!how!to!define!cross'media!or!transmedia!experiences!in! relation!to!their!pertaining!franchise!is!hotly!debated!within!academic!literature.!!
!!!! Taking! the! previous! literature! and! the! overall! importance! of! such! properties! into! account,! it! becomes! evident! that! conducting! research! within! the! realm! of! cross'media! experience!goods!is!of!vital!importance.!This!sets!the!stage!for!the!research!at!hand,!which! analyzes! how! the! properties! of! a! motion! picture! parent! brand! affect! the! sales! of! a! cross' media!extension!product!in!the!form!of!a!video!game.!Therefore!this!paper!seeks!to!answer! the!following!research!question:!“How!do!parent!brand!image!and!awareness!interplay!with! an!extension!product’s!image!and!awareness!in!the!case!of!motion!pictures!with!cross'media! brand!extensions!in!the!form!of!video!games?!“!
II.!Literature!Review!
The!Videogame!Industry! !Although!still!young!in!essence,!over!the!course!of!the!past!30!years,!the!video!game! industry! has! seen! continuous! growth,! both! in! its! own! standing! and! among! other! entertainment! products! (Gentile,! 2011).! Reports! indicate! that! the! expected! value! of! the! overall!video!game!industry!in!2012!was!to!be!$68!billion,!representing!an!increase!of!10.3%! from!2007!(PWC!'!Price!Water!House!Coopers,!2008).!In!some!markets,!video!games!have! surpassed! other! popular! entertainment! based! industries! such! as! the! motion! picture! industry,!as!was!recently!the!case!in!the!United!Kingdom!(Chatfield,!2009),!highlighting!the! large!financial!impact!this!industry!has.!These!astounding!numbers!differentiate!the!video! game!industry!not!only!due!to!its!ability!to!generate!profits!but!also!due!to!its!impressive! reach!and!usage!by!both!children!and!adults!(Gentile,!2011).! !The!video!game!market!is!often!characterized!as!having!two!(Chazerand!&!Geeroms,! 2008),!or!three!subindustries!(Williams,!2002)!.!According!to!Williams!(2002)!these!include! computer! games! (available! on! personal! computers),! home! console! games! (available! on! platforms! such! as! Playstation! 3! or! Xbox! 360),! and! portable! console! games! (available! on! platforms!such!as!Nintendo!3DS!or!Playstation!Vita).!Given!the!current!state!of!the!industry! however! it! would! be! more! appropriate! to! consider! four! distinct! subindustries,! with! the! addition! of! the! newest! and! fourth! subindustry! being! mobile! games! (available! on! devices! running!mobile!operating!systems!such!as!iOS!or!Android).!Although!all!games!released!on! these!different!platforms!are!to!be!considered!as!video!games!in!essence,!it!should!be!noted! that!they!are!often!vastly!different!in!their!pricing,!positioning!and!distribution!channels,!and! that!as!such,!when!discussing!them,!not!all!properties!might!be!applicable!to!every!single!
form!of!video!game.!This!is!underlined!by!Shankar!&!Bayus!(2003)!who!note!that!one!of!the! distinguishing!characteristics!of!the!video!game!industry!is!that!it!is!comprised!of!“multiple! competing! product! technologies! that! are! incompatible”! (p.! 376).! Due! to! these! possible! differences,! this! paper! is! solely! concerned! with! video! games! available! on! home'consoles,! and!will!from!hereon!use!the!term!video!games!to!refer!to!them.!!
The! industry! is! marked! by! the! duality! of! hardware! and! software! sales,! where! the! sales!of!video!game!software!is!limited!by!the!amount!of!hardware!sales!which!are!able!to! run!said!software,!as!“the!cycle!of!game!consoles!is!the!primary!determining!factor!in!the! sale!of!console!games”!(Chazerand!&!Geeroms,!2008,!p.!186).!Due!to!this!Williams!(2002)! argues! that! a! common! strategy! employed! within! the! home'console! market! is! to! sell! hardware! as! loss! leaders,! and! to! subsequently! recover! costs! through! software! sales.! Williams!goes!on!to!describe!how!due!to!this!existing!competition!for!higher!market!shares! of! their! consoles,! manufacturers! typically! only! have! a! shared! interest! in! maintaining! and! expanding!the!video'game!market!in!total,!but!are!not!interested!in!any!further!cooperation.! He!goes!on!to!describe!how!typically,!between!console!manufacturers,!time!pressure!exists! to! acquire! the! largest! possible! user! base! as! quickly! as! possible,! in! order! to! maximize! the! possible!network!benefits.!As!previously!mentioned,!profits!are!subsequently!made!through! software!sales,!in!which!per'copy!licensing!fees!for!software!manufacturers!are!established! in! order! to! generate! revenue! (Williams,! 2002).! This! interplay! between! hardware! and! software! producers! within! the! video'game! industry! is! reflected! in! a! paper! by! Consalvo!
(2006),!who!remarks:!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
!“The!particularities!of!the!video!game!industry!and!culture!can!be!recognized!in!the ! !transnational!corporations!that!contribute!to!its!formation!and!development;!in!the
! !global!audience!for!its!products;!and!in!the!complex!mixing!of!format,!style!and! ! !content!within!games”!(p.!117).!
The!emphasis!on!software!sales!within!the!video!game!industry!thus!legitimize!their! standing! as! research! subjects! within! academia.! Understanding! what! drives! sales! of! video! games!is!key!in!order!to!effectively!exploit!the!medium!to!generate!an!increasing!amount!of! revenues.!! The!Motion!Picture!Industry!and!its!Standing!within!Academic!Research! ! Alongside!videogames,!the!motion!picture!industry!represents!a!much!older!category! within!the!entertainment!business.!According!to!a!report!conducted!by!PWC!'!Price!Water! House!Coopers!(2008),!box!office!revenues!of!the!global!motion!picture!industry!have!been! continually!rising!over!the!past!ten!years!(only!recording!a!negative!percentage!change!in! 2005),!recording!6.1%!compounded!annual!growth!rate!between!2003!and!2012!(including! predictions).! Motion! pictures! have! long! been! marked! as! a! point! of! interest! in! academic! research,!in!part!due!to!their!economic!significance,!but!as!well!as!their!standing!as!a!key! entertainment!product!and!their!overall!cultural!influence!(Eliashberg,!Elberse,!&!Leenders,! 2006).!It!is!at!this!point!that!it!also!becomes!apparent!that!motion!pictures!have!received!a! much!larger!amount!of!academic!attention!than!video!games.!!!
Often! researched! topics! related! to! motion! pictures,! include! aspects! related! to! revenue!generation.!Here!Krider!&!Weinberg!(1998)!describe!how!motion!pictures!typically! gather!the!largest!amounts!of!revenues!in!the!beginning!of!their!release,!and!especially!in! winter'holiday!and!summer!seasons.!Elberse!&!Eliashberg!(2003)!expand!on!this!with!their! study,!finding!that!the!amount!of!screens!a!motion!picture!is!released!on,!forms!one!of!the! key!predictors!for!revenue!generation.!They!go!on!to!emphasize!the!role!of!advertising!and!
distinguish! two! key! elements,! stating! that! “[a]dvertising! support! is! a! key! predictor! of! opening! week! revenues! and! screens! (i.e.,! a! movies! marketability),! while! word'of'mouth! communication!is!an!important!predictor!of!revenues!and!screens!in!subsequent!weeks!(i.e.,! a! movie’s! playability”! (p.! 350).! This! distinction! between! marketability! and! playability! is! commonly! employed! throughout! the! literature! related! to! motion! pictures.! In! their! study,! Krider!&!Weinberg!(1998)!investigate!how!these!two!factors!play!into!decisions!related!to! the!release!date!of!a!motion!picture!when!faced!by!competition!of!a!similar!motion!picture.!!
While! some! research! is! focused! on! the! properties! of! motion! pictures! themselves,! such!as!Hsu's!(2006)!research!on!the!effect!of!genre!niche!specificity,!and!how!it!can!affect! reception!by!the!audience,!other!research!mainly!focuses!on!production!and!organizational! related! elements.! Here! articles! such! as! Miller! &! Shamsie! (1996)! use! the! motion! picture! industry! in! order! to! put! the! resource! based! view! of! the! firm! to! a! test,! while! Ebbers! &! Wijnberg! (2009)! study! the! implications! of! latent! organizations! within! the! motion! picture! industry.!The!fact!that!different!academic!articles!go!for!such!distinct!aspects!of!the!industry! is!in!line!with!a!division!proposed!by!Eliashberg!et!al.!(2006)!who!divide!the!industry!“into! three! sections! corresponding! to! the! stages! of! the! value! chain! for! motion! pictures— production,! theatrical! distribution,! and! exhibition”! (p.! 657),! although! they! claim! that! the! stages!tend!to!be!interlinked.!Another!commonly!studied!aspect!related!to!motion!pictures! is!the!effect!of!critical!reviews.!Although!relevant!in!this!subsection,!this!will!be!discussed!in! a!later!chapter!of!this!thesis!in!more!detail.!!
