Master Thesis IESEG, International Business School

1. Facebook and the Cinema:
Assessing the Value of Facebook Fan
Pages and its Impact on Facebook
Users' Behaviors toward Movie
Consumption
----------------------------------
Master Thesis
By Florence Poirel
Academic Advisors
Dr. Carlos Rodriguez, Delaware State University, USA
Dr. Constantinos Coursaris, Michigan State University, USA
IESEG, International Business School, Lille-Paris, France

2. Abstract
Research Title: “Facebook and the Cinema”
Research Purpose: “Assessing the Value of Facebook Fan Pages and its Impact
on Facebook Users‟ Behaviors toward Movie Consumption”
Research Question: What is the impact of Facebook Fan pages on Facebook
users‟ attitudes and behaviors toward movies and their related consumption?
And how can companies drive consumers to legally consume their movies?
Research Methodology: Using an inductive approach, constructs were
identified from a comprehensive literature review and data was collected from
survey questionnaires administrated to students (N=200). A model was proposed
from the combination of the Technology Acceptance Model and Theory of
Planned Behavior.
Research Findings: Simple regressions showed that all the hypotheses are
accepted: the perceived value of the Facebook fan page, the attitude toward
behavior, perceived pressure, and perceived risk help explaining the formation
of the behavioral intention. However, only the perceived value of the Facebook
fan page and the perceived risk actually predict the formation of the users‟
intention to behave.
Research Limitations: The study evaluated self-reported behavioral intentions
and could therefore have introduced inaccuracies. Moreover, the list of proposed
solutions is not exhaustive, and further research can be needed.
Practical Implications: Findings will help movie marketers to address the key
aspects which influence consumers‟ behavioral intentions toward movies and
their related consumption. Solutions were proposed to increase the value of the
Facebook page while reducing „risk‟ messages.
Originality: This research is unique in the sense that the theory of Planned
Behavior and the Technology Acceptance model have never been tested jointly
in the context of Facebook Fan pages as the technology and the cinema industry
as the market.

3. 1. Introduction
"The characteristics of all successful communities: broadly
shared, accessible set of opportunities, a shared sense of (Bill Clinton,
responsibility for the success of the common enterprise, and a TED2007)1
genuine sense of belonging."
1. 1. Research Problem Statement
The Society of Digital Agencies reported in the 2010 Digital Marketing Outlook that
"social network-related marketing" is the 2010-2012 first concern amidst senior marketing
executives. It is even considered as more important than email and mobile marketing, search
optimization and other digital marketing campaigns.
Social Media is a very young phenomenon in terms of tools for marketing but it
started back in the 80's with the apparition and proliferation of tchats, forums, and blogs2.
People were able to share files, links, but more importantly ideas. Back in the 80's, marketers
were not really concerned with social media as generally only technology-oriented people
(and accordingly early adopters) were using Social Media. They thought that this population
did not represent a big enough target to be considered.
Since the early 2000, several social media have emerged and gained popularity, and
the traditional mass marketing model is highly challenged. Now that the main social networks
(Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin) count more users than the population3 of most countries
(Facebook: 800 million active users, Twitter: over 100 million, Linkedin: over 135 million 4),
social media is seen as an entire component of modern society. Not only early adopters utilize
these networks but a wide range of the global population: men and women from 18 (legal
minimum age for most of social networks) do. Buchwalter (2009) added that social media
were flourishing among customer and professional communities and that online access was
now a necessity. According to a study by Richard K. Miller & Associates (2011 p. 393),
"social networking now accounts for 11% of all time spent online in the U.S". Social
Networks are therefore platforms marketers cannot neglect anymore. As Marketing formerly
wanted to create trends, they are now forced to follow one.
1
See Appendix 3
2
(Chapman, 2009)
3
Source: http://www.populationdata.net/
4
Source: http://facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics/, (Kiser, 2010), http://press.linkedin.com/about/

