The authors of this research show that gender plays a role in whether public star ratings of branded content films (e.g., ratings on Rotten Tomatoes) and increased awareness of surroundings differentially affect movie viewers’ willingness to spread word-of-mouth about films. For men, no matter whether they have high or low awareness of surroundings, a higher versus lower star rating uniformly enhances the likelihood they will recommend the film to others. In contrast, for women, momentarily heightened awareness of their surroundings enhances (diminishes) the likelihood of recommending the higher (lower) star-rated film. If women have low awareness of their surroundings, however, the differences do not emerge.

• Chanmo Park(Harvard University, USA)
• Sukki Yoon(Bryant University, USA)
• Yung Kyun Choi(Dongguk University, Republic of Korea)
• Sangdo Oh(UNIST)
• Kacy Kim(Elon University, USA)
• Jooyoung Lee(Gangneuing-Wonju National University)