The Role of Reputation in Sequel Production

This paper develops a simple model of sequel production for experience goods, showing how reputation shapes a producer’s incentives. Producers differ in productivity, which determines how much effort they invest. A sequel is made only if the previous installment exceeds a quality threshold, capturin...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Khac Minh Duc Do, Dmitriy Knyazev
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-05-01
Series:Games
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4336/16/3/23
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Summary:This paper develops a simple model of sequel production for experience goods, showing how reputation shapes a producer’s incentives. Producers differ in productivity, which determines how much effort they invest. A sequel is made only if the previous installment exceeds a quality threshold, capturing the idea that consumers base future consumption on past success. Although high-productivity producers create higher-quality originals and sequels, the conditioning on successful originals still makes sequels, on average, worse than their predecessors. This aligns with evidence of sequel underperformance in media markets.
ISSN:2073-4336