When Audiences and Critics Disagree : A Configurational Study on Categories and Cultural Valuation

Research output: Conference PapersRGC 33 - Other conference paper

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Detail(s)

Original languageEnglish
Publication statusPresented - 4 Jul 2024

Conference

Title40th European Group for Organizational Studies (EGOS) Colloquium
LocationUniversity of Milano-Bicocca
PlaceItaly
CityMilan
Period4 - 6 July 2024

Abstract

Prior studies in cultural valuation have shown that critics and general audiences could have distinctive tastes, but little is explained about how each group materializes its evaluation criteria in a given context. To address this issue, we studied feature films that received a positive overall rating from audiences but not critics and explored factors that contributed to the financial success of these films. Leveraging the importance of the genre system in the film industry and building on the category literature, we articulated core concepts in categories and theorized their unique influence on audiences and critics. Using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), we identified configurations that consistently led to high performance and investigated the specific cases within each configuration qualitatively. We found that categorical features played various roles in the four configurations in our analysis, showing multiple ways of generating appeal among audiences. By comparing critics’ reviews of the case exemplars, we showed that experts employed alternative reasonings and considered the same conditions that audiences considered in a different manner. We demonstrated ways in which categories and categorical features could cause disagreement between groups of audiences in evaluation.

Research Area(s)

  • Audiences, intermediaries, categories, configurational approach, qualitative comparative analysis

Citation Format(s)

When Audiences and Critics Disagree: A Configurational Study on Categories and Cultural Valuation. / Chau, Yau; LI, Stan Xiao.
2024. 40th European Group for Organizational Studies (EGOS) Colloquium, Milan, Italy.

Research output: Conference PapersRGC 33 - Other conference paper