!From! this! small! subsection! of! all! the! articles! available! about! the! motion! picture! industry!it!becomes!apparent!that!it!is!complex!in!both!its!own!standing!and!its!study!within! the! academic! community.! While! this! small! overview! is! not! at! all! intended! to! be! an!
multitude! of! aspects! that! can! be! studied! within! its! realm.! Alongside! with! the! previous! discussion!on!the!video!game!industry,!it!however!becomes!apparent!that!while!individual! aspects!of!both!industries!have!received!a!fair!amount!of!attention,!how!properties!of!the! two!could!interact!in!certain!contexts!remains!a!largely!unexplored!topic.!Especially!with!the! existing!focus!of!many!researches!aiming!to!analyze!what!influences!revenue!generation!for! a! motion! picture,! an! interesting! related! topic! would! be! how! revenue! can! be! generated! through!extending!the!film!brand!through!other!media!installments.!What!little!research!is! currently!available!on!the!relationship!between!different!installments!is!explored!within!the! following!section.!!
The!Intricacies!of!Media!Franchises!and!CrossMBranding! !
! Currently,! scholars! have! not! agreed! upon! one! single! definition! for! a! branded! media! franchise! that! employs! its! individual! trademarks! across! a! range! of! different! media! platforms.! One! very! common! example! of! such! releases! includes! the! release! of! a! motion! picture! and! a! subsequent! video! game! or! vice! versa! (Aarseth,! 2006;! Kerr! &! Flynn,! 2003;! Marshall,! 2002)! among! other! products.! The! concept! at! hand! can! be! described! as! a! development!in!the!contemporary!entertainment!industry,!in!which!production!has!moved! away!from!the!creation!of!singular!end'products!to!“a!serial!form!of!production!where!each! product!in!the!series!is!linked!through!a!network!of!cross'promotion”!(Marshall,!2002,!p.!70).! Marshall!(2002),!employing!the!term!“intertextual!commodity”,!investigates!the!versatility!of! such! practices,! noting! how! the! original! source! medium! can! vastly! differ! and! how! the! directionality!in!which!products!within!the!same!intellectual!property!are!released!can!differ! as!well.!Aarseth!(2006)!further!investigates!and!outlines!how!some!franchises!are!developed! specifically!to!be!launched!among!different!platforms,!while!others!are!released!in!different!
forms!retroactively.!This!is!exemplified!by!franchises!such!as!Harry$Potter!which!exhibits!a! “diachronic! movement! […]! from! text! to! commercial! intertext! (i.e.,! the! films,! video! games,! and!ancillary!commodities!spun!off!the!books)”!(Waetjen!&!Gibson,!2007,!p.!5).!In!this!case! the! original! iteration! of! the! franchise! is! in! book! form,! which! was! adapted! into! a! motion! picture!and!subsequently!released!as!a!video!game!amongst!other!merchandise.!Contrary!to! this! book'motion! picture'game! transition,! lies! the! example! of! Pokémon,! originating! as! a! video! game,! which! was! adapted! into! a! television! series,! and! subsequently! released! as! a! movie!and!other!associated!merchandise.!These!two!examples!of!large!franchises!show!the! versatility!of!how!intellectual!property!is!diffused!throughout!different!media!by!creators.!In! addition!to!the!directionality,!in!these!examples,!different!content!is!transferred!from!one! medium!to!another.!While!the!Harry!Potter!saga!transfers!one!single!story!line!from!medium! to! medium,! in! the! example! of! Pokémon! different! storylines! taking! place! within! the! same! fictional! universe,! with! the! same! characters! and! trademarks,! are! enacted! across! different! media.!This!partially!becomes!apparent!by!observing!naming!practices!and!release!dates!of! the!associated!products,!as!one!installment!of!the!Harry!Potter!series!carries!the!same!name! in! book,! motion! picture! and! video! game! form! (i.e.! Harry$ Potter$ and$ the$ Sorcerer’s$ Stone)! while! the! first! installments! of! Pokémon! media! all! carry! different! names! alluring! to! the! central!intellectual!property!(i.e.$Pokémon$Red,$Pokémon:$The$First$Movie$–$Mewtwo$Strikes$ Back,$Pokémon:$The$Electric$Tale$of$Pikachu).!! !
! In!order!to!capture!such!concepts,!several!definitions!have!been!proposed.!Some! scholars!such!as!Nichols!(2008)!employ!the!term!“ancillary!products”!to!refer!to!additional! products,! later'released! under! the! same! brand! name! as! a! motion! picture.! This! definition! however!implies!that!the!original!intellectual!property!in!question!was!specifically!designed! for! a! motion! picture,! which! is! subsequently! supported! by! additional! revenue! streams! (i.e.!
ancillary!products).!This!definition!ignores!that!some!intellectual!property!is!designed!to!be! launched!over!as!many!platforms!as!possible,!often!in!order!to!“bolster![…]!bottom!lines!by! generating!new!lines!of!revenue“!(Lubbers!&!Adams,!2004,!p.!62),!making!the!term!unfit!to! be! all! encompassing! for! the! concept! at! hand.! There! is! significant! overlap! between! other! concepts,!which!try!to!describe!essentially!the!same!situation!at!hand,!but!which!focus!on! miniscule! conceptual! differences.! Often! these! terms! are! used! interchangeably! without! clarification! or! standardization! across! scholarly! articles,! and! no! consensus! about! the! conceptualizations! of! the! terms! in! use! has! been! reached! within! academia.! These! include! terms! such! as! cross'media! (Aarseth,! 2006;! Antikainen,! Kangas,! &! Vainikainen,! 2004;! Petersen,! 2006),! trans'media! (Edwards,! 2012;! Jenkins,! 2003;! Lemke,! 2009),! intertextual! commodities!(Marshall,!2002)!and!multiplatform!(Jeffery'Poulter,!2003).!In!addition!to!this,! much! of! the! discourse! regarding! such! definitions! is! not! captured! by! academic! articles,! making!them!unfit!for!usage!within!the!context!of!this!paper.!One!intriguing!definition!and! concept!is!introduced!by!Murray!(2005),!who!claims!that!media!brands!which!create!loyalty! can! be! communicated! over! different! channels! to! drive! awareness,! which! she! defines! as! “content! streaming”.! ! Murray,! (2005)! further! states! “[t]he! undisguised! commercial! motivation!behind!content!streaming!is!that!content!parlayed!into!multiple,!cross'promoting! formats!owned!by!a!single!conglomerate!creates!multiple!revenue!streams!from!essentially! fixed!production!costs.“!(p.!417).!!Murray!(2005)!further!emphasizes!that!related!marginal! costs!for!the!creation!of!associated!merchandise!can!be!off'set!by!licensing!the!production! to! outside! firms,! while! simultaneously! recognizing! the! value! that! such! merchandise! could! potentially!bring!to!bottom!line!production!costs.!While!Murray’s!description!is!by!all!means! comprehensive!and!fitting!for!the!concept!being!treated!at!hand,!the!unfortunate!aspect!of! her! concept! and! term! is! that! “content! streaming”! fails! to! etymologically! demarcate! itself!
from!“content!streaming”!as!a!form!of!digital!audio!and!video!delivering!technology,!making! the!use!of!the!term!both!inexpedient!and!inconvenient.!!
! Due! to! the! semantic! difficulties! of! accurately! defining! the! concept! at! hand,! throughout!the!rest!of!this!paper,!the!term!“cross!media”!will!be!adapted!specifically!to!refer! to!intellectual!property!which!is!released!as!a!motion!picture!and!subsequently!released!as!a! video!game,!disregarding!the!form!of!the!original!text!or!intention!of!the!original!author!to! do! so.! In! order! to! identify! such! cross'media! products,! only! installments! branded! with! the! same! name! (with! the! exception! of! subtext! additions! which! serve! to! emphasize! the! relationship!between!a!game!and!a!motion!picture!franchise,!i.e.!Jurassic$Park$and!Jurassic$ Park:$The$Game)!will!be!considered.!This!disqualifies!all!video!games!that!use!motion!picture! franchise!originating!intellectual!property,!but!that!are!not!a!direct!extension!of!a!specific! motion! picture! (such! as! Shrek! and! Shrek$ Smash$ n’$ Crash$ Racing),! as! well! as! films! which! originate!from!video!games.!!
Brand!Extensions!and!Spillover! !
! Brand! extensions! are! defined! by! Völckner! &! Sattler! (2006)! as! “[the]! use! of! established! brand! names! to! launch! new! products”! (p.! 18),! which! has! been! widely! studied! throughout! marketing! and! management! literature.! Although! an! abundance! of! literature! exists! covering! the! topic! of! brand! extensions,! it! should! be! noted! that! the! term! and! its! associated! meaning! have! evolved! over! time,! as! different! terms! have! been! applied! conflictingly!(Ambler!&!Styles,!1997;!Grime,!Diamantopoulos,!&!Smith,!2002).!The!conflicting! definitions!generally!seem!to!encapsulate!three!similar!concepts,!but!often!use!overlapping! terms.!These!definitions!usually!include:!a)!the!overarching!concept!of!applying!an!existing! brand!name!to!a!novel!product,!which!in!turn!is!further!divided!into!b)!the!application!of!an!
existing! brand! name! to! a! novel! product! within! the! same! product! category! as! the! original! product,! and! c)! the! application! of! an! existing! brand! name! to! a! product! within! a! category! differing!from!the!category!of!the!original!product.!Throughout!the!literature!the!following! terms!are!commonly!applied:!
