We know who they are. Every time you turn around they're off to the movies, often as not by themselves. They may call themselves movie buffs, or fans, or cinemaphiles, for a fancier, more pretentious term.
We have our doubts. We're inclined to dismiss them as escapists, people who seek refuge in the dark, imaginary world of the tenplex over the reality--and burdens--of everyday life.
How wrong we are.
It turns out these frequent moviegoers are a with-it lot, likely to be highly dynamic, assertive or creative personalities.
So says a new study by Mindset Media, an online ad network that offers targeting by personality types.
It found that frequent movie-goers, those who see three or more movies in a month, are indeed different from ordinary souls.
“There are definite mindsets that want to see movies in the theater -- those people who decide to go week after week, buy tickets online and plan ahead what movies they will see before they go to the theater,” says Sarah Welch, Co-Founder and COO of Mindset. Some 25,000 people were surveyed.
Frequent movie-goers are actually 99 percent more likely than the average person to be what Mindset calls Dynamism 5s. That means that they have the most dynamic personalities.
Such people thrive on being where the action is. “They are forward-facing, out-there-in-the-world people,” says Welch, thus hardly the escapist sort at all.
Frequent moviegoers are also 76 percent more likely to be Creativity 5s, that is to say among the most creative people in the population. They go to movies for the creative hit they provide, says Welch.
Frequent moviegoers are also 58 percent more likely to be among the most assertive group of people.
“I didn’t expect that,” says Welch. However, she believes that this is likely because assertive people are the world’s alpha dogs. They know what they want and they will make sure it happens.
But these aren’t the only traits that frequent moviegoers may over-index in. They are also 73 percent more likely to be highly open people. They're experientialists. They want to collect new and different experiences.
And they are also 38 percent more likely to be optimistic. The reason? They go to movies believing that the experience will be rewarding, as opposed to pessimists who would be inclined to think it would not be worth the effort and expense.
One thing frequent moviegoers are not is pragmatic. Less pragmatic people are 29 percent more likely to go to the movies.
That only makes sense. “Pragmatic people would say ‘Why should I pay $12.50 to go to see a movie?’” explains Welch. They'd wait to rent it at far less cost, or wait even longer and see it on TV at no cost.
What's especially interesting about the Mindset data is how it matches up with traditional demographic data about moviegoers.
Moviegoers tend to skew younger. Among all moviegoers, the largest age group by far is 12- to 24-year-olds, accounting for 38 percent of all admissions, though they represent only 22 percent of the total population, according to the Motion Picture Association of America.
Among frequent moviegoers, 12-24s make up an even larger share, 41 percent. Parents with kids still living at home and singles go to the movies most often.
Moviegoers are split evenly by sex.
The average moviegoer sees 8.5 movies a year. (That's defined as someone who sees at least one movie in a theater a year). And that's quite a bit fewer than the frequent moviegoers, who would be clocking 36 movies a year minimum at three movies a month.
Hispanic moviegoers averaged 10.8 movies in the year, versus 7.9 for Caucasians and 7.8 for African Americans. Other ethnic groups, which include Asians and Native Americans, average the most movies a year, 11.1.
***
Meanwhile, elsewhere in popcult, the new Will Smith movie “Hancock” topped the box office over the weekend, bringing in $66.0 million, followed by last week’s No. 1, “WALL-E,” which brought in $33.4 million.
On iTunes this morning, Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl” was No. 1 for the second straight week, followed by Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida.”
And in books, Janet Evanovich’s latest novel, “Fearless Fourteen,” was No. 1 on The New York Times’ hardcover fiction best-sellers list for the week ended June 28, its second straight week on top, and it also topped USA Today’s book chart for the week ended June 29.
