A nationally representative sample of 2,050 regular moviegoers was asked: “How often do you follow movie reviews in a newspaper, magazine, on television or online?”
Research says that four out of five moviegoers do follow reviews, and:
- 81% of moviegoers follow film reviews in a newspaper, magazine, on television or online. – 81% of moviegoers follow film reviews in a newspaper, magazine, on television or online. Roughly half of these moviegoers simply follow the reviews of movies either once a week or more (22%) or several times a month (16%). The other half follow reviews occasionally when there is a movie they are interested in (43%).
- 19% of moviegoers never follow the reviews. In all, 71,485,980 moviegoers follow reviews.
In the most recent U.S. census estimates available, in 2007 the total U.S. population was 301,621,157. Approximately 77% of the population was ages 12 to 70 years, or 232,248,170 persons. 38% of potential respondents who were randomly contacted in this research qualified as moviegoers as defined by having seen 4 or more movies in the last year. That means that 38% of 232,248,170, or 88,254,300, are moviegoers between the ages of 12 and 70. Since we know that 81% of moviegoers follow reviews, it is fair to say, then, that approximately 71,485,983 are moviegoers who follow movie reviews.
To follow movie reviews more frequently correlates with attending more movies. Moviegoers who follow reviews more frequently attend more movies per year:
Moviegoers 30 years and older follow reviews more frequently than do their younger counterparts. Also, males in their 20′s follow movie reviews somewhat more frequently than do females in their 20′s:
Four out of five moviegoers – 81% – follow movie reviews regularly. Half of them follow movie reviews frequently, that is, once a week or more (22%) or several times a month (16%). The other half follow movie reviews occasionally when a movie interests them (43%).
In terms of numbers, 71,485,983 U.S. moviegoers simply follow the reviews of movies. 19,415,946 moviegoers simply follow the reviews of movies once a week or more. 14,120,688 moviegoers simply follow the reviews of movies several times a month. And 37,949,349 moviegoers simply follow the reviews of movies occasionally when a movie interests them.
Importantly, following movie reviews more frequently correlates with attending more movies per year.
By age and gender, males older than 20 years and both males and females older than 30 years follow movie reviews more frequently than teenagers do.
In conclusion, movie reviews matter.
This research was conducted in February 2009 among 2,000 regular moviegoers ages 12 to 70 years. 33% of these moviegoers were teens; 33% were in their 20′s; and 33% were 30 years and older. This sample of moviegoers was spread among the top 50 U.S. city-markets in proportion to moviegoing in each city-market. Half of these moviegoers were reached by random digit dial telephone and half were reached on general interest non-movie web sites.
“How often do you follow movie reviews in a newspaper, magazine, on television or online?” To follow means, “To accompany; attend. To move along the course of. To be attentive to. To grasp the meaning or logic of; understand.” (The American Heritage Dictionary, New Second College Edition, 1983.)
