Men, Women and Going to the Movies
In another entry, Alexis and I are having a discussion regarding the lack of prominent women in this year’s critically-acclaimed films. We’re both wondering, I think, about the demographics of moviegoers. In particular, I want to know why people choose to attend a particular movie. A quick search led me to this 2001 Newspaper Association of America study. It’s only one study, but its findings are interesting (if not particularly conclusive):
- 51% of moviegoers are female.
- The largest age cohort for moviegoers is 25-34 (this number may be skewed because teenagers weren’t inclined to complete the in-theatre questionnaire).
- Top ‘decision factors’ for women to choose a given movie, in order: the cast, television (unclear what this means, exactly), the movie’s topic or theme, on a recommendation, good reviews.
- Top ‘decision factors’ for men: the cast, the movie’s topic or theme (these are tied for first), TV, trailer or preview, newspaper.
- Matinee attendees prefer action adventures and comedies, while evening attendees most prefer action adventures and dramas.
In terms of our discussion, the most telling fact is that 49% of women cited casting as the most important factor in choose a movie (compared to 42% of men). We don’t have enough information to draw clear conclusions from that, but it begs another question: which gender chooses the movie more often? I did a quick search, but wasn’t able to figure that one out.
