Attention to Projections: The Impact of Foreign Films on Host Country Exports

We study how foreign films impact exports. Drawing on the attention-based-view, we argue that foreign movies influence the collective attention of home country exporters by projecting narratives about foreign markets. Such narratives heighten awareness about the foreign movie’s country, even among those who have not seen the movie, thereby increasing exports. We further suggest that this relationship between movies and collective attention is positively moderated by dissimilarity in the form of linguistic, cultural, and religious distance. The greater the distance between countries, the greater is the impact of foreign movie narratives on the collective attention of local exporters and, consequently, on the exports themselves. Using data on more than 25 film producing and film audience countries, we find support for our predictions. Our ideas and findings contribute to a greater understanding of how cultural products shape international business flows, as well as the impact of collective attention on firm strategies and behaviors.