Nov 21, 2013 11:06 AM EST By Jaleesa Baulkman, UniversityHerald Reporter

The blogosphere can be a factor in determining how well a film performs at the box office, according to a recent study.

Pradeep K. Chintagunta of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, together with Shyam Gopinath of the University of Utah, and Sriram Venkataraman of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, found that blogging can boost how movies perform at the box office, particularly in local markets, according to a press release.

The study examined the pre- and post-release performance of 75 movies released in 2004 in 208 geographic markets in the United States across three measures: nationwide consumer-generated blog volume; blog "valence" -a positive or negative sentiment written by a blogger - and studio advertising, researchers found that gender, income, race and age of the local population are the biggest indicators of how a movie will perform in individual markets, according to a press release.

Based on the study, blog readers tend to be young, so the local readership will likely mimic the area's demographics. If the population skews older, blogs will have less impact on moviegoers' behavior.

Researchers also discovered that the biggest impact on box office performance is gender.

According to the study, a higher proportion of women in a population lower box office performance with regard to blog valence and advertising much more than any other demographic feature.

Having more women in a market makes it less responsive to blog sentiments and advertising, while having more young consumers in market enhances the impact of blog volume, but they are less responsive to advertising.  

Both blogs and advertising are futile to those with high income. Researchers concluded "that studios engaging in spot advertising" should probably reduce their advertising in markets with higher income, as well as those with more women and more young consumers.

"These rankings can provide studios with information on how to target release markets, especially if a movie is in limited release," researchers said.

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