Jacks of All Trades and Masters of None: Audiences' Reactions to Spanning Genres in Feature Film Production

Through analyses of audience reception of U.S.-produced feature film projects from the period 2000-2003, I develop insight into the trade-off assumed in organizational ecology theory between an organization's niche width and its fitness. This assumption, termed the principle of allocation, hold...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Administrative science quarterly 2006-09, Vol.51 (3), p.420-450
Main Author: Hsu, Greta
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attitudes
Audience
Audiences
Business studies
Cinema
Ecology
Economic resources
Film archiving
Film criticism
Film producers
Film sequels
Genre
Motion picture industry
Motion pictures
Movies
Organization theory
Organizations
Popular culture
Popularity
Population ecology
Reception (Artistic works)
Studies
United States of America
Voting
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Summary:Through analyses of audience reception of U.S.-produced feature film projects from the period 2000-2003, I develop insight into the trade-off assumed in organizational ecology theory between an organization's niche width and its fitness. This assumption, termed the principle of allocation, holds that the greater the diversity in regions of resource space targeted by an organization, the lower the organization's capacity to perform well within them. Using data at both the professional critic and consumer levels, I demonstrate the empirical validity of this principle: films targeting more genres attract larger audiences but are less appealing to those audience members. Moreover, I find that audiences' perceptions of a film's fit with targeted genres drive this trade-off, as multi-genre films are difficult for audiences to make sense of, leading to poor fit with tastes and lowered appeal. These findings highlight the key role audiences' perceptions play in the trade-offs associated with different niche strategies.
ISSN:0001-8392
1930-3815
DOI:10.2189/asqu.51.3.420