Authors! Overarching!Concept! Within!same!product!
category! In!different!product!category!
Tauber,!(1981)! Brand!Franchise!
Extension! Line!Extension! Franchise!Extension!
Farquhar!(1989)! Brand!Extension! Line!Extension! Category!Extension!
D.!A.!Aaker!&!Keller! (1990),!Park,!Milberg,! &!Lawson,!(1991)!
Extension! Line!Extension! Brand!Extension!
Keller!(2013)! Brand!Extension! Line!Extension! Category!Extension!
!!
! As!the!most!recent!published!works!of!Keller!(2013)!have!adopted!the!terms!of! Farquhar!(1989)!and!effectively!interchanged!the!terms!he!used!along!with!Aaker!in!1990,! this! terminology! will! be! adapted! throughout! this! paper.! It! needs! to! be! further! noted! however! that! the! terminology! applied! to! types! of! brand! extensions! is! flawed.! When! determining!if!a!certain!product!is!a!category!extension!or!not,!the!level!on!which!categories! are!considered!influences!this!view.!For!example,!when!a!motion!picture!is!viewed!within! the!category!of!“films”!then!a!videogame!is!a!viable!category!extension.!If!a!motion!picture!is! however! viewed! within! the! category! “entertainment! products”! a! videogame! cannot! be! considered!a!category!extension!anymore,!because!it!falls!within!the!same!category.!There! currently!is!no!scientific!or!academic!method!in!order!to!resolve!these!difficulties!associated! with!the!naming!and!categorization!process!of!brands!and!their!associated!extensions.!Due! to!this,!the!general!term!“brand!extension”!will!be!used!throughout!this!paper.!!!
! There! are! several! advantages! to! employing! a! brand! extension! strategy.! Aaker! (1990)!states!that!brand!extensions!are!a!viable!strategy!in!order!to!grow!as!a!company,!and!
to! derive! economic! benefits! from.! He! further! elaborates! on! this! concept! by! outlining! the! decreased! costs! of! introducing! brand! extensions! into! the! market! and! how! making! use! of! already! established! brands! can! contribute! to! the! financial! exploitation! of! their! existing! equity.!Pitta!&!Katsanis!(1995)!further!emphasize!on!this!by!outlining!how!companies!can! create!additional!revenue!streams!from!their!already!existing!brand!equity,!accounting!for! already! sunk! costs,! creating! the! possibility! of! new! dividend! derivation.! The! dichotomy! between! cost! saving! and! revenue! generation! is! advanced! further! by! other! advantages! of! brand! extensions,! such! as! increases! of! advertising! efficiency! as! outlined! by! Smith! &! Park! (1992),! which! enable! cost! savings! across! the! complete! marketing! mix! of! a! product.! These! findings! have! been! confirmed! by! a! study! by! Sullivan,! (1992),! in! which! she! found! that! on! average!brand!extension!advertising!expenditure!was!lower!than!for!new!products.!These! cost!saving!advantages!of!brand!extensions!extend!to!other!aspects,!which!are!outlined!by! Keller! (2013)! as! “reduc[ing]! costs! of! introductory! and! follow'up! marketing! programs! […]! avoid[ing]! cost! of! developing! a! new! brand! […]! allow[ing]! for! packaging! and! labeling! efficiencies”!(p.!437).!Successful!brand!extensions!may!enable!brands!to!extend!themselves! even!further!(Keller,!2013).!In!addition!to!the!financial!benefits,!successful!brand!extensions! can! create! positive! spillover! effects! to! the! parent! brand,! by! improving! perceptions! of! positive!attributes!within!customers!(Aaker!&!Keller,!1992).!Spillover!effects!are!often!based! on!perceptions!of!fit!between!the!parent!brand!and!its!brand!extension.!
! The!relationship!between!a!parent!brand!product!and!its!extension!product!has! been!observed!by!different!studies.!Tauber!(1981)!argues!that!in!the!case!of!the!introduction! of! a! category! extension,! often! sales! of! the! parent! brand! can! increase.! Wernerfelt! (1988)! developed!a!model!for!the!introduction!of!experience!goods!within!a!multiproduct!firm.!He! finds! that! brands! provide! nondissipative! indicators! of! relative! quality,! which! according! to!
DeGraba!&!Sullivan!(1995)!can!create!either!positive!or!negative!spillover!effects!from!one! product! to! another.! They! go! on! to! say! that! “customers! can! use! the! performance! of! one! product! to! rationally! infer! the! quality! of! other! products! using! the! same! name”! (p.! 231),! further! emphasizing! the! spillover! effects! that! parent! brand! products! and! their! extension! products!can!experience!in!terms!of!their!evaluation!by!consumers.!!
! Along! these! positive! effects! however,! it! is! important! to! note! that! brand! extensions!are!not!solely!advantageous,!and!can!be!potentially!damaging!to!a!parent!brand! or! company.! This! is! evidenced! by! the! fact! that! approximately! 80%! of! brand! extensions! introduced!within!the!fast!moving!consumer!goods!(FMCG)!market!end!up!failing!(Völckner! &! Sattler,! 2006).! In! addition! to! simply! having! a! newly! introduced! brand! extension! fail,! companies! risk! damaging! their! parent! brand! equity! due! to! negative! evaluation! of! the! extension! product! (Milberg,! Whan! Park,! &! McCarthy,! 1997),! which! becomes! especially! relevant!when!there!is!a!large!amount!of!fit!between!the!two!(Keller,!2013).!The!conflicting! findings! of! an! extension’s! reputational! spillover! effects! to! the! parent! brand! are! therefore! related!to!the!success!of!the!brand!extension!itself,!and!can!accordingly!be!either!positive!or! negative.!Even!if!the!extension!manages!to!be!successful,!in!case!of!a!category!extension,! identification!with!the!original!category!of!the!parent!brand!may!be!hindered.!This!can!thus! effectively! lead! to! reduced! brand! awareness! in! the! minds! of! consumers! (Morrin,! 1999).! Cannibalization!of!existing!products!as!well!as!the!creation!of!undesirable!associations!form! two!of!the!other!main!concerns!related!to!the!release!of!brand!extensions!(Aaker,!1990).!!All! in! all! the! extensive! existing! literature! on! the! subject! of! brand! extensions! highlights! the! versatility!and!possibilities!for!both!positive!and!negative!outcomes!that!they!are!associated! with.! In! regards! to! the! subject! of! this! thesis! however,! it! comes! into! question! if! brand! extensions!share!the!same!properties!when!they!are!considered!in!the!context!of!experience!
goods.!Seeing!as!the!majority!of!research!mentioned!within!this!subchapter!was!carried!out! on! FMCGs! or! comparable! products,! it! is! important! to! analyze! the! current! knowledge! of! brand!extensions!within!the!context!of!experience!goods.!! Brand!Extensions!of!Experience!Goods! ! ! The!main!products!being!considered!for!this!study,!namely!motion!pictures!and! their!cross'media!brand!extensions!in!the!form!of!video!games,!fall!under!the!category!of! experience!goods.!Often!also!referred!to!as!hedonic!goods!within!academic!literature,!they! differentiate!themselves!from!search!goods!and!credence!goods!by!the!fact!that!they!drive! the! experience! of! positive! human! emotions! of! the! user,! as! opposed! to! having! a! purely! instrumental!function,!when!going!after!the!definition!of!Wertenbroch!&!Dhar!(2000).!While! a!product!being!labeled!as!an!experience!good!seems!to!be!an!effective!way!of!demarcating! it! categorically! as! an! entertainment! or! media! good,! there! are! some! differences! in! the! application!of!the!term!throughout!academic!literature.!Other!authors!besides!Wertenbroch! &!Dhar!(2002)!employ!the!term!to!refer!to!products!“whose!quality!can!be!ascertained!only! after!using!it”!(Choi,!1998,!p.!2).!Going!with!this!definition!however,!it!becomes!evident!that! regular!FMCGs,!food!items!or!even!cleaning!products!could!be!considered!experience!goods,! thus!significantly!obstructing!the!categorization!process.!For!the!purpose!of!this!paper,!the! term!experience!good,!while!staying!true!to!the!property!of!needing!to!be!experienced!or! consumed! in! order! to! be! evaluated! by! the! consumer,! will! refer! only! to! digital! media! products,!specifically!motion!pictures!and!video!games.!!
