Exploring happiness: The impact of emotional tones in Spanish movie synopses on box office success

Abstract

The chapter offers an empirical analysis of how the emotional tones used in Spanish film synopses relate to box-office performance, bringing together cultural marketing and happiness studies. From a sociological and cultural studies perspective, the work makes two key contributions: on the one hand, it shows that happiness in film consumption is mediated by highly specific affective narratives; on the other, it provides practical implications for producers and distributors when designing more effective synopses without sliding into manipulation, by incorporating criteria of subjective well-being and communicative responsibility.