Influence of Internet on movie-goers

In June this year, Google and Nielsen joined forces to study the impact of the Internet on the movie-going public's decision making in the U.S.

by Helen Leggatt

Around 2,000 movie-goers in the U.S. were surveyed in opening weekend exit polls, according to an article in MediaPost. The aim was to study how much influence the Internet had on their decision to see the film they had just seen, compared to other media channels such as television, radio and print.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, television just edged ahead of the Internet with 68 percent of movie-goers claiming that television had influenced their movie choice. Not far behind was the Internet with 66 percent, ahead of both print (44 percent) and radio (41 percent).

Of the Internet-influenced group, the study specifically split them in to those that had viewed content and ads pertaining to the movie, and those that had viewed content only (i.e. only forums, reviews, blogs, social networks, video, etc). Those that had seen content and ads were 130 percent more likely to visit the official movie website, 68 percent more likely to search for further information on the movie and 23 percent more likely to talk to others than their content-only viewing counterparts.

When it came to viewing movie trailers online nearly a quarter (24 percent) had viewed a trailer of the film they had just seen, of which 91 percent said it was “very or somewhat” influential on their decision to see the film.