Dynamics of pre-release consumer buzz: Driving communication, search, and participation for market performance

Abstract While pre-release consumer buzz may drive new product market performance, little is known about the importance of its distinct behavioral manifestations: communication, search, and participation. This paper not only studies how these three pre-release buzz behaviors affect market performance but also their dynamic interplay and how firms can drive pre-release buzz. Using movie data, we find self-enhancing and spillover effects of buzz throughout the pre-release period. For driving communication and search behaviors, firm social media posts are most effective, while movie trailers are most effective in evoking participatory behaviors. Furthermore, box office sales benefit the most from pre-release communication, followed by participation and search. These findings extend current knowledge by showing that while all buzz behaviors matter for driving market performance, communication plays a central role due to its powerful spillover effects on search and participation, and firms can effectively stimulate it through social media posts about the new product.