Critical Push: Strategies for Creating Momentum in the Motion Picture Industry

In a growing number of industries, higher rates of new product introduction leave firms with a short window of opportunity during which they must overcome obstacles to market acceptance. We argue that relatively autonomous information providing institutions that have primarily emerged to alleviate consumer uncertainty may also end up assisting firms in generating momentum for their new products. We examine the linkage between these institutions and strategy in the motion picture industry, showing that studios incorporate the anticipated response of critics into their pre-production, production, and post-production decisions.