The Consumption Side of Entertainment

Abstract

To be successful, entertainment managers need to have a good understanding of consumer behavior and how consumers make decisions. At the heart of this chapter is the sensations-familiarity framework that argues that the success of an entertainment product always hinges on the delicate balance between offering enough fresh sensations to be intriguing to the consumer while connecting to things that the consumer already cares about (i.e., familiarity). Further, their hedonic nature demands that entertainment products must connect to consumers’ emotions and create imagery that enables the fulfillment of specific motives such as escapism. Essential for such fulfillment is that consumers get transported, are immersed, or experience a state of flow. To conclude the chapter, we tie all of these concepts into a unified process model to help managers understand how consumers make decisions about the consumption of entertainment, either in isolation or as part of a group.