Abstract:  From the perspective of schedule competition, this paper studies the effect of intensity gap, the absolute value of subtraction of the intensity event marketing between the target movie and the movie with the maximum intensity of event marketing, and the number of newly released movies on the consumers’ willingness and box office of the target movie. It also analyzes the event marketing countermeasures when the target movie faces competition during the period before and after the release and at different popular festivals. Dynamic panel data are collected for 1,141 movies released in China from year 2014 to 2018 for a total of 84 days, including 56 days before the release and 28 days after the release. Results show that: (1) The greater the gap between the intensity of event marketing for the target movie and the maximum intensity of event marketing for other movies in the same schedule, the more unfavorable the consumers’ willingness and box office of the target movie. Strengthening event marketing is necessary to fill the gap. (2) The impact of the number of newly released movies on the consumers’ willingness of the target movie is different before and after the release. Before the movie is released, the more movies are newly released, the less the consumers’ willingness of the target movie. After the movie is released, the greater the number of newly released movies, the higher the willingness of consumers to watch the target movie, but the lower the box office revenue of the target movie. Results show that the number of newly released movies has both a competitive effect and an agglomeration effect on the target movie. (3) Compared to non-festival schedules, in popular holiday schedules, especially in summer holiday, consumers are more willing to watch movies, and the effect of increasing the intensity of event marketing is better. However, the negative impact caused by the intensity gap of event marketing will be more extensive during the holiday schedules. At this time, it is helpful to increase the intensity of event marketing for improving the competitiveness of the target movie. This paper enriches the event marketing theory and the movie management theory from the perspective of schedule competition, and provides practical decision support for practitioners.

Key words: Movie, Competition, Agglomeration, Schedule Competition, Event marketing, Movie Consumers’ willingness, Movie Box Office