October 4th, 2022, Kineree Shah
2022 has been a slow year for movie theatres so far and some owners are stepping up their marketing game to lure movie-goers by enhancing the digital customer experience. Cinema chain AMC has announced its plan to invest $250 million to bring Cinionic's laser projectors to 3,500 of its U.S. auditoriums by 2026. Rival cinema group, Cinemark also launched a multi-platform campaign highlighting Cinemark XD, a 70-foot screen to improve the cinematic experience. A few small and big theatres are undergoing renovations and seat upgrades. But away from the in-venue experience, are cinemas investing enough in the digital experience for consumers looking to browse and book online?
In a new YouGov poll, we asked consumers across 18 international markets which sectors provide a good digital experience (like online or in-app interactions) for customers. More than one in five global audience picked movie theatres (23%). Along with sports events (16% globally) and car brands (14% globally), this makes cinemas one of the least popular industries for offering a good digital consumer experience. At the top we have banks (46%), streaming services (34%) and phone carriers (33%).
At 37%, Indians are most likely to say movie theatres provide a good digital experience. After India, consumers from China are more likely among Asian respondents to share the same opinion (34%). About a quarter of consumers in the UAE, Indonesia, and Hong Kong (between 25 and 29%) believe that movie theatres give their patrons an excellent online experience. Only a fifth of Singaporeans, the lowest percentage among the other six Asian nations, say that moviegoers have a positive digital experience when it comes to browsing and booking..
In Europe, a quarter of Spanish customers believe theatres offer a decent digital experience. This figure drops below 20% in Britain (19%), Sweden (19%), Italy (18%) and France (17%). Only one in 10 Germans say theatres provide a good online experience – the least among all surveyed markets.
In the North American market, more than a third of Mexicans say that movie theatres offer an excellent online digital experience. This number drops in the US (18%) and even further in Canada (14%). Overall, the data suggests that while some cinemas may be investing in state-of-the-art in-house experiences, for many consumers, the journey to get in front of the screen leaves a lot to be desired.
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Methodology
YouGov RealTime Omnibus provides quick survey results from nationally representative or targeted audiences in multiple markets. The data is based on surveys of adults aged 18 and over in 18 markets with sample sizes varying between 513 and 2008 for each market. All surveys were conducted online in August 2022. Data from each market uses a nationally representative sample apart from Mexico and India, which use urban representative samples, and Indonesia and Hong Kong, which use online representative samples. Learn more about YouGov RealTime Omnibus.