| By: |
Paolo Bizzozero (Department of Business Administration, University of Zurich);
Raphael Flepp (Department of Business Administration, University of Zurich);
Egon Franck (Department of Business Administration, University of Zurich) |
| Abstract: |
This paper empirically examines how suspense and surprise explain demand for
entertainment. We employ the Wimbledon Championships tennis tournament as a
natural laboratory. This setting allows the operationalization of suspense and
surprise via the audience’s belief about the final outcome of the match and
the observation of the demand for live entertainment via TV audience figures.
Using 8,563 minute-level observations from 80 matches between 2009 and 2014,
our fixed-effects estimates show that suspense and surprise are both driving
forces behind media entertainment demand. Our results have important
implications for the design of entertainment content in general in order to
maximize entertainment demand. |
| Keywords: |
Suspense, Surprise, Entertainment, TV Audience, Betting Odds, Tennis |
| JEL: |
D83 L82 L83 |
| Date: |
2015–07 |
| URL: |
http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zrh:wpaper:357&r=spo |