! Consumers! in! the! position! to! make! purchase! decisions! regarding! experience! goods!are!often!affected!by!information!asymmetry,!meaning!that!informed!choices!about! which! product! to! consume! are! harder! to! make! due! to! a! lack! of! pre'existing! information!
perceived!prior!to!purchase!(Eliashberg!&!Sawhney,!1994;!Nelson,!1974).!In!his!paper,!Choi! (1998)! makes! the! case! that! brand! extensions! of! experience! goods! provide! the! consumer! with!informational!leverage!which!counteracts!the!information!asymmetry!surrounding!the! product.!He!further!explains!that!in!the!process!of!this,!an!extension!product!benefits!from! the!established!brand!name’s!reputation,!allowing!the!introduction!of!new!experience!goods! with!less!price!distortion.!He!further!emphasizes!that!reputational!sanctions!prevent!firms!of! branding! sub'par! quality! products! in! order! to! prevent! loss! of! reputational! rents,! as! a! negative!experience!with!an!extension!product!might!create!negative!associations!with!the! parent!product.!These!points!made!by!Choi!therefore!are!closely!related!to!the!properties! previously!observed!in!brand!extensions!without!a!focus!on!experience!goods.!!
! The! application! of! the! brand! extension! concept! to! novel! product! categories! which! have! not! been! evaluated! by! current! academic! research,! has! previously! been! suggested!by!authors!such!as!Völckner!&!Sattler!(2006),!and!has!been!limitedly!explored!by! some!authors!in!the!context!of!media!based!experience!goods!specifically.!One!of!the!most! prolific! papers! on! the! topic! was! published! by! Hennig'Thurau,! Houston,! &! Heitjans! (2009)! who! claim! to! have! created! a! model! to! “enable! managers! to! estimate! effectively! the! monetary!value!of!brand!extensions“!(p.!181)!in!the!context!of!motion!pictures,!which!falls! into!the!category!of!experience!goods.!Their!model!is!based!on!empirical!measures!relating! to! the! release! of! sequels! and! thus! solely! apt! for! the! prediction! of! the! profitability! of! line! extensions.! While! forming! a! solid! basis! for! the! research! at! hand,! Hennig'Thurau! et! al.'s! (2009)! model! and! research! in! total! however! effectively! ignores! the! possibility! of! brand! extensions!in!form!of!category!extensions,!specifically!within!the!field!of!experiential!goods.! This!sets!the!stage!for!new!research!in!order!to!explore!this!gap.!!
! The! propensity! towards! considering! sequels! as! the! sole! medium! for! brand! extensions! of! motion! pictures! has! been! repeated! throughout! the! literature.! Continuing! in! this!fashion,!Sood!&!Drèze!(2006)!examine!how!naming!practices!between!original!motion! pictures!and!their!brand!extensions!in!form!of!sequels!affect!consumer!evaluations.!Basuroy! &!Chatterjee!(2008)!also!agree!with!the!categorization!of!motion!picture!sequels!as!brand! extensions.! Within! their! research! they! compare! box! office! revenues! of! original! motion! pictures!and!their!sequels,!as!well!as!analyze!the!factor!of!eloped!time!between!original!and! sequel!release,!while!also!taking!the!amount!of!intermitted!sequels!and!their!effect!on!a!new! sequel!into!account.!Their!results!show!that!sequels!generally!do!not!perform!as!well!as!the! original! motion! pictures! they! are! based! on! in! terms! of! box'office! revenues.! More! interestingly!however,!due!to!the!time'component!of!their!analysis,!they!demonstrate!that! in!addition!to!the!aforementioned!difference!in!box!office!performance,!sequels!which!are! released!closer!to!the!original!motion!picture!perform!significantly!better!than!if!they!were! to!be!released!at!a!later!date.!Lastly!their!research!also!addresses!the!fact!that!if!a!motion! picture!franchise!has!a!larger!amount!of!sequels,!that!this!positively!impacts!all!new!sequels.! They!attribute!this!to!the!fact!that!a!larger!amount!of!sequels!creates!a!larger!amount!of! buzz,!thus!leading!to!increased!anticipation.!!!!
! While! these! articles! form! a! solid! basis! in! regards! to! the! role! of! monetary! and! evaluative!components!of!media!based!brand!extensions!(while!simultaneously!also!taking! other!novel!aspects!such!as!number!of!sequels!and!eloped!time!between!parent!product!and! extension! into! account),! the! literature! and! research! at! hand! still! only! operate! within! the! realm! of! one! singular! industry! or! one! singular! type! of! media! product.! The! existence! or! importance! of! the! explored! variables! within! the! realm! of! cross! media! brand! extensions! remains!yet!to!be!explored.!!
! Regardless!of!these!concepts,!Ainslie,!Drèze,!&!Zufryden!(2005)!note!that!large! media!productions!follow!an!exponential'decay!pattern!in!terms!of!revenue!generation.!This! implies! that! monetary! exploitation! of! media! based! products! is! time'bound! and! release! of! category! extensions! needs! to! occur! in! immediate! proximity! to! the! release! of! the! original! media!installment.!This!way!synchronous!release!of!products!can!be!ensured!and!additional! revenue! streams! can! be! created! early! on.! This! is! in! line! with! the! previously! mentioned! results! of! Basuroy! &! Chatterjee! (2008),! who! found! that! sequels! released! closer! to! the! original! motion! picture! perform! better! financially.! This! further! justifies! the! need! for! the! research!at!hand,!as!research!on!brand!extensions!which!are!released!along!with!the!original! product! (such! as! a! video! game! pertaining! to! a! motion! picture)! might! be! even! more! important!for!immediate!financial!gain,!than!knowledge!of!possible!future!brand!extensions! (such! as! sequels).! This! marks! category! extension! research! for! media! based! experiential! goods!as!highly!important,!in!order!to!secure!a!large!initial!profit!along!the!launch!of!the!first! installment!of!a!motion!picture!franchise,!as!opposed!to!the!previously!mentioned!research,! which!considers!the!financial!profitability!of!possible!future!installments.!!!!!! Reviews!as!Quality!Indicators! ! ! Consumer!and!expert!reviews!have!received!large!amounts!of!attention!within! the!academic!literature!focused!on!experience!goods,!with!differing!results.!Academics,!such! as! Eliashberg! &! Shugan! (1997),! draw! a! distinction! between! influencer! and! predictor! perspectives! within! expert! reviews,! distinguishing! their! ability! to! predict! or! influence! box! office! revenues! in! the! case! of! motion! pictures.! They! however! found! no! evidence! that! reviews! influence! box! office! revenues,! and! only! marginal! support! for! reviews’! ability! to! predict!them.!Basuroy,!Chatterjee,!&!Ravid,!(2003)!build!upon!Elisahberg!&!Shugan’s!results!
and!find!within!their!own!study!that!“[c]ritics!both!influence!and!predict!box!office!revenue,! or!they!predict!consistently!across!all!weeks”!(p.!109).!While!grounded!in!the!motion!picture! industry,!they!however!also!claim!that!“[they]!believe!the!results!may!be!applicable!to!other! industries! in! which! consumers! are! unable! to! assess! the! qualities! of! products! accurately! before! consumption”! (p.! 116),! i.e.! what! previously! has! been! discussed! to! be! defining! experience! goods! in! general.! However,! other! research! seems! to! find! different! properties! playing!into!the!effects!or!results!of!reviews.!Here,!Reinstein!&!Snyder!(2005)!for!example! find! some! support! for! influencer! effects,! however! find! that! it! is! only! applicable! to! certain! motion!picture!genres,!therefore!finding!only!marginal!support!for!the!theory.!Gemser!et!al.,! (2006)!go!further!in!their!distinction!to!find!that!expert!reviews!of!arthouse!motion!pictures! were! most! likely! to! influence! box! office! revenues! while! reviews! of! blockbuster! motion! pictures! are! only! likely! to! predict! them.! These! findings! are! limitedly! mirrored! within! the! video! game! industry! by! Zhu! &! Zhang! (2010)! who! similarly! find! influencer! effects! for! less! popular! video! games,! comparable! to! the! previously! mentioned! art'house! films,! however! focusing!on!consumer!reviews!instead!of!expert!reviews.!These!highly!divergent!results!in! regards!to!reviews’!effects!on!the!properties!of!the!product!they!are!regarding,!demonstrate! the!significance!of!investigating!their!properties!even!further.!!
! Regardless! of! expert! or! consumer! reviews’! ability! to! specifically! predict! or! influence!sales!of!an!experience!good,!it!is!of!vital!importance!to!consider!the!overarching! construct!in!which!the!concept!of!reviews!and!their!significance!can!be!positioned.!Holbrook! (1999),!claims!that!consumer,!producer!and!expert!reviews!use!different!criteria!in!order!to! evaluate!experience!goods,!however!that!their!judgments!of!quality!are!related!(although!it! is! not! completely! understood! how).! From! an! objectivist! point! of! view,! and! according! to! Hennig'Thurau,! Houston,! &! Sridhar! (2006),! critical! reviews! can! thus! act! as! an! overarching!
quality!indicator!for!an!experience!good.!Elberse!&!Anand!(2007)!support!this!view!by!using! a!combination!of!critical!reviews!as!an!indicator!of!overall!movie!quality.!Although!they!go! on!to!acknowledge!that!an!objective!measure!for!quality!cannot!exist!and!that!this!issue!is! exacerbated!by!the!experiential!nature!of!motion!pictures,!they!still!hold!the!opinion!that! critical!reviews!“represent!a!relevant!measure!of!quality”!(p.!325).!!
