AN EXHIBITOR'S SON SURVEYS HIS AREA In Town of 40,000, 83% Attend Moviej' 51% Decide fo Go to a Theatre Before Knowing What Films Are Playing By JIM LURIE BLOOMINGTON, ILL.—This is a brief summary of a survey made during the summer months of 1951 in the adjoining communities of Bloomington-Normal In order to find out how often and why people of these communities went to motion picture theatres. The towns are located about 125 miles southwest of Chicago. A sample of a little over one per cent of the population of 40,000 was personally interviewed in representative areas. It was discovered that 83 per cent of the residents, 12 years old or over, went to the movies to some extent, with 8.4 per cent attending twice per week. 17.2 once per week, 10.2 per cent twice a month, 12 per cent once a month, 35.5 per cent less than once a month, and 16.7 per cent never attending. THE 'LOST AUDIENCE' DEFINED The "lost audience" is the older-age group, tho.se with little education, and the lower income groups. Of those who do attend, the people in the middle income groups and below go most often, for movies are one of the entertainments they can most easUy afford. Those with high school educations go more frequently than others. Persons 40 years old and younger also make up the bulk of frequent attendees. As far as types of programs are concerned, the single feature is definitely the most popular. There is a four-to-one preference for indoor theatres. Musicals led the field of preference by a wide margin insofar as types of pictures were concerned, followed by comedies, dramatic films, westerns, adventure films and war pictures, in that order. Both men and women ranked musicals and comedies high on the list, while dramatic and romantic pictures ranked higher with women than with men. Adventure and war pictures appealed more to men than to women. 14% LIKE WESTERNS, WAR FILMS Those who like westerns and war pictures go to the movies more often than the rest of the audience, so this element—14 per cent of the total audience—can be counted upon to attend when pictures of this type are booked. The figures indicate that a large number of the people who attend seldom are to be found mainly among those who prefer musicals, comedies and dramatic films, although the former two also have strong following among regular attendees. The devotees of the western, war. adventure and romantic films are among the lowerincome groups, while musicals and dramatic films are preferred by a group with higher incomes. Western and war film fans have educations below the general level, suggesting ad campaigns on these films which this group can understand. The people questioned were shown a list of 13 factors which might have influenced them to attend. Of these, 71.7 per cent named Made As Part Survey Is Of University Thesis BLOOMINGTON, ILL.—A city of 40,- 000. has a "lost" audience, like many other cities. It also has an audience that hasn't been reported missing yet. In addition, it has a young man who can tell what percentages of what kind of people go to certain kinds of pictures, how often they go. how much attention they pay to trailers, and a Jim Lurie number of other interesting facts. This is the kind of market research that builders of shopping centers accumulate, but is seldom found among theatre operators. Jim Lurie, a graduate student in advertising at the University of Illinois, chose for his thesis the subject: "Moviegoing Habits and the Effects of Advertising Upon Them in Bloomington-Normal, 111." Quite a title! There's nothing academic about what he turned up. He had worked in his father's theatre from the time he was old enough to do so. He decided there was a lack of information about theatre advertising and where the patrons came from and what caused them to come. Bloomington has four indoor theatres, three of which are circuit-operated. Lurie worked up a questionnaire and set out to reach one per cent of the population. newspaper ads as a factor. This makes newspapers a "must" on the advertising program of a theatre. These ads served as directories as well as selling aids. Some people decide to go to a movie before they know what is playing in town. These were 51.4 per cent of the respondents. This indicates the importance of the appeal of the newspaper ads they glance at in order to decide what to see, and also indicates that many moviegoers are not pre-sold on a film through national campaigns to the extent that they will look for its appearance locally. They simply go when they are in the mood, picking the best that is currently available. Stars proved to be a strong influence on attendance— 40.6 per cent of the respondents —showing that a popular star can often assure the success of a film. The influence of other members of the family also is very important—40.3 per cent of the respondents mentioned this. Often the picture that appealed to the children in the family brought out the parents with the and the movie appealing to the wife brougb the husband with her. Recommendations from friends were factor with about 30 per cent of the respond li ents, indicating the importance of word-ofl mouth advertising. In towns the size oil Bloomington-Normal the gross can quickly by raised or lowered by the audience reaction. The fact that a picture was playing at theil favorite theatre influenced almost 25 per censf of the respondents. The theatre ranked o| the highest importance in the lower incomfl" groups which often consider the theatre ail a place of luxury that pulls them away fron| unpleasant daily surroundings. MAGAZINES INFLUENCE 16.4% Publicity breaks in magazines influea 16.4 per cent of the respondents. While thi£| is not a high percentage, it must be remem bered that many who went to see a pictur( that didn't have these breaks, increasing thi value of this publicity on the few pictures] that were mentioned in the national maga zines. Trailers influenced over 15.4 per cent ofl the respondents. The highest influence, of course, was recorded for groups which went] to the movies regularly, and the figure wasi brought down because a high percentage of the population attended movies infrequently. Prevues influenced only about one-fifth asi many as the newspaper ads, but their cost is only about one-twentieth of the average newspaper budget. Opinions of critics influenced 14.6 per cent of the respondents, and these people were mostly in the group that had all or part of a college education. This points the fact that it is not the critics who can make or break the boxoffice in a small town, but the opinions of those who see the picture. Critics' opinions are an important factor, however, in getting out the higher educated groups. National magazine ads influenced 14.3 per cent of the respondents. It must be kept in mind that all pictures seen by the respondents did not receive national advertising and that faulty memory may have reduced the response to this factor. Wliile tliese ads are necessary in pre-selling, it seems strange that studios have been shortening their co-op newspaper budgets in favor of national ads when the former are much more important to the public. THEATRE FOSTERS DRAW 10.6% Posters in and around the theatre influenced 10.6 per cent of the respondents. While they do little good as far as pre-selling is concerned, they are important to that segment of the audience that leaves home without deciding on a movie and u.ses the posters as a guide. The fact that they liad read a book from which the movie was adapted brought out 8.6 per cent of the respondents. These people were mainly from the higher educated groups and many were those who seldom attend the (Continued on page 18' 16 BOXOFFICE October 27. 1951
THE CROWDS ARE i BACK THANKS TO 20th Gentiary-Fox * Globe Theatre, New York! "The Desert Fox"=^ in city after cityis on the march to history-making grosses, . .and the crowds are back thanks to "David and Bathsheba" and "People will Talk" and "The Day the Earth Stood Still" and "Meet Me After the Show" and "The Frogmen" and "Take Care of My Girl". Little ire's No Business Like 20th Century-Fox Business!
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