star wars fandom

Prior Product PreferencePrior Product Preference

Dr Stephen DannAMPR, QUT

Dr Stephen DannAMPR, QUT

Influence of Previous Star Wars Films on Star Wars Fan Attitudes

BackgroundBackground

A long time ago in a market research lab far

far away…

A long time ago in a market research lab far

far away…

Project SummaryProject Summary

• Influence of Prior Product Attitudes towards– Episode III

– Commercial exploitation of the franchise

• Influence of Prior Product Attitudes towards– Episode III

– Commercial exploitation of the franchise

MethodMethod

• Survey– personally administered to the sample

population – 200 surveys / 178 useable response (89%)– estimated total population of 300 filmgoers

(n=178, 60% response rate overall).

– Selection of the sampling unit was based on the cinema where the author and their assistant had tickets to the midnight screening.

• Survey– personally administered to the sample

population – 200 surveys / 178 useable response (89%)– estimated total population of 300 filmgoers

(n=178, 60% response rate overall).

– Selection of the sampling unit was based on the cinema where the author and their assistant had tickets to the midnight screening.

StudyStudy

• Opinion towards prior Star Wars Movies

• Attitude/Optimism towards Episode III

• Attitude towards Advertising

• Opinion towards prior Star Wars Movies

• Attitude/Optimism towards Episode III

• Attitude towards Advertising

SampleSample

– 178 respondents, • 124 males• 42 females (n=166)

– Ages • 16 to 41, • mean of age of 26.4 (SD=5.8).

– Ethnicity • 88% self identified as Australian, • 12% self identifying with 11 different

nationalities (n=164).

– 178 respondents, • 124 males• 42 females (n=166)

– Ages • 16 to 41, • mean of age of 26.4 (SD=5.8).

– Ethnicity • 88% self identified as Australian, • 12% self identifying with 11 different

nationalities (n=164).

Prior AttitudesPrior Attitudes

Movie Mean SD

Liked Episode I: The Phantom Menace

3.22 1.21

Liked Episode II: Attack of the Clones 3.71 1.08

Liked Episode IV: A New Hope 4.50 0.75

Liked Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

4.74 0.59

Liked Episode IV: Return of the Jedi 4.63 0.66

Prior Product and Optimism

Prior Product and Optimism

• Movie Optimism Scale– based on in part on the Richins (1997) three

item optimism scale.

• Scale Vital Stats– inter item correlation mean of .5507, – alpha coefficient of .8529. – Factor Analysis

• Bartlett's Test of Sphericity was significant, • Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling

Adequacy was .762• Correlations were appropriate• initial eigenvalue of 3.213, explaining 64% of

the variance

• Movie Optimism Scale– based on in part on the Richins (1997) three

item optimism scale.

• Scale Vital Stats– inter item correlation mean of .5507, – alpha coefficient of .8529. – Factor Analysis

• Bartlett's Test of Sphericity was significant, • Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling

Adequacy was .762• Correlations were appropriate• initial eigenvalue of 3.213, explaining 64% of

the variance

Prior Product v OptimismPrior Product v Optimism

Table 4: Prior Product Preference and Optimism towards Episode III

Episode I II IV V VI

The trailer left me excited .294** .388** .262** .331** .211**

I am optimistic about Episode III - .290** - .195* -

I believe Episode III will be a good film .387** .538** .279** .309** .258**

I am hopeful about Episode III .203** .354** .325** .274** .240**

TV commercials have encouraged me to be optimistic about Episode III - .224** .214** .230** .166*

Summed scale 0.275** 0.437** 0.292** 0.333** 0.241**

** Correlation is significant at the .01 level (2-tailed).

SummarySummary

• Attitude towards Episode II produced the most consistent, and strongest, relationships. – liked Episode II felt more positively inclined

towards Episode III.

– absence of a relationship between preferences for Episode I, IV and VI was unexpected

– weak relationship between Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and optimism for Episode III may be related to the darker overtones of both movies

• Attitude towards Episode II produced the most consistent, and strongest, relationships. – liked Episode II felt more positively inclined

towards Episode III.

– absence of a relationship between preferences for Episode I, IV and VI was unexpected

– weak relationship between Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and optimism for Episode III may be related to the darker overtones of both movies

Prior Product Experience and Advertising

Prior Product Experience and Advertising

• Five scale summed item totals relating to advertising were correlated against the attitudes towards the five Star Wars movies

• Attitudes to advertising were measured on a five item semantic differential scale

• Five scale summed item totals relating to advertising were correlated against the attitudes towards the five Star Wars movies

• Attitudes to advertising were measured on a five item semantic differential scale

Semantic ScaleSemantic Scale

• "not at all objectionable“• "not annoying“• "not at all exploitative“• "very persuasive“• "impressive, most impressive“

– alpha of .8244, – average inter-item correlation

of .4812 – single factor (eigenvalue 2.938,

variance 58.77%).

• "not at all objectionable“• "not annoying“• "not at all exploitative“• "very persuasive“• "impressive, most impressive“

– alpha of .8244, – average inter-item correlation

of .4812 – single factor (eigenvalue 2.938,

variance 58.77%).

Ad SampleAd Sample

Commercial ExploitationCommercial Exploitation

• See paper for the correlation table

• See paper for the correlation table

SummarySummary

• Original Trilogy had no relationship with – attitudes towards the use of Star

Wars character in advertising– the three copy tested items

• Prequel movies had – significant results on all of the

attitude of towards the Star Wars advertising

– Episode IV had a weak correlation with the Website advertising

• Original Trilogy had no relationship with – attitudes towards the use of Star

Wars character in advertising– the three copy tested items

• Prequel movies had – significant results on all of the

attitude of towards the Star Wars advertising

– Episode IV had a weak correlation with the Website advertising

Prequel ResultsPrequel Results

• Episode I– relatively low correlation scores,

• not a strong predictor.

• Episode II – higher propensity to be predictors of

reactions to the Website advertising, and reaction to the overall advertising

• Episode I– relatively low correlation scores,

• not a strong predictor.

• Episode II – higher propensity to be predictors of

reactions to the Website advertising, and reaction to the overall advertising

Correlations Episode I Episode II

Summed Usage - 0.256**

Yoda# -0.204** -0.262**

Website# -0.278* -0.372**

Wookie# -0.203* -0.298**

Composite Ad Scale# -0.278** -0.349**

Now what?Now what?

• Classic product did not influence contemporary attitude

• Inconsistent reactions from fans

• Limited application of the Star Wars universe

• Classic product did not influence contemporary attitude

• Inconsistent reactions from fans

• Limited application of the Star Wars universe

Questions?