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    EntertainmentRemove Entertainment →

    New research on entertainment from Harvard Business School faculty on issues including management of entertainment companies, talent management, and entertainment strategy.
    Page 1 of 16 Results
    • 03 Jan 2023
    • Cold Call Podcast

    Wordle: Can a Pandemic Phenomenon Sustain in the Long Term?

    Re: Christina M. Wallace

    Wordle went from a personal game, created by a developer for his girlfriend, to a global phenomenon with two million users in just a few months. Then The New York Times made an unexpected bid to acquire it. But will Wordle outlast other pandemic pastimes? Harvard Business School senior lecturer Christina Wallace discusses the journey of software engineer and accidental entrepreneur Josh Wardle in the case, “Wordle.”

    • 15 Nov 2022
    • Op-Ed

    Why TikTok Is Beating YouTube for Eyeball Time (It’s Not Just the Dance Videos)

    by John Deighton and Leora Kornfeld

    Quirky amateur video clips might draw people to TikTok, but its algorithm keeps them watching. John Deighton and Leora Kornfeld explore the factors that helped propel TikTok ahead of established social platforms, and where it might go next.

    • 23 Nov 2021
    • Research & Ideas

    The Vinyl Renaissance: Take Those Old Records Off the Shelf

    by Christine Pazzanese, Harvard Gazette

    If listeners today can stream just about any song they want, why are so many music aficionados still buying records? Ryan Raffaelli and Gold Rush Vinyl CEO Caren Kelleher discuss the resurgence of vinyl. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 17 Mar 2021
    • Working Paper Summaries

    Consuming Contests: Outcome Uncertainty and Spectator Demand for Contest-based Entertainment

    by Patrick J. Ferguson and Karim R. Lakhani

    Analysis of Australian Football League data shows that the uncertainty of game outcomes has a large, positive causal effect on stadium attendance. These findings show how competitive balance is important for contest designers in general and sports leagues in particular.

    • 04 Jan 2021
    • Working Paper Summaries

    The Twofold Effect of Customer Retention in Freemium Settings

    by Eva Ascarza, Oded Netzer, and Julian Runge

    Many digital products offer “freemiums”: that is, part of the product for free, often with advertising, and an enhanced customer experience for payment. This research, in a mobile game context, shows the importance of recognizing the short- and long-term effects on customer retention when managing the tradeoffs between free and paid aspects of freemium products.

    • 03 Apr 2019
    • Working Paper Summaries

    Learning or Playing? The Effect of Gamified Training on Performance

    by Ryan W. Buell, Wei Cai, and Tatiana Sandino

    Games-based training is widely used to engage and motivate employees to learn, but research about its effectiveness has been scant. This study at a large professional services firm adopting a gamified training platform showed the training helps performance when employees are already highly engaged, and harms performance when they’re not.

    • 27 Feb 2019
    • Working Paper Summaries

    Judgment Aggregation in Creative Production: Evidence from the Movie Industry

    by Hong Luo, Jeffrey T. Macher, and Michael Wahlen

    Selecting early-stage ideas in creative industries is challenging because consumer taste is hard to predict and the quantity to sift through is large. Using The Black List that ranks scripts annually based on nominations from film executives, this study shows that aggregating expert opinions helps reduce quality uncertainty and can influence high-budget production.

    • 04 Jun 2018
    • Research & Ideas

    Think of it as Professors in Cars Having Coffee

    by Sean Silverthorne

    Has the art of civil debate returned? In the new Harvard Business School podcast series After Hours, professors Youngme Moon, Felix Oberholzer-Gee, and Mihir Desai discuss issues ranging from gun control to voice-activated digital assistants. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 26 Feb 2018
    • Research & Ideas

    The Airbnb Effect: Cheaper Rooms for Travelers, Less Revenue for Hotels

    by Dina Gerdeman

    Hotels enjoy their highest profits when rooms are most in demand, like during holidays and big events. Unfortunately for them, Airbnb is taking away some of that pricing power, according to new research by Chiara Farronato and Andrey Fradkin. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 12 Oct 2017
    • Cold Call Podcast

    Telemundo: The Fastest Growing TV Network in the United States

    Re: Henry W. McGee

    Telemundo is the fastest-growing television network in the United States, but Chairman Cesar Conde must attract millennials to the fold. In this podcast, Henry McGee discusses Telemundo's David and Goliath rise. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 18 May 2017
    • Cold Call Podcast

    Reversing the Losing Streak on Sesame Street

    Re: Rosabeth M. Kanter & Ryan L. Raffaelli

    When CEO Jeffrey Dunn took over Sesame Street in 2014 with a new mission to “Make kids smarter, stronger, and kinder,” skepticism ran high as Big Bird's hair. In this podcast, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, who wrote the case with Ryan Raffaelli, talks about reversing a losing streak, answering foundational questions like, “Who are we if we make this deal?” Open for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 19 Jan 2017
    • Cold Call Podcast

    Can Wynton Marsalis and Lincoln Center Save Jazz Music?

    Re: Rohit Deshpande

    With its listenership in steep decline, jazz legend Wynton Marsalis is looking to rebrand the genre and engineer its comeback. Rohit Deshpande discusses his recent case study on the effort. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 06 Oct 2016
    • Cold Call Podcast

    The Munich Oktoberfest: From Local Tradition to Global Capitalism

    Re: Juan Alcacer

    Professor Juan Alcacer discusses how the Oktoberfest brand has been transplanted around the globe, whether copycat festivals help or hurt its reputation, and to what extent its original hosts could or should be profit-motivated. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 08 Sep 2016
    • Cold Call Podcast

    How Netflix Built its House of Cards (and Changed TV Forever)

    Re: Anita Elberse

    The TV drama "House of Cards" not only made Netflix a major entertainment player, but it changed the viewing habits of millions of watchers. In this Cold Call Podcast, Anita Elberse discusses her case study on the impact of this pioneering series and the small production company behind it. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 29 Jan 2013
    • Research & Ideas

    Creating the Perfect Super Bowl Ad

    by Kim Girard

    Professor Thales S. Teixeira says TV viewers lose purchasing interest when ads get too caught up in entertainment. His advice for the perfect pitch: tie together a good story and a compelling brand. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

    • 01 Oct 2012
    • Research & Ideas

    Better by the Bundle?

    by Dina Gerdeman

    Video game companies do it, fast-food restaurants, too. Why don't more companies bundle products and services together in one package at a bargain price? Research by Assistant Professor Vineet Kumar. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

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