How Do People Decide What Movies to See?
Posted on November 29, 2014 at 3:38 pm
Google did a survey to determine why and how people decide what movies to see. Flavorwire reports:
Unsurprisingly, they’re trumpeting the prominence of Google-owned YouTube, noting that four out of five moviegoers “use video sites to look for more information about a film” (well, duh). Thirty-nine percent report the official movie trailer influences their decision most — a factor more than three times as important as the runner-up, “information on the cast” (11 percent). “A friend’s opinion” is third (with eight percent). Reviews are somewhere below that, perhaps right around “Ugh, it’s what he wanted to see” and “Hunger Games was sold out.”
With new movies, I usually decide whether or not to wait for the DVD based on my most trusted critics (David Stratton, Margaret Pomeranz, Empire magazine and, well, you). As for seeking out older movies, I mostly pick based on IMDb ratings, especially the Top 250 and 1000 (I’ve almost cleared the Top 100, but Interstellar isn’t out locally yet).
Good system and i appreciate your trust! I love your feedback on the movies you see.
My main deciding factor is “it’s the weekend”. My wife and I see 50-60 movies in the theater a year. I read a few critics that have similar tastes and sensibilities as me (Nell, Christy Lemire, Michael Phillips) but I mostly use those reviews to tell me what not to see rather than the other way around. I treat trailers the same way. An exceptionally terrible-looking trailer will drive me away from a movie, but most trailers are pretty good, hence I end up seeing almost everything.
I love that approach, Matty J — that’s pretty much how I feel about it!