Does Online Rating Matter in China?An Empirical Test Based on Data from 177 Chinese Movies

ABSTRACT Whether public commentary has significant influence on box-office, and how the influence takes place, are long argued propositions. This paper utilizes data of 177 Chinese movies to investigate the relationship between online rating and box-office of movies.It shows that paid posters influence the rating of movies. Including control variables such as director, movie stars, scheduling, online rating and rating numbers in the model, the study shows that popularity is a more significant variable than ratings, and one of the three largest Chinese movie websites has more reliable ratings than the other two competitors. The results show that online rating has a significantly positive effect on the box-office of movies by fully considering the heterogeneity of movies.