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Internet platforms &

Diversity of Cultural Expressions

To the Long Tail… and beyond!

Heritiana Ranaivoson, iMinds-SMIT (VUB)

hranaivo@vub.ac.beII Jornada Diversidade Cultural e Novas Tecnologias, 19.05.2016

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Introduction

• Strong impact of digitisation on cultural sectors

• Among the first sectors impacted

• A reconfiguration of the cultural industries’ value networks (Ballon et

al, 2012) with advent of online platforms

• Which impact on the diversity of cultural expressions?

• Crucial to build policies

• Requires tools for measuring

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More

Disparity

More

Variety

More

Balance

Methodology

• Literature review on papers

assessing online DCE

• Impact of online

platforms

• Reframe of the theory of

the Long Tail (Anderson, 2004)

• Using Stirling model

• Distinguishing between supplied

and consumed diversities

Stirling definition of diversity

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Theories of Superstars

• Why is consumption focused on a restricted number of products or

creators (Superstars)?

• Rosen (1981)

• Distribution and consumption technologies rely on low marginal

costs

• Adler (1985)

• Need on the part of consumers to consume the same art that

others do

• The most famous creators or products are advantaged, and this

is a self-reinforcing feature

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The Long Tail

• The Long Tail consists in two

trends

• Decreasing importance

of Superstars

• Increase of the Tail

• Why a Long Tail?

• Democratization of production means

• Reduction in costs to access content

• Possibility to group enough consumers to create market niches

of a sufficient size

• Relevant filters to help consumers find what is likely to please

them

So

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e: A

nd

ers

on

(2

00

6)

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The impact of the Long Tail

• Much larger choice for consumers

• Constant emergence of new services relying on innovative business

models

• The greatest beneficiaries are online platforms

• Intermediaries between different types of users

• Diversified offer

• Negative impact on traditional intermediaries

• A positive but limited impact on creators

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Does the Long Tail exist?Article Sectors Country Supplied / Consumed Stirling definition Long Tail effect?

Anderson (2006) music, video, book US S&C V, B +

Bear Sterns (2007) TV US C B +

Benghozi (2008) DVD, CD France C V, B +

Benghozi & Benhamou (2008) CD, DVD France S&C V, B +

Bourreau et al. (2011) Recorded music France S&C V, B, D +

Brynjolfsson et al. (2011) feminine clothes US C B +

Elberse (2008) music US S&C V, B +/-

Elberse & Oberholzer-Gee (2006) video US S&C V, B +/-

Given & McCutcheon (2014) DVD, books Australia S&C V, B +/-

Goel et al. (2010)movies, music, Web search & browsing n/a C B +

Hinz et al. (2011)VOD (transactional) Germany S&C V, B +/-

Kumar et al. (2011) motion picture US C B +

Leskovec et al. (2007) book, DVD US C B +

Marcone (2010) music (Billboard data) US C B -

Moreau & Peltier (2011) books France S&C V, B +

Mulligan (2014)Music (on- and offline) US S&C V, B -

Page & Garland (2009) Music UK C B -

Peltier & Moreau (2012)book France C B +

Smyrnaios et al. (2010)online news FR (French-speaking) S V, B -

Tan et al. (2015) movie rental US S&C V, B -

Walls (2010) DVD North America C B +

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An increase of supplied diversity?

• Yes, say Long Tail and Superstars

• Digital technologies have expanded the

variety of products that can be

profitably made available (Brynjolfsson et al.

2010)

• More disparity (e.g. from all over the

world)

• However, difficult to assess whether

online supply is more balanced

• Opposite predictions regarding the impact on consumed diversity

So

urc

e: M

asn

ick

& H

o (

20

14

)

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Do consumers as a whole like

diversity? • No, says Superstars

• Yes, says Long Tail, i.e.

• People have different tastes

• Each individual likes diversity

• A larger product variety may satisfy heterogeneous consumers’

increasingly varying tastes (Tan et al., 2015)

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Technology drives costs down

• Yes, this is important, say both Anderson (2006) and Rosen (1981)

• Just what the Internet does

• Technology may create incentives to disproportionately promote

Superstars (Brynjolfsson et al. 2010)

• The costs of producing original content may remain high

• On the contrary such reduction may benefit above all to the works in

the Tail (Anderson, 2006)

• Storage and distribution are made easier

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Accessing to information

• Yes, this is important, say both Anderson (2006) and Adler (1985)

• Digital technology provides access to a virtually unlimited

amount of information

• A strategy for users can be to go for Superstars to make choice less

risky

• For Anderson (2006) impact on the Tail

• More difficult to get information offline

• Decentralised prescription and promotion

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Computing information

• How does digital technology allow us to get information?

• Filters can lead consumers to either the

Superstars or the Tail

• Search functionalities can lead to a shift in

demand from blockbusters to niches (Hinz et al. 2011)

• Systems based on recommendations may shift

demand from niches to blockbusters (Hinz et al. 2011; Tan et al., 2015)

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The measurement of the

Long Tail and its limitations• ≠ ways to define and measure the Long

Tail (Brynjolfsson et al., 2010)

• The Absolute Long Tail measures

changes in the number of products

sold

• The Relative Long Tail focuses on the

relative share of sales above or below

a certain rank

• ≠ approaches may lead to ≠ results

• None of these approaches however

takes disparity into account

Example of Absolute LT

(Brynjolfsson et al, 2003)

Example of Relative LT

(Walls, 2010)

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Considering the role of platforms

• Online platforms reconfigure cultural sectors

• Mediating between different categories of users

• Incited to provide a huge diversity of products as it gives them a

competitive advantage towards their competitors (Brynjolfsson et al. 2010)

• But they tend to replace traditional intermediaries

• Long-term impact difficult to assess

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Conclusion

• Interesting stream of literature to address the impact of online platforms

on the diversity of cultural expressions

• Based on the Long Tail (vs Superstars)

• Need to consider

• The width of choices available to citizens and how it impacts their

consumption decisions (disparity)

• The relationships between diversity and industrial reconfigurations

now taking place

• UIS

• Monitoring of diversity of feature films. How about going digital?

• Cf. UNESCO Expert Group on the Statistical measurement of the

diversity of cultural expressions

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THANK YOU FOR

LISTENINGHeritiana Ranaivoson, iMinds-SMIT (VUB), hranaivo@vub.ac.be

@hranaivoson

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Source: Reshaping Policies