CONINC Seminar: Markus Baer - Washington University St. Louis, USA

(https://olin.wustl.edu/EN-US/Faculty-Research/Faculty/Pages/FacultyDetail.aspx?username=baer)

Date: Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Time: 15:30 PM

Location: 5419.0007 (Kapteynborg) 

Title:  “A recipe for success? Award winners and the one-hit wonder effect—Evidence from the UK cookbook market”

Abstract: 

This study examines the factors that determine the success of a novel product in the marketplace for audience attention. In addition, we explore the question of whether the factors that determine initial product success promote or constrain an individual’s tendency to produce a follow-up product. To answer these questions, we constructed a dataset of first-time authors of cookbooks in the United Kingdom. Our analyses of 262 cookbooks written by first-time authors reveal that both a book’s novelty as well as the acclaim that is bestowed upon it (by receiving a prestigious award) determine its success. In addition, we find that the factors that drive commercial success of an initial product, in certain constellations, constrain an individual’s tendency to produce a follow-up product. Specifically, among authors whose first cookbook won a prestigious award, having written a novel cookbook becomes a constraint. Our findings show that novelty is important to an idea’s commercial success yet it may also serve to constrain the tendency of the producer to remain productive. Our findings highlight the difficulties in sustaining creativity over time and offer some tentative insights into why producers may abandon their creative efforts.

For informatiion: Yingjie Yuan, yingjie.yuan rug.n