Maoyan Survey Finds Portion of China Movie Lovers Eager for Return to Cinemas Rose to 72%

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Apr 14, 2020, 00:57 ET

BEIJING, April 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Maoyan Entertainment ("Maoyan" or "the Company") (Hong Kong: 1896), a leading platform providing innovative Internet-empowered entertainment services in China, and China Film Association jointly released a new market survey, which found that the portion of China's movie lovers eager to return to cinemas when they reopen following the containment of the COVID-19 pandemic has risen to 72% over the past month.

The latest survey was conducted by China Film Association and Maoyan Research Institute at the end of March to learn the impact of the pandemic on people's lives, their willingness to return to movie theaters after reopening, and key factors that would drive movie lovers to go back to cinemas. The portion of movie lovers keen to return to cinemas marked an expansion from about 54% in the February survey.

Key Findings:

About 72% of respondents were eager to return to cinemas after they reopen, up from 54% in February.
About 66% of respondents have resumed normal work routines at their offices, while 26% were working on rotating shifts or working from home.
About 33% of respondents expected a significant income decline in 2020 caused by COVID-19.
About 62% of respondents said they were paying attention to news on the reopening of cinemas in the country, and 55% said they were interested in learning about upcoming movie releases.
Implementing strict precautionary measures, ticket discounts, and the quality of new movies were identified as key factors that will attract the audience back to cinemas.

Impact of the pandemic

According to the survey, 66% of respondents have already resumed normal work routines at their offices, and 26% were working on rotating shifts or working from home. The remaining 8% have not returned to work, or have lost their jobs.

In terms of offline leisure and entertainment activities, about 61% of respondents said they have already resumed 70% or more of their normal shopping activities, while 47% said they have resumed 70% or more of their dining and eating-out activities.

The resumption rate of offline leisure and entertainment activities	Percentage of total respondents
	Shopping	Dining	Travel
70% or above	61%	47%	27%
Between 40% and 60%	30%	33%	37%
30% or under	9%	20%	34%

About 65% of respondents expected their income to decline in 2020, including about 33% expected a significant income decline this year caused by COVID-19.

Income expectations in 2020	Percentage
Significant decline	33%
Slight decline	32%
No change	23%
Slight increase	7%
Significant increase	5%

Due to the expectation of reduced income, most respondents were becoming more cautious about leisure and entertainment spending this year. The percentage of respondents who expected a significant spending cut in their dining, movie going, and travel activities were 26%, 33%, and 35%, respectively.

Expected leisure and entertainment spending in 2020
	Dining	Moviegoing	Travel
Significant decline	26%	33%	35%
Slight decline	33%	26%	25%
No change	25%	22%	26%
Slight increase	12%	11%	8%
Significant increase	5%	7%	6%

Willingness to return to cinemas

Based on the March survey, respondents watched six movies on average at home through online streaming platforms, one less than in February. About 73% of respondents said they had experience of paying for watching movies online.

Paid for movies watched online	Percentage
Yes	73%
Not sure/Don't remember	5%
No	22%

About 72% of respondents were willing to return to cinemas after they reopen, the survey found.

Willingness to go to cinemas	Percentage
Much more eager to go to cinemas	34%
Eager to go to cinemas	38%
Neutral	18%
Not that eager to go to cinemas	7%
No intention at all	3%

About 62% of respondents said they were paying attention to news on the reopening of cinemas in the country, and 55% said they were interested in learning about upcoming movie releases.

News on cinema reopening	Percentage
Pay close attention	25%
Pay attention	37%
Neutral	26%
Do not pay attention	9%
Not interested	3%

News on upcoming movie releases	Percentage
Pay close attention	24%
Pay attention	31%
Neutral	30%
Do not pay attention	12%
Not interested	3%

Key factors to attract the audience back to cinemas

After cinemas reopen, nearly 60% of respondents said that strict precautionary measures in movie theaters would be the primary factor for them to return to cinemas, followed by ticket discounts offered (58%), and the quality of new movie releases (40%).

Factors in consideration for returning to cinemas	Percentage
Strict precautionary measures (temperature checking and real name registration)	59%
Ticket Discounts	58%
Quality of new movies released	40%
Limitation on available capacity	24%
Movie schedule	21%
Wait to see how other people react	18%
Auditorium size	16%
Others	4%

When asked about their preferred movie ticket price, over 80% of respondents preferred ticket prices under RMB30. According to the survey, most respondents believed that movie theaters should limit ticket sales and keep their capacity under 40% after they reopen.

Preferred movie ticket price (RMB)	Percentage
Less than 10	11%
From 11 to 20	33%
From 21 to 30	38%
From 31 to 40	15%
More than 40	3%

As to what types of movies they would definitely go to watch after cinemas reopen, 55% of respondents chose new movies with positive word-of-mouth.

Must-watch movies after cinemas reopen	Percentage
New movies with positive word-of-mouth	55%
New movies	30%
Classic domestic movies	19%
Classic foreign movies	17%

"The Wandering Earth", "Wolf Warrior 2" and "Better Days" were the top classic domestic movies preferred by respondents. "The Avengers" series, "Léon: The Professional" and "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" were most-wanted classic foreign movies.

The survey was conducted at the end of March. Users who purchased movie tickets on Maoyan's platform were targeted and 1,530 responses were collected for the survey.

About Maoyan Entertainment

Maoyan Entertainment (Hong Kong: 1896) is a leading platform providing innovative Internet-empowered entertainment services in China. Since its inception, Maoyan has grown from an online movie ticketing service provider to an innovative one-stop platform for entertainment services. Maoyan has a comprehensive strategy to become a leading platform servicing the entire entertainment industry in China. The upgraded strategy is supported by five key platform pillars: online ticketing platform, products and services platform, data platform, marketing platform, and funding platform.

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SOURCE Maoyan Entertainment