World Media Economics and Management Conference 2016

The European film industry produces over a thousand films a year. Over the course of the past two decades the films gained more and more domestic market share and international recognition. However as qualitative as these films might be their circulation is still marginal. Only small amounts of non-national European films go beyond their own national borders. When they do secure distribution they struggle to survive in a market dominated by the Hollywood blockbusters and national content. Consequently, releases are very limited and only have a short life span. In addition, the consecutive windows are months away causing the “buzz” of the release to slowly fade away. European and national policies offer clear guidelines on the chronology of the release window for films with pre-fixed times between the release windows. However, with the growing availability of VoD, these policies are requiring adjustment, in order to maintain a competitive market. The newly installed European Commission proposes the set up of a Digital Single Market aiming at more free flow of online services and entertainment across national borders. This proposal is the subject of many current debates as European stakeholders fear that such a policy would cause them to be pushed out of the market and consequently lead to the exact opposite of what the policymakers strive for. This paper examines the response of these stakeholders through the method of stakeholder mapping and the Advocacy Coalition Framework in order to argue that the European release window policy is at a decisive crossroads.

Film and television fiction in Flanders, Belgium, has known some marked international success in recent years. However, there are concerns about whether or not screenwriters and directors receive monetary rewards for this success. In media economic approaches to audiovisual media, individual creators’ income is usually not addressed, but it may impact the value chain as a whole. This paper gives an overview of interdisciplinary perspectives on remuneration for screenwriters and directors and actors of film and television. It will also address authors’ own perspectives on the matter, and a disconcerting lack of data to gain further insight. The paper then focuses on policy discourse and legislative measures in the field of authors’ rights and copyright. In Belgium as well as Europe, the legislative framework governing authors’ rights is in flux. This paper will aim to assess the role the principle of fair remuneration for authors plays within this policy discourse.

We propose a methodology for analysing how the “Youtuber phenomenon” may imply a new audio-visual paradigm or could indicate – i.e. future trends – what television or audio-visual entertainment might be like in upcoming decades. The appearance of YouTube content creators, who generate earnings on their businesses based on content views, and new audiences that have migrated from classic media, is beginning to revolutionise the viewing of audio-visual contents on the Internet. YouTube has given rise to a new market comprised of a worker-producer who creates contents, an audience or public (in some cases more interactive and “prosumer” than passive consumer), advertisers which purchase advertising space with different formats and monetary flows linked to that advertising. In order to research these changes several working hypotheses, some avenues of investigation and a methodology enabling us to tackle the above-described topic are proposed: using mixed and cross-disciplinary techniques and carrying out both qualitative and quantitative research.

With a goal of examining the phenomenon of smartphone dependency in the context of media consumption, this study explores the roles of dependency on and usage of other media platforms, multiplatform media use, mobile ownership and perceptions, smartphone functions, and various consumer characteristics. The regression result suggests that, for this group of young adults, dependency on computer and television, perceived smartphone fluidity, smartphone as a primary platform during multiplatform media use, and smartphone’s social and mobile specific functions all play a significant role in their smartphone dependency.

With the proceeding diffusion of mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablet computers, the usage of mobile services increases around the world. Although research on technology acceptance and usage is vast, studies addressing mobile services adoption and usage patterns across cultures remain scant. We use a dataset that comprises large samples from 29 countries across six continents and the theoretically well-grounded Schwartz’s Value Inventory cultural framework to study cross-cultural adoption and usage patterns pertaining six of the most popular mobile services, including both hedonic (e.g. online gaming) and utilitarian (e.g. mobile payment) offerings. Our results show that the adoption and usage of mobile services are driven by different cultural dimensions.

The digital media environment has provoked new communication processes and possibilities in contemporary society. Younger generations in particular engage in new ways of interacting thanks to digital technologies and mobile platforms. New habits are developing not only for interpersonal communication, but also for the consumption of information and entertainment media, where video and instant messaging are particularly popular (Van den Bergh & Behrer, 2013). This study employs a mixed method approach to discover consumer archetypes by exploring the uses and preferences of Latino smartphone users in Chile, Mexico and the U.S. The study participants, 18 to 25 years old, participated in focus groups and a survey conducted in each country. The results reveal why this consumer segment has become an attractive niche for telecommunication companies doing business in the region.

Changes to consumer privacy over the next decade are expected to have a considerable impact on the advertising industry. Over two thousand technology and privacy experts in a Pew Research Center study were asked to make predictions for data privacy over the next decade. The majority of experts predict that incentives to monetize personal data will increase. Technological advances that create an “Internet of Things” will also present both opportunities and challenges to privacy. As a result, privacy will rapidly be treated as a commodity that is essentially bought, sold, and negotiated. These changes will, in turn, affect the relationships advertisers have with their customers. What are the implications of this commodification of privacy in a new age of advertising? How should advertisers respond? This paper explores the predictions for privacy, namely the increasing monetization of personal data and the proliferation and use of an Internet of Things. How these changes will affect consumer relationships over the next decade is explored. Conclusions and suggestions follow.