Note: DVD charts were unavailable at press time.
|
TOP MOVIES
Weekend Box Office Estimates
Weekend of July 4-6, 2008
|
|
Rank
|
MOVIE
|
Engagements
|
Box office (millions)
|
|
1
|
Hancock (Sony)
|
3,965
|
$66.00
|
|
2
|
WALL-E (
Buena Vista)
|
3,992
|
$33.42
|
|
3
|
Wanted (Universal)
|
3,185
|
$20.61
|
|
4
|
Get Smart (Warner Bros.)
|
3,574
|
$11.13
|
|
5
|
Kung Fu Panda (
Paramount)
|
3,347
|
$7.50
|
|
6
|
The Incredible Hulk (Universal)
|
3,043
|
$4.98
|
|
7
|
Indiana
Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (
Paramount)
|
2,192
|
$3.94
|
|
8
|
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (Picturehouse)
|
1,843
|
$3.60
|
|
9
|
Sex and the City (New Line, Warner Bros.)
|
1,275
|
$2.34
|
|
10
|
You Don’t Mess With the Zohan (Sony)
|
1,731
|
$2.00
|
|
Source: Yahoo Movies
|
|
ITUNES TOP 8 SONG DOWNLOADS
for week ended Monday, July 7, 2008
|
|
Rank
|
TITLE
|
|
1
|
I Kissed a Girl, Katy Perry
|
|
2
|
Viva la Vida, Coldplay
|
|
3
|
7 Things, Miley Cyrus
|
|
4
|
Burnin’ Up, Jonas Brothers
|
|
5
|
When I Grow Up, The Pussycat Dolls
|
|
6
|
Distrubia, Rihanna
|
|
7
|
Shake It, Metro Station
|
|
8
|
Take a Bow, Rihanna
|
|
Source: iTunes
|
|
NEW YORK
TIMES BESTSELLING BOOKS
Week ending June 28, 2008
|
|
Fiction (hardback)
|
|
Rank
|
TITLE
|
Last week
|
Weeks on chart
|
|
1
|
Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich
|
1
|
2
|
|
2
|
Sail by James Patterson and Howard Roughan
|
2
|
3
|
|
3
|
Tailspin by Catherine Coulter
|
-
|
1
|
|
4
|
Rogue by Danielle Steel
|
-
|
1
|
|
5
|
The Host by Stephanie Meyer
|
3
|
8
|
|
Nonfiction (hardback)
|
|
1
|
When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
|
1
|
4
|
|
2
|
Fleeced by Dick Morris and Eileen McGann
|
-
|
1
|
|
3
|
What Happened by Scott McClellan
|
2
|
5
|
|
4
|
Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler
|
4
|
10
|
|
5
|
The Monster of
Florence by Douglas Preston with Mario Spezi
|
3
|
3
|
|
Fiction (paperback)
|
|
1
|
The Shack by William P. Young
|
1
|
6
|
|
2
|
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
|
3
|
43
|
|
3
|
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
|
2
|
43
|
|
4
|
The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
|
-
|
26
|
|
5
|
Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
|
4
|
21
|
|
Nonfiction (paperback)
|
|
1
|
Wisdom of Our Fathers by Tim Russert
|
3
|
7
|
|
2
|
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
|
2
|
74
|
|
3
|
Big Russ and Me by Tim Russert
|
1
|
10
|
|
4
|
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
|
5
|
75
|
|
5
|
The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama
|
4
|
27
|
|
Source: New York Times
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
USA
TODAY BESTSELLING BOOKS
Week ending June 29, 2008
|
|
Rank
|
TITLE
|
Last week
|
|
1
|
Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich
|
1
|
|
2
|
Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
|
3
|
|
3
|
New Moon by Stephanie Meyer
|
4
|
|
4
|
Someday Soon by Debbie Macomber
|
-
|
|
5
|
The Shack by William P. Young
|
9
|
|
6
|
Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer
|
8
|
|
7
|
Fast Track by Fern Michaels
|
-
|
|
8
|
Rogue by Danielle Steel
|
-
|
|
9
|
Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich
|
6
|
|
10
|
Sail by James Patterson and Howard Roughan
|
2
|
|
Source:
USA Today
|
