Constructing stable preferences: effects of dimensions of experience on movie preference in Vietnamese facebook community

Abstract

In market economy, neoclassical economists tell a story of demand side that every consumer compare utility of each unit of every commodity, to decide to consume the unit that provide higher utility. In that story, utility is understood as obvious usefulness that any unit of commodity could provide, and preference is just the result of "utility maximization" process. Nevertheless, real world tells another story. A unit of any commodity may be useful, useless, or even harmful for a consumer, depending on specific condition at the time of consuming the unit. Preference may not only be the result of "utility maximization" but also "harm minimization" process. Furthermore, complicated adaptation process could also significantly affects preference of consumer. This study investigates the relationship between preference and conditions of experience of Vietnamese movie theater audiences of Facebook community over popular fourteen movies in the time from 3rd to 29th of December 2011. In this study, data was collected by questionnaires over 67 identified Facebook users, and there were 191 raw observations (162 pure observations after validating). The results from logistic regression models indicate that subjective preference associates with recognizing experience (information condition), and objective preference associates with tasting experience (trial condition) and choice experience (easy-choice condition). The results also suggest that objective preference is more stable than subjective preference. This study also have evidence of higher level of preference for some movies excluding effects of experience, imply existing preference or unconsidered dimensions of experience that future works should notice. Therefore, this study is consistent with previous studies on “Constructing Stable Preference”, and recommends further studies to develop demand-side theories. Movie theaters in Viet Nam could also apply this study to affect their customer demand by offering many forms of movie experience.