Global: More people tend to enjoy ads at the cinema
December 3rd, 2021, Cheryl Kar

Global: More people tend to enjoy ads at the cinema

Out-of-home advertising continues to be a key marketing tool for many brands – and now that they are open again in many markets, cinemas are back on the table. For marketers, cinemas offer a risk-free opportunity to advertise their products and services to a targeted – and often captive - audience.

But do consumers enjoy watching these advertisements? Latest data from YouGov Profiles, an audience intelligence tool, sheds light on what adults who visit the cinema at least once every three months think in six key markets.

Generally, consumers who visit the cinema at least once every three months are more likely to enjoy ads at the cinema than the general population in most markets of our survey, indicating that it’s not just compulsion that ties audience to their seats when watching these ads.

The data shows key differences among consumers when presented with the statement, “I enjoy watching advertisements at the cinema”. In Japan, for instance, consumers are as likely to agree to this statement as they are to be on the fence (30% vs 30%). But it’s worth noting that adults here are about twice as likely to agree over liking ads at the cinema than they are to disagree (46% vs 24%).

More than a quarter of urban Indians tend to like adverts at the cinema (28%), closely outnumbering those who are still undecided (25%). Splitting the audience by age indicates that it’s 30-44-year-olds who are likely to enjoy watching these ads (16-29: 32%; 30-44: 39%; 45+: 33%).

In the UK and Australia, consumers who visit the cinema at least once every three months are more inclined to say that they tend to like the ads they see at the movies than they tend to disagree (UK: 32% vs 27%; Australia: 25% vs 24%).

Consumers in France are generally divided (agree: 39%; disagree: 38%).

Of the markets in our survey, it’s only consumers in Germany who show the highest disagreement over liking ads at the cinema – with over half of the respondents saying so (54%). This tells us that marketers here need to be a little more judicious about how they use these pre-film opportunities.

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Methodology: YouGov Profiles is based on continuously collected data and rolling surveys, rather than from a single limited questionnaire. YouGov Profiles data is nationally representative and weighted by age, gender, education, region, and race. Learn more about YouGov Profiles.