! Even! though! the! influencer! or! predictor! theories! have! resulted! in! ambiguous! results,!several!studies!still!confirm!positive!relationships!between!a!motion!picture’s!critical! reviews! and! its! box! office! earnings! (such! as! Elberse! &! Eliashberg,! 2003;! Ravid,! 1999;! Zufryden,!2000),!which!implies!a!relationship!between!motion!pictures’!compounded!critical! review! score! and! their! market! performance.! While! the! previously! discussed! research! is! focused!on!motion!pictures,!and!has!so!far!only!received!miniscule!consideration!in!the!case! of!video!games,!the!question!arises!if!quality!by!means!of!critical!positive!or!negative!critical! review!scores!is!related!to!video!games’!performance!on!the!market,!as!observed!in!the!case! of!motion!pictures.!!
! The!view!of!review!scores!representing!quality!indicators!is!also!taken!by!Hennig' Thurau! et! al.! (2009),! in! which! they! consider! the! concept! within! the! notion! of! brand! extensions!of!motion!pictures!in!forms!of!sequels.!Within!the!parent!brand,!they!refer!to!this! concept! as! “brand! image”,! deriving! a! score! by! “includ[ing]! assessments! from! consumers,! professional! critics,! and! industry! experts! as! a! reflective! scale”! (p.! 172).! They! evaluate! the! effect! this! concept! has! on! the! market! success! of! the! extension! product,! along! with! the! concept! of! “brand! awareness”,! which! they! derive! from! box! office! scores! of! the! parent! motion!picture!(i.e.!sales).!Considering!the!cross'media!nature!of!this!research,!the!question! arises!if!the!brand!image!and!awareness!of!the!parent!brand!(i.e.!a!motion!picture)!would!
Even!though!Hennig'Thurau!et!al.!(2009)!consider!the!concept!of!parent!brand!image!as!one! single!construct,!due!to!the!differences!between!expert!and!user!scores!made!apparent!by! the!previously!mentioned!research,!they!will!also!be!considered!separately!within!the!realm! of!this!research!as!consumer!critical!reviews!and!expert!critical!reviews.!This!consideration!of! the! properties! of! two! types! of! experience! goods! and! how! they! might! affect! each! other,! however!also!warrants!an!exploration!of!how!some!of!those!properties!are!evaluated!by!the! end! consumer.! This! will! be! analyzed! within! the! following! section,! which! will! attempt! to! connect!the!previously!presented!theoretical!constructs!pertaining!to!the!goods!themselves! further!to!their!consumption.! Dual!Processing!Path!Models! ! Two!of!the!largest!models!attempting!to!capture!how!information!is!processed!are! the!Heuristic'Systematic!Model!of!Information!Processing!(Eagly!&!Chaiken,!1993)!and!the! Elaboration! Likelihood! Model! (Petty! &! Cacioppo,! 1986).! Both! models! take! a! similar,! multidimensional!approach!to!the!information!processing!processes,!both!finding!two!main! routes! of! how! information! is! processed.! Respectively! these! are! systematic! processing! (or! central! route)! and! heuristic! processing! (or! peripheral! route).! Throughout! systematic! processing!“comprehensive!and!analytic!scrutiny!of!judgment'relevant!information”!(Chen,! Duckworth,!&!Chaiken,!1999,!p.!44)!takes!place,!which!requires!extensive!involvement!with! information!relevant!to!judgment!creation,!while!also!taking!involvement!with!the!presented! information!into!account!(Chen!et!al.,!1999).!Heuristic!processing!on!the!other!hand!makes! use!of!stored!memory!structures,!which!have!been!previously!learned.!During!the!formation! of!judgments!these!learned!memory!structures!are!accessed!and!act!as!a!primary!element! facilitating! the! process! of! verdict! creation,! therefore! limiting! the! amount! of! required!
cognitive! involvement! (Chen! et! al.,! 1999).! Heuristic! processing! can! even! return! in! the! context! of! the! previously! discussed! consumer! reviews.! Here! Sundar! (2008)! introduces! the! concept! of! bandwagon! heuristic.! He! implies! that! collective! endorsement! can! act! as! a! heuristic! cue,! bypassing! further,! individual! cognition,! significantly! affecting! individuals’! affect.!This!concept!has!been!applied!by!Livingston,!Nacke,!&!Mandryk!(2011)!in!the!context! of!video!game!reviews,!illustrating!heuristic!evaluation!processes!of!consumer!reviews!as!“if! others!think!something!is!good,!then!I!will!think!that!it!is!good,!too”!(p.!2)!
! Taking! heurtistic! processing! into! account,! Maheswaran,! Mackie,! &! Chaiken! (1992)! argue! that! brand! names! themselves! should! be! considered! as! a! “knowledge! structure! that! can! operate! as! a! judgmental! heuristic”! (p.! 318),! affecting! the! evaluation! of! products! in! relation! to! them! being! presented! with! a! previously! learned,! positively! associated! brand! name;!a!concept!which!is!apparent!within!the!context!of!brand!extensions.!They!go!on!to! mention! that! brand! names! as! knowledge! structures! can! provide! a! basis! for! judgments! or! decisions!regarding!products,!if!the!parent!brand!name!already!carries!positive!evaluations! within! the! consumers! mind,! arguing! that! “a! decision! to! buy! a! particular! product! may! be! based!merely!on!the!reputation!of!its!manufacturer”!(p.!318).!This!becomes!relevant!in!the! context!of!the!research!at!hand!when!considering!trademarked!names!of!motion!pictures!as! brand!names,!and!how!their!applicability!to!brand!extensions!(such!as!video!games),!could! produce!similar!effects.!!!
Within!the!context!of!this!research!I!therefore!argue!that!persuasion!cues!related!to! motion! picture! based! video! games! are! processed! heuristically,! and! that! positive! parent! brand! image! (i.e.! the! parent! brand! image! of! the! motion! picture),! will! largely! affect! processing!of!the!video!game!itself.!This!is!in!line!with!research!by!Maheswaran!et!al.!(1992)!
such!as!source!likeability!(which!in!the!case!of!the!research!at!hand!could!be!represented!by! the! characters! within! a! motion! picture! and! their! likeability),! limiting! the! amount! of! information!processing!required.!The!likeability!of!a!motion!picture!brand!should!therefore! be! able! to! affect! decision! making! in! the! context! of! a! related! video! game,! by! activating! previously!learned!and!stored!memory!structures,!as!“knowledge!structures!such!as!brand! name! can! generate! expectations! about! a! product! by! providing! diagnostic! information! regarding!the!product's!likely!quality”!(Maheswaran!et!al.,!1992,!p.!319).!!
This! is! further! grounded! in! statements! made! by! Buijzen,! Van! Reijmersdal,! &! Owen! (2010),!who!claim!the!heuristic!process!may!mainly!involve!evaluation!of!“simple!cues”!such! as!“source!attractiveness,!and!product!symbolism”!(p.!431),!evaluative!components!which! can!arguably!be!gathered!by!consumers!through!watching!a!motion!picture,!which!are!then! transferred! to! the! video! game! brand! extension.! They! argue! further! that! marketing! strategies,!principally!those!which!are!aimed!at!children!(to!whom!video!games,!at!least!in! part,! are! ostensibly! aimed! at,! too),! “rely! heavily! on! [heuristic]! processing,! due! to! their! increased! focus! on! emotion'! and! entertainment'based! strategies! rather! than! information! and!rational!argumentation”!(p.!431).!In!light!of!these!arguments,!it!could!be!argued!that!the! pre'existing! heuristic! cues! learned! during! the! consumption! of! a! motion! picture! (such! as! affinity! with! characters! or! storylines! as! well! as! positive! associations! which! have! been! generated!in!regards!to!a!motion!pictures’!franchise!brand)!would!have!a!stronger!effect!on! persuasion! cues! related! to! video'game! purchase,! than! cues! which! need! to! be! processed! cognitively!such!as!review!scores.!!!
