Understanding the Relation between Expert Reviews and Cultural Product

This study set out to investigate the relationship between expert reviews and music industry products. In this respect, a web-based experiment has been conducted on a voluntary sample of undergraduate students, using live concert as a cultural product category. The participants have been exposed to a consumption intention-decision context of an upcoming in the near-future, unplanned event of a popular singer before which they come across an expert review about the artist¿s recent concert framed in a top selling magazine. Further, research design manipulated the valence (negative or positive) of critics¿ judgments. Findings suggest that attendance intentions, cognition and affect of persons in regard to the experience product change accordingly with the direction of expert opinion, thus, supporting the influencer role of critics. Therefore, this book provides a good background for concert organizers and artist managers to consider the complex effects of price, time, and expert media criticism on the assessment of consumer reactions related with the purchase of a concert ticket.