Filmliefhebbers en de beinvloeding van hun filmvoorkeur.

Before people decide to watch a film, they usually consult another person’s opinion. This reduces the uncertainty of the quality of a film, which is a characteristic of cultural goods (Reinstein & Snyder, 2000; Caves, 2000). Word-of-mouth communication (WOM) and reviews from critics are considered as important sources to reduce the uncertainty (Chakravarty, Liu, & Mazumdar, 2010). In numerous theories mavens are mentioned as persons who are able to influence consumer’s preferences, in this case film fanatics. (Feick & Price, 1987; Gladwell, 2002; Tepper en Hargittai, 2009). These theories imply that film fanatics shape or influence their film preferences based on the opinion or review by an individual; either by a consumer or either by a so called maven. However, with the rise of web 2.0 many assumptions were made, which give a motive to question the influence of individuals nowadays. Web 2.0 enables us to produce content, share information, air our opinions and moreover to compile a collective opinion. Ratings are an example of this in the field of films. In order to conclude by which sources and in which way film fanatics shape their film preferences, a survey has been conducted including 336 respondents. Results demonstrate that traditional WOM communication with mavens fulfil a prominent role in shaping their film preferences. To them mavens are usually individuals they know personally and whose opinions they can rely on. Reliability seems to be a precondition for film fanatics when they are seeking for film opinions and reviews. Besides personal communication they do consult several media. Although the role of online media seems to be a lot less than expected and assumed in many theories.