! Returning!to!the!previously!discussed!topic!of!reviews!as!quality!indicators,!even! though! Hennig'Thurau! et! al.,! (2009)! amalgamate! professional! critic! and! user! reviews! into!
regarding!the!properties!of!reviews,!there!is!enough!empirical!evidence!to!consider!the!two! as! separate! constructs.! Therefore,! within! the! realm! of! this! research,! while! parent! brand! image! is! being! used! as! an! overarching! term,! it! is! still! considered! to! be! encompassing! two! separate!constructs!of!experts!and!user!critical!reviews.!I!therefore!argue!that!heuristic!cues! related!to!the!quality!of!a!motion!picture!(as!represented!by!review!scores)!can!affect!the! sales!of!brand!extensions!in!the!form!of!video!games.!That!is!to!say,!the!indication!of!higher! quality!of!a!motion!picture!garnered!as!a!heuristic!cue,!is!positively!related!with!sales!of!its! associated! video! game,! therefore! allowing! the! extension! to! inherit! the! brand! image! of! its! parent! brand.! Taking! the! previous! discussion! of! brand! image! and! review! scores! as! quality! indicators!into!account,!this!leads!to!the!two!following!hypotheses:! H1a:!Given!a!parent!brand!in!form!of!a!motion!picture!and!brand!extension!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! in!form!of!a!video!game,!parent'brand!image,!as!measured!by!expert!critical! evaluations,!is!positively!related!to!its!extension!product’s!sales.!! H1b:!Given!a!parent!brand!in!form!of!a!motion!picture!and!brand!extension!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! in!form!of!a!video!game,!parent'brand!image,!as!measured!by!user!critical! evaluations,!is!positively!related!to!its!extension!product’s!sales.!!! Coming!from!the!same!line!of!reasoning!I!propose!a!similar!relationship,!between!the! parent!brand!awareness!and!sales!of!the!extension!product:! H2:!Given!a!parent!brand!in!form!of!a!motion!picture!and!brand!extension!! !!!!!!!!! in!form!of!a!video!game,!parent!brand!awareness!is!positively!related!to!!! !!!!!!!! its!extension!product’s!sales.!!
In!addition!to!this!however,!taking!the!power!of!expert!reviews!as!quality!indicators! of!experience!goods!into!account,!I!propose!that!as!both!image!and!awareness!can!act!as! heuristic!cues,!that!they!moderate!the!relationship!between!expert!critical!reviews!of!video! games!and!their!effect!on!sales.!That!is!to!say!that!the!better!a!movie!is!perceived!to!be!(as! indicated!by!the!heuristic!evaluation!of!expert!critical!reviews!as!quality!indicators),!along! with! a! heightened! amount! of! awareness,! that! this! moderates! the! relationship! between! systematically!processed!critical!evaluations).!I!therefore!propose:!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!H3:!Given!a!parent!brand!in!form!of!a!motion!picture!and!brand!extension!in!!
! form!of!a!video!game,!parent!brand!expert!critical!reviews!and!awareness!moderate ! the!relationship!between!the!critical!evaluation!of!a!video'game!brand!and!!
Theoretical!Model! !
! !
! The! previously! discussed! literature! conclusively! shows! that! there! are! several!gaps!within!the!literature!that!deserve!attention.!Furthermore!the!subject!matter!at! hand! demonstrates! that! it! effectively! requires! input! from! such! a! diverse! set! of! studies! in! order!to!reach!necessary!conclusions.!The!lack!of!research!on!category!extensions!within!the! field! of! cross'media! based! experience! goods! and! how! their! properties! affect! each! other! represents!a!legitimate!gap!within!the!literature.!Furthermore!the!potential!profitability!for! companies! to! have! more! insight! into! the! process! of! launching! category! extensions! along! with! their! products! legitimizes! the! proposed! research! at! hand.! The! research! seeks! to! contribute! valuable! information! to! the! scientific! consensus! of! brand! extensions! for!
Heuris'c)Cues)
Systema'c)Processing) Parent)Brand)Image)
Expert)Cri'cal)
Evalua'on) User)Cri'cal)Evalua'on))
Parent)Brand)Awareness) Sales)
Expert)Cri'cal)Evalua'on)
Parent)Brand) Brand)Extension)
experience! goods,! while! also! adding! to! the! scientific! body! of! work! regarding! brand! extensions.! Therefore,! the! proposed! hypotheses! seek! to! shed! light! on! aspects! of! the! following!research!question:!!! ! How!do!parent!brand!image!and!awareness!interplay!with!an!extension!product’s!image!and! awareness!in!the!case!of!motion!pictures!with!crossmedia!brand!extensions!in!the!form!of! video!games?!!! !
III.!Methods!
Empirical!Setting! !The!empirical!material!for!this!study!consists!of!home!console!motion!picture'based! video! games! and! their! motion! picture! counterparts.! In! order! to! test! the! proposed! hypotheses,! analysis! of! secondary! data! available! about! motion! pictures! and! their! brand! extensions!in!the!form!of!video!games!has!been!conducted.!Due!to!the!subject!at!hand!and! due!to!the!finite!amount!of!videogames!based!on!motion!pictures!it!was!possible!to!obtain! the!complete!population!of!motion!picture!based!video!games,!therefore!avoiding!the!need! for!sampling.!! Data!was!however!restricted!similarly!as!in!Zhu!&!Zhang!(2010)!in!order!to!include! only!games!released!within!a!finite!time'period!(2001'2009)!for!five!of!the!best'selling!sixth! and! seventh! generation! home'consoles:! Xbox,! Xbox! 360,! Playstation! 2,! Playstation! 3,! Nintendo! Wii.! These! consoles! and! time! ranges! were! considered! due! to! their! similarity! in! sales! and! due! to! the! fact! that! they! are! positioned! similarly! as! 128bit! based! consoles,! and! their! focus! on! similar! consumer! markets.! Handheld! consoles,! mobile! game! apps! and! PC! gaming! were! not! included! due! to! their! difference! in! positioning,! pricing! and! distribution! systems.! ! This! has! lead! to! a! dataset! of! N=283! including! games! released! across! several! platforms.!Of!this!dataset!13!entries!needed!to!be!removed!due!to!excessive!lack!of!data,! resulting! in! N=270.! Alongside! each! of! the! videogames! considered,! data! on! the! motion! picture!on!which!the!game!is!based!has!been!paired!in!order!to!provide!a!conclusive!outlook! of!the!related!products.!!
Model!Specification! !
The! proposed! hypotheses! are! tested! according! to! the! following! statistical! model.! Specifications! and! explanations! regarding! the! individual! variables! within! the! model! are! outlined!in!Table!3.1.!! ! Table$3.1$Variable$and$Descriptions$ Variable!Name! Description! ActionAdventureDUMMY! Dummy!variable!indicating!that!game!is!an!action!/!adventure! game.!! AgeDifChange! Dummy!variable!indicating!if!motion!picture!and!video!game! received!different!age!restrictions.!! BoxOffice! Standardized!values!of!total,!worldwide!box!office!revenues!for! motion!picture!parent!brands,!which!have!been!adjusted!for! inflation.!! consolesSOLD! Amount!of!consoles!sold!of!video!game,!up!until!month!of! release!of!video!game.!! difRelDays! Difference!in!days!between!initial!release!of!motion!picture!and! video!game.!! metaScoreFILM! A!cumulative!critical!expert!score!of!the!motion!picture!parent! brand,!collected!from!MetaCritic!on!a!scale!from!0'100.!! metaScoreVG! A!cumulative!critical!expert!score!of!the!video!game!brand! extension,!collected!from!MetaCritic!on!a!scale!from!0'100.!! PlatformDUMMY! Dummy!variable!indicating!that!game!is!a!platformer!game.! racingDUMMY! Dummy!Variable!indicating!that!game!is!a!racing!game.!! salesVG! Standardized!worldwide!total!sales!of!individual!videogames!in! millions.! userScoreFILM! Cumulative!score!of!user'reviews!of!motion!picture!in!question! collected!from!MetaCritic,!on!a!scale!from!0'10.! userScoreVG! Cumulative!score!of!user'reviews!of!video!game!in!question! collected!from!MetaCritic,!on!a!scale!from!0'10.!! ! ! ! !
Variables!and!Data!Collection! !
The!complete!set!of!data!was!amalgamated!from!different!sources!to!give!a!collective! look!at!sales!information!and!critical!user!and!expert!evaluation!scores!for!motion!pictures! and!their!corresponding!brand!extensions!in!the!form!of!videogames.!Both!expert!and!user! review! scores! for! both! video! games! and! motion! pictures! (metaScoreVG,! userScoreVG,! metaScoreFILM,!userScoreFILM)!were!collected!from!MetaCritic!(hereafter!MC),!a!database! indexing!critical!review!scores!for!many!different!types!of!media,!which!has!been!commonly! employed!in!academic!research!(i.e.!King,!2007;!Simonton,!2005).!The!data!available!at!MC! are! compiled! expert! review! ratings,! presented! as! single! averages! of! critics’! review! scores,! ranging!from!0!–!100,!after!having!been!normalized!and!weighted,!sourced!from!different! publications! such! as! websites,! newspapers! and! magazines! (Plucker,! Kaufman,! Temple,! &! Qian,!2009).!User'scores!are!also!calculated!and!presented!by!MC!on!a!scale!from!0!to!10,!by! averaging!available!user!reviews.!In!case!of!a!user'score!not!having!been!made!available!yet! by!MC,!already!existing!user'scores,!or!user'scores!of!other!available!versions!of!the!game! were!averaged!and!added!to!the!relevant!entry!in!order!to!avoid!missing!data.!!