4. Social networking is one of the largest actual trends and Facebook is one of its stages.
'Brands can take directions in social media today that would have been unlikely if not
impossible five years ago' (Mignon, et al., 2011 p. 21). Before Facebook, consumers had an
indirect relationship with brands: they bought products from retailers and saw advertisement
on billboards or television. Earlier in Marketing via Facebook, companies did not have a big
presence on the platform. Most of the time, firms' pages displayed basic information, but
nothing more sophisticated. Today's Marketing is much more elaborated. Facebook is now a
platform to promote the product (or service), connect with fans, and propose deeper
interaction with the targeted audience. The relationship with consumers/fans is direct and
more and more firms use Social Media specific messages to get their clients involved online:
"Like us on Facebook", "Follow us on Twitter", "Subscribe on YouTube", or "Connect with us
on LinkedIn". Companies interact with their audience on this interface and engage fans in the
discussion. Interaction and Engagement are two very important dimensions but they are not
sufficient to fulfill firms' sales objectives. People are more and more willing to support the
brands they respect and like; Facebook users "like" firms and brands' pages, whether they
consume it or not, whether they buy it or not. For instance, 4,889,2875 people like the
Facebook page of Dior, but not all of these 4,889,287 individuals actually purchase Dior
products. Some of them may like the page because they like the brand even though they
cannot afford to consume it.
Interested in the Cinema industry, I decided to link the two topics: Facebook as a
social networking platform and marketing tool, and movies as the products. The first
difference between movies and Dior products is that people can afford theater tickets or
DVDs when they may never afford Dior bags or perfumes. But the Cinema industry suffers
from a structural transformation into the so-called Video-on-Demand industry, or VOD
market, with the increase of movie streaming and downloading. Some firms found the door to
enter that market while providing charged services. Netflix, for instance, a movie rental
service, is the largest legal online films provider in the world with more than 6.3 million
subscribers and a compilation of over 75,000 movies (Chiu, et al., 2007). But Video
Streaming is most often an illegal activity facilitated by the numerous new tools available
online. Both Facebook and Video Streaming are online tools and activities. I am now
interested in exploring how Facebook can help movie producers and marketers to survive
within this growing fierce market.
5
Statistics on Dior's Facebook page, 6th September 2011.

5. 1. 2. Research Purpose
Facebook is a platform 'to promote the product (or service), connect with fans, and
propose deeper interaction with the targeted audience'6. Getting fans is already part of the
brands goals: they want „more‟ fans now. Getting them engaged is already one of their
realizations: customers comment, respond, ask questions, etc. Social networks are useful tools
for brands to connect with customers, interact with them and engage them into discussions.
Followers, fans and contacts can be great ambassadors of brands as long as the firms are
willing to build relationships based on transparency and trust. Today's Marketing is much
more elaborated.
The literature lacks of information regarding Facebook users' attitudes and behaviors
toward movies. This paper studies the behavior of Facebook users toward movies. The
advantage of this product selection is that I consider movies as being “affordable” and “easily
accessible” goods. Moreover, the Facebook Fan pages of movies are studied as the marketing
tool as they are an interface between the Facebook user (and potential customer) and the
movie. Therefore, the study concentrates on the Facebook Fan Page as the technology, the
Facebook users as the population, the movies as the products, the movie consumption as the
behavior, and the visit on the Fan page as the situation. The 'brands' refers to the Movie
agencies, Movie studios and producers, and movie marketing companies or any firm that
works on behalf of these movies.
The ultimate purpose of my research is to assess the impact of the Facebook
Movie Fan Page in influencing Facebook users' attitudes and behaviors toward movie
consumption. It is also to understand the users' decision making process that takes place from
the movie awareness on the Facebook page to the movie consumption, and how the behavior
of the Facebook users toward a movie can be influenced by marketers via the related
Facebook Movie Fan Page.
The final goal, and contribution for marketers, is to determine how to drive Facebook
users into legally consuming the movies by delivering a non-exhaustive list of solutions for
firms to transform these "virtual consumers" into actually legal consumers and customers of
the movies. This legal consumption includes going to the theater, buying or renting the DVD,
and legally downloading or streaming the movie.
6
Source: http://www.Facebook.com/

6. 1. 3. Research Questions
1. 3. 1. Research Question
As my goal is to assess the value of the Facebook Fan Page to change Facebook users'
behaviors toward movies and their related consuming behavior, the main research question is:
what is the impact of Facebook Fan Pages on Facebook users’ attitudes and
behaviors toward movies and their related consumption?
1. 3. 2. Sub-questions
The sub-questions are as follow:
o Do Facebook users visit Facebook movie Fan Pages?
 Do Facebook users find Facebook Fan Pages useful?
 How do they engage with the movie on Facebook?
 How this technology platform and its social richness impacts on their decision
making process regarding the movie legal consumption?
o How do they form their attitudes toward the movies?
 Do Facebook users process information as other consumers?
 What options do they consider when they intend to consume a movie?
o How are their intentions [to consume the movie] influenced?
 How are their intentions influenced by their Facebook personal networks?
 How are their intentions influenced by the different types of content that the
Facebook Fan Page provides?
o How can companies drive Facebook users toward legal movie consumption?
For more information, please contact me at
florencepoirel[at]gmail[dot]com