The Economics of Superstars: Comment
Abstract
Showing why some industries have stars while others have both stars and superstars. Sherwin Rosen's interesting analysis in a recent issue of this Review goes a long way to explain the star phenomenon, but it misses two reasons why, though most industries have stars and superstars, some have only superstars, or have superstars and a few insipid stars. This may happen when several stars combine to make a product, or when the product is consumed by several people at the same time. The key may be found in David Ogilvy's report of his work with Gallup in the 1930's: "I discovered that some stars had a negative effect at the box office; their names on the marquee repelled more ticket buyers than they attracted. The list, which I called Box Office Poison and classified TOP SECRET, included some of the most famous names in show business, and ruined their careers " (p. 49). One cannot treat this repulsiveness just as negative attractiveness. Two popular stars, each hated by a fair number of people, but not the same people, would guarantee a flop- if the Magnificent Seven had each been hated by a different 14.28 percent of the population, there would have been no
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