ABSTRACT
This final chapter returns to the main findings of the book, which is that word-of-mouth is a dynamic economic system, that is, one that is subject to change as emergent technologies impact the relationship between the two. It is a system in which monetary measurements of ‘value’ and social measurements of ‘worth’ can become interchangeable or ‘fungible’ when they are in service of the same function. This fungibility of capital thus enables us to consider audience members who participate in contemporary Hollywood film industrial processes and the contemporary Hollywood film industry who benefit from that participation, to be operating in the same economy. It ultimately shows that word-of-mouth is a dynamic economic system in which both participants, audience and industry, follow the same capitalist logic, namely the accumulation imperative. This re-conceptualisation contributes to a greater theoretical understanding of the relationship between the gift economy and commodity culture and opens up avenues for further research.