Data! regarding! sales! was! obtained! for! motion! pictures! (BoxOffice)! in! the! form! of! global!gross!box!office!revenues,!publicly!available!from!BoxOfficeMojo!(hereafter!BOM)!as! recommended!by!Plucker,!Holden,!&!Neustadter!(2008).!BOM!is!an!online!database!of!box! office! revenues.! These! box! office! revenues! were! subsequently! adjusted! for! inflation! and! then! normalized.! Sales! data! for! video! games! (salesVG)! was! obtained! from! VGChartz! (hereafter! VGC),! one! of! the! most! reliable! sources! in! terms! of! publicly! accessible! sales! information!regarding!video!games.!This!data!was!then!also!subsequently!normalized.!
After!this!data!had!been!obtained,!data!for!control!variables!was!collected.!!The!difference!in! release!days!between!motion!picture!and!video!game!(difRelDays)!has!been!calculated!by! recording! the! initial! release! date! of! the! motion! picture! (obtained! from! IMDb)! and! video! game!(obtained!from!VGC),!and!subtracting!them.!A!dummy!variable!(AgeDiffChange)!was! created!in!order!to!indicate!if!there!was!a!difference!in!age!rating!between!the!two!related! media! installments.! Because! motion! pictures! and! video! games! are! rated! by! two! different! agencies!(MPAA!and!ERSB!respectively),!scores!had!to!be!adjusted!and!were!converted!from! the!letter!grade!which!they!received!to!a!numeric!age!indication,!based!on!age'guidelines! given!by!the!MPAA!and!ESRB!on!their!websites.!Data!on!age!ratings!for!both!motion!pictures! and!video!games!was!retrieved!from!IMDb!and!MC!respectively.!IMDb!(standing!for!Internet! Movie! Database),! houses! diverse,! publicly! available! information! on! motion! pictures.! This! adjustment!can!be!summarized!as!follows:!!
!
!
!
Subsequently! a! dummy! variable! was! created! indicating! 0! if! there! was! no! change! in! age! rating,!'1!if!the!video!game!had!a!lower!age!rating!than!the!motion!picture,!or!1!if!the!video! game! had! a! higher! age! rating! than! the! motion! picture.! The! amount! of! consoles! sold! (consolesSOLD)! at! the! point! of! release! of! the! video'game! was! also! included! as! a! control! variable.!Data!for!this!was!obtained!from!both!MC!and!official!quarterly!reports!for!consoles! not! available! on! MC.! Genres! were! obtained! from! MC! for! videogame! data! as! well,! and! subsequently!cleaned!to!reduce!redundancy!resulting!in!the!following!eight!genres:!Action!/! Adventure,! Platformers,! Racing,! Shooters,! Fighting,! Simulation,! Rhythm! Games,!
MPAA! ESRB! Age!Conversion!
G! E! 0!
PG! E10+! 10!
PG13! T! 13!
Miscellaneous.! The! three! most! reoccurring! genres! were! included! as! dummy! variables! (ActionAdventureDUMMY,!PlatformDUMMY,!RacingDUMMY).!!
! Considering! that! the! main! predictors! included! parent! brand! awareness! and! image,! the! special! case! of! sequels! needed! to! be! taken! into! account! and! needed! to! be! treated! differently! from! non'sequel! motion! pictures.! Especially! due! to! the! argumentation! that! awareness!of!a!parent!brand!acts!as!a!heuristic!cue!affecting!sales!of!the!extension!product,! it!needs!to!be!kept!in!mind!that!when!there!are!several!motion!picture!sequels!with!several! video! game! brand! extensions,! that! these! will! enjoy! a! higher! amount! of! parent! brand! awareness! due! to! the! multiple! amounts! of! exposures! they! enjoy! through! their! multiple! releases.! The! importance! of! considering! previous! editions! properties’! effects,! has! been! highlighted!by!research!such!as!Situmeang,!Leenders,!&!Wijnberg!(2014).!In!order!to!account! for! such! effects! of! previous! versions,! motion! picture! sequels! had! their! MetaScores,! user! scores!and!box'office!revenues!averaged!with!previous!releases!in!their!franchise,!in!order!to! account!for!this!discrepancy.!!
Data! was! subsequently! arranged,! cleaned,! and! prepared! for! data! analysis.! For! this! purpose!AMOS!was!used!in!order!to!conduct!path!model!analysis!using!Structural!Equation! Modeling! (SEM).! AMOS! which! forms! part! of! statistical! analysis! software! SPSS,! allows! for! increasingly! accurate! creation! of! models! than! with! ordinary! multivariate,! statistical! techniques,!through!its!SEM!functions!(“IBM!'!SPSS!Amos,”!2014)!.!These!claims!are!reflected! in! papers! employing! the! software! for! research! purposes,! as! Ullman! describes! SEM! as! a! combination! of! multiple! regression! and! factor! analysis! (as! cited! in! Schreiber,! Nora,! Stage,! Barlow,!&!King,!2006).!
IV.!Results!
!An!inter'item!correlations!matrix!is!presented!in!Table!4.1,!while!the!standardized!regression! weights!are!presented!in!Table!4.2.!!
! 37 ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Table &4 .1 :&In te r/ Ite m& Co rr el ati on &Ma tr ix &a nd &D es cr ip tiv e& Sta tis tics & ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Me an ! S.D ! 1! 2! 3! 4! 5! 6! 7! 8! 9! 10 ! 11 ! 12 ! 1! BoxOffi ce ! 620238952 ! 445216837 ! 1. 00 ! 2! m etaS co re VG ! 57. 30 ! 12. 53 ! .2 6! 1. 00 ! 3! use rSc or eVG ! 6. 35 ! 1. 67 ! .2 2! .6 7! 1. 00 ! 4! m etaS CO RE fil m ! 63. 52 ! 17. 34 ! .4 3! .3 1! .1 6! 1. 00 ! 5! U se rS CO RE fil m ! 6. 91 ! 1. 30 ! .3 9! .2 6! .1 8! .8 4! 1. 00 ! 6! sal es VG ! 450851. 85 ! 607313. 86 ! .3 2! .4 0! .3 0! .2 8! .2 8! 1. 00 ! 7! con sol esS OL D ! 42810819. 47 ! 34277546. 10 ! G.0 3! G.0 7! .0 6! G.0 7! G.0 5! .0 6! 1. 00 ! 8! Ag eD ifC han ge ! G.0 4! .5 5! .0 0! .0 0! .0 4! G.0 6! G.10 ! G.1 1! .0 2! 1. 00 ! 9! di fRe lD ay s! 402. 84 ! 2095. 88 ! .31 ! .1 2! .1 3! .30 ! .2 8! .0 1! G.0 5! .0 9! 1. 00 ! 10 ! Ac tio Ad ve ntu re D U MMY !.7 6! .4 3! .1 3! G.0 5! G.0 2! G.0 4! G.0 6! G.0 1! .0 0! .0 0! .0 9! 1. 00 ! !11 !P latf or m D U MMY ! .1 4! .3 4! G.10 ! .1 8! .0 6! .1 1! .0 8! .0 7! G.0 4! G.0 3! G.0 8! G.7 0! 1. 00 !! 12 ! Rac in gD U MMY ! .0 3! .1 8! G.0 8! .1 3! .0 5! .0 2! .0 1! .0 2! .0 0! .0 9! G.0 3! G.3 3! G.0 7! 1. 00 !
Table&4.2&Standardized&Regression&Weights& !
Effects! ! β! Sig.!! Hypothesized!
Effect!
BoxOffice! !!salesVG! !!.334! <.001% +!
metaScoreVG! !!salesVG! !!.252! <.001% +!
UserSCOREfilm! !!salesVG! !!.217! .012% +!
metaSCOREfilm! !!salesVG! H.059! .521! H!
DifRelDays! !!salesVG! .000! .998! N/A!
AgeDifChange! !!salesVG! H.003! .951! N/A!
consolesSOLD! !!salesVG! H.068! .153! N/A!
userScoreVG! !!salesVG! .078! .102! N/A!
RacingDUMMY! !!salesVG! .120! .009% N/A!
ActioAdventureDUMMY! !!salesVG! .086! .063% N/A!
PlatformDUMMY! !!salesVG! .109! .018% N/A!
! ! ! ! !
Interaction!Effects! ! ! ! !
userSCOREfilm!!!!!!!*!metaScoreVG! !!salesVG! .048! .435% H! metaSCOREfilm!!!!!*!DifRelDays! !!salesVG! H.212! .002% N/A! metaSCOREfilm!!!!!*!userSCOREfilm! !!salesVG! .174! .003% N/A! BoxOffice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*!metaScoreVG! !!salesVG! .128! .040% H! metaSCOREfilm!!!!!*!BoxOffice! !!salesVG! H.041! .497! N/A! DifRelDays!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*!userScoreVG! !!salesVG! H.005! .925! N/A! DifRelDays!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*!BoxOffice! !!salesVG! H.057! .422! N/A! userScoreVG!!!!!!!!!!*!metaScoreVG! !!salesVG! .116! .026! N/A! !
