Half of all UK consumers think the cost of watching films at the cinema has become too expensive according to research carried out by YouGov SixthSense.
The firm spoke to 2,152 UK adults as part of its research into the leisure industry and found that only a fifth of cinema-goers have paid for the ‘enhanced’ seating offered by some cinemas while 37% of respondents who’ve visited the cinema in the past 6 months said they’d taken advantage of the Orange Wednesdays promotion to buy two tickets for the price of one.
With household budgets being affected by the nation’s continued economic woes, it’s maybe little surprise that 34% of respondents say they take their own sweets rather than buy the cinema’s often overpriced offerings.
However 1 in 3 consumers still buy sweet popcorn at the cinema and 1 in 5 of us buy the salty version while 36% of customers buy fizzy drinks at the cinema against 19% who buy theirs outside.
Research Director for YouGov SixthSense, James McCoy, commented on the snacking trends of cinema goers: “Fizzy drinks in cinemas are generally perceived as overly expensive but consumers are still choosing them over store bought items. People go elsewhere to buy their mineral water for cinema consumption [25% versus 11%], but not fizzy drinks. It is likely that drink / popcorn combos make it more convenient to buy fizzy drinks in-house – if you are already buying a bucket of popcorn or a drink you don’t have to spend a lot to add the other to your purchase.”
