Who’s Catching the Latest Flicks in Theaters?

Movie viewers in North America are frequenting the theater less often. According to January 2015 research by ORC International (Opinion Research Corporation) for the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), box office revenues in the US and Canada fell 5% in 2014 to $10.4 billion. At the same time, the number of tickets sold declined 6% to 1.27 billion, and average tickets sold per person fell at the same rate to 3.7.

Still, nearly 1.27 billion US adults visited the cinema last year—more than those who visited theme parks (379 million) and sporting events (134 million) combined—meaning this audience is still an important target. What advertisers need to keep in mind, though, is which consumers are actually fans of the theater.

The study found that 25- to 39-year-olds and seniors accounted for the largest shares of moviegoers in the US last year, each representing 21% of the audience. However, in terms of frequent moviegoers—people who went to a movie at the cinema once a month or more—millennials played a larger role. While 18- to 24-year-olds accounted for just 10% of the movie theater audience last year, 19% of frequent moviegoers fell into this group. This put the 18-to-24 age bracket in first place, tying with those ages 25 to 39.

PricewaterhouseCoopers polling conducted in November 2014 found that millennials overindexed for theater viewing.

While US adults studied had seen 5.3 movies in theaters in the past 12 months on average, this rose to 5.8 for those ages 18 to 24 and 5.7 for those 25 to 34.

According to MPAA, whites were more likely than Hispanics, blacks and Asians to visit the theater, representing 63% of moviegoers last year and 56% of those who went frequently.

Advertisers continue to put money toward reaching moviegoers once they sit down in their seats. Strategy Analytics figures released in January 2015 forecast that US cinema ad spending would rise 3.4% this year to $800 million. In December 2014, Pivotal Research Group estimated slightly higher growth in US cinema ad spending of 4.1% in 2015, though its total of $720 million was lower.

Courtesy of eMarketer

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