%
The!results!indicate!that!video!game!sales!are!positively!related!to!the!amalgamated! expert! critical! evaluation! of! the! video! games! themselves! (as! represented! by! MetaScores)! (β=.252,!p<.001).!This!is!in!accordance!with!suggestions!made!by!Basuroy!et!al.,!(2003)!who! suggested! that! the! findings! of! the! relationship! between! expert! critical! reviews! and! sales! from! their! research! might! be! applicable! to! other! types! of! experience! goods! (in! this! case! video!games).!This!finding,!although!not!a!hypothesis!of!the!research!at!hand,!represents!an! important!precedent!for!the!evaluation!of!the!other!hypotheses.!In!addition!to!this,!results! indicate! that! sales! of! motion! picture! based! video! games! are! positively! related! to! parent! brand!awareness!(as!represented!by!total!box!office!revenues!of!the!parent!brand!motion!
picture)!(β=.334,!p!<.001)!These!results!lend!support!to!!H2.!H1a!was!not!supported!by!the! results,! which! found! that! the! amalgamated! expert! critical! motion! picture! reviews! (in! the! form! of! MetaScores)! had! no! significant! effect! on! the! sales! of! motion! picture! based! video! games!(β=H.059,!p=.521).!In!contrast!to!this,!critical!user!motion!picture!reviews!were!found! to!have!a!significant!effect!on!sales!of!related!video!games!(β=.217,!p=.012).!In!addition!to! this,! the! analysis! indicated! significant! interactions! between! the! MetaScore! and! the! user! score!of!the!motion!picture!
(β=.174,!p=.003),!as!well!as! the! box! office! revenues! of! the!motion!picture!and!the! MetaScore! of! the! video! game! (β! =.128,! p=.040)! .! The! interaction! between! user! critical! reviews! of! the! motion! picture! and! the! MetaScore! of! the! video! game!was!not!found!to!be! significant! (β=.048,!
p=.435).! These! divergent! results! bring! H3!into! question.! ! The! results! of! the! interaction! variables!have!been!illustrated!in!the!adjacent!graphs.!Included!control!variables!such!as!the! amount!of!consoles!sold!at!time!of!release!of!the!video!game,!change!in!age!rating!between! motion!picture!and!video!game,!and!difference!in!release!dates!alone!were!not!found!to!be! significant.!Two!of!the!included!genre!dummies!(RacingDummy!and!PlatformDummy)!were! 3.7 4.2 4.7 5.2 5.7 6.2 6.7 Low MetaScore
Motion Picture High MetaScore Motion Picture
Sa le s VG High User Score Motion Picture Low User Score Motion Picture Graphic 4.3 100 300 500 700 900 1100 1300
Low Box Office
Revenues High Box Office Revenues Sa le s VG Mi lli on s High MetaScore Video Game Low MetaScore Video Game Graphic 4.4
both! found! to! be! significant! (β=.120,! p=.009)! (β=.109,! p=.018),! in! contrast! to! ActionAdventureDUMMY!which!was!not!found!to!be!significant.!
Discussion%
! The!study!implies!mixed!results!and!raises!several!important!points!in!regards!to!its! results.!The!fact!that!expert!critical!reviews!of!videogames!were!positively!associated!with! their! sales,! reconfirms! suggestions! made! by! Basuroy! et! al.,! (2003),! in! which! they! expect! results!relating!to!the!relationship!between!expert!critical!reviews!and!sales!from!their!own! study! to! be! applicable! to! other! forms! of! entertainment! goods.! This! expectation! was! therefore!shown!to!be!consistent!in!the!case!of!video!games!and!set!an!important!precedent! for!the!proposed!hypotheses.!Considering!that!H1a!and!H1b!were!divergently!significant!has! important! implications! for! what! HennigHThurau! et! al.,! (2009)! consider! to! be! parent! brand! awareness!(i.e.!an!amalgamation!of!critical!user!and!expert!review!scores).!The!fact!that!only! the! critical! user! scores! were! significantly! related! to! video! games’! sales! and! that! critical! expert!reviews!were!not,!marks!the!importance!of!differentiating!between!the!two!and!their! importance! as! predictors! and! quality! markers! for! experience! goods.! This! supports! the! reasoning! of! Situmeang! et! al.,! (2014),! who! highlight! the! importance! of! considering! expert! and! consumer! reviews! as! separate! constructs,! specifically! mentioning! the! previously! discussed!study!by!HennigHThurau!et!al.,!(2009),!commenting!that!throughout!the!academic! literature! “it! is! also! not! uncommon! that! expert! and! consumer! reviews! are! combined! into! one!construct”!(Situmeang!et!al.,!2014,!p.!82)!again!emphasizing!the!difference!between!the! two.! ! With! this! study! being! the! first! to! examine! the! relationship! of! crossHmedia! brand! extensions!in!particular,!it!joins!the!ranks!of!many!previous!studies!examining!the!properties! of!user!and!expert!reviews,!investigating!the!relationships!of!experience!goods’!properties!and!their!effects!(i.e.!Eliashberg!&!Shugan,!1997;!Gemser!et!al.,!2006;!Reinstein!&!Snyder,! 2005)! offering! a! new! view! within! this! novel! context.! The! importance! of! this! cross! media! context!is!also!highlighted!when!considering!the!results!of!H2.!Here!the!results!support!the! model! of! HennigHThurau! et! al.,! (2009),! also! finding! parent! brand! awareness! (in! this! case,! measured! by! box! office! revenues! of! the! parent! product)! to! be! positively! related! to! the! market! performance! of! the! extension! product.! This! is! in! line! with! their! expectations,! and! therefore!shows!that!at!least!in!part!their!model!can!extend!beyond!brand!extensions!in!the! form! of! sequels,! and! in! this! case! holds! true! within! the! context! of! cross! media! brand! extensions,!as!they!found!within!their!own!research!that!brand!awareness!formed!one!of! “strongest!predictors!of!extension!success!in![their]!study”!(p.!182).!!
Moving!on!to!H3,!it!needs!to!be!considered!that,!while!user!and!expert!reviews!of! motion! pictures,! and! box! office! revenues! of! the! motion! pictures! were! hypothesized! to! interact! with! video! games’! sales,! that! parent! brand! expert! critical! reviews! and! awareness! were!hypothesized!to!moderate!the!relationship!between!the!critical!evaluation!of!a!videoH game! brand! and! its! sales.! When! this! is! considered! within! the! realm! of! the! previously! discussed!heuristic!and!systematic!processing!paths,!it!was!expected!that!cues!which!were! learned!heuristically!by!the!consumer!would!weaken!the!effect!of!expert!critical!reviews!on! the!sales!of!video!games.!That!is!to!say,!consumers!which!have!previously!been!exposed!to!a! media!franchise’s!brand!name,!and!which!have!built!up!affinity!with!characters,!storylines!or! other! intellectual! property! contained! within! the! franchise! are! more! likely! to! use! these! learned!cues!when!making!decisions!regarding!the!purchase!of!an!associated!video!game,! than!cues!regarding!the!quality!of!the!game!as!indicated!by!expert!reviews!(an!action!which! would!require!cognitive!effort!and!therefore!would!fall!under!systematic!processing).!This! would! result! in! the! moderation! of! systematic! processing! through! cues! associated! with!
heuristic! processing.! If! the! interaction! variables! userSCOREfilm! *! metaScoreVG! and! BoxOffice! *! metaScoreVG! would! have! been! significant,! it! could! have! been! inferred! that! expert!critical!review!scores!and!box!office!revenues!of!the!motion!picture!actually!indicate! an! amplification! of! the! effect! of! video! game! expert! critical! reviews! had! on! video! games’! sales.! However! due! to! the! statistical! insignificance! of! userSCOREfilm! *! metaScoreVG,! this! becomes!questionable,!and!results!in!the!rejection!of!H3.!!
Other!results,!mainly!those!from!control!variables,!imply!other!important!properties! of!the!brand!extensions!in!question.!The!fact!that!two!of!the!three!genre!related!dummy! variables! were! found! to! be! significant! implies! the! importance! of! genre! adherent! game! design,!with!platformer!games!exhibiting!the!largest!coefficient!(closely!followed!by!racing! games).! Another! interesting! finding! which! was! not! directly! related! to! the! proposed! hypotheses,! includes! the! significant! interaction! effect! between! motion! pictures’! expert! review!scores!and!the!difference!in!release!days!between!motion!picture!and!videoHgame.! This! finding! implies! that! the! longer! the! difference! between! release! of! both! media! installments,! the! worse! heuristic! cues! are! used! in! order! to! make! decisions! regarding! an! associated!video!game.!!
Academic%and%Managerial%Implications% !
The!previously!outlined!academic!implications!of!this!study!include!an!expansion!of! the!body!of!research!related!to!the!predictors!of!experience!good!sales.!At!the!same!time,! the! study! is! the! first! of! its! kind! to! assess! these! properties! between! crossHmedia! brand! extensions!within!media!franchises.!This!marks!one!of!the!most!novel!aspects!of!the!study!in! general,!due!to!the!paucity!of!information!or!any!studies!at!all!which!seek!to!quantitatively! analyze! the! properties! of! crossHmedia! products,! making! it! one! of! the! pioneering! studies!
