Moviegoers Online: The Wisdom of Crowds and the Web
Written by Eleanor Baird (contact - e-mail) -- July 1st, 2008 | Recommend ThisWith the summer blockbuster season officially underway, audiences can expect to see more movie marketing campaigns appearing across all types of media. As an avid Internet user who is behind on my theatre-going, I wondered how people engage with online content around a film and how it might figure into their decision-making process about what to see.
To try to answer this question, I looked at the patterns around three big Hollywood films that were released in May – two of which I haven’t seen - Iron Man, Speed Racer, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
From the data, it looks like audiences are looking for different types of information and experiences at different times. Before the release, they are open to interacting primarily with official channels, but afterwards more people tend seek out opportunities to interact with other audience members on movie aggregator sites like Yahoo! Movies and IMDb.
The chart below shows unique visitors to each of the movies’ official websites (ironmanmovie.marvel.com, speedracerthemovie.warnerbros.com, and indianajones.com) before, during, and after the week of the release. Notice that visitor numbers consistently increase before the movie opens, peak during the week of release, and fall steadily afterwards.
But I saw a different pattern on the movie aggregator sites I looked at: Yahoo! Movies and IMDB.
- Relatively few people visit these sites before the movie releases
- These sites get many more visitors during the release week too, but at about 216% and 474%, the increase is relatively much greater than the official sites in that same week
- The change in traffic is much slower from release week to the week following, and it doesn’t always decline
So, why would this be? The answer may be in the type of experience the different types of sites offer to the audience.
Some features are different, but all of the official sites offer users a somewhat passive, non-participatory experience. Visitors can read cast bios, character descriptions and plot synopses; download screensavers, chat icons, and other graphics; watch video; and follow links to buy tickets.
Sites like Yahoo! Movies and IMDb offer many of the same features that the official sites do: cast bios, plot synopses and photos, as well as video. One of the major differences, however, is users’ ability to read and write reviews and rate the films.
The summer movie season is just beginning, so we will see over the next twelve weeks if we can see the same patterns for the next crop of blockbusters. In the meantime, I’m on the fence about Indiana Jones. I might pass on Speed Racer.
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July 2nd, 2008 at 12:10 am
I really enjoy reading this blog, I have learned a great deal about internet traffic here. Thank you so much.
http://www.acomocliticstudio.com
July 2nd, 2008 at 12:43 am
I think the reason it peaks just before release on the official sites is that people want to see previews/trailers before they decide to actually pay for the tickets. Once they’ve seen the film, no reason to come to the official site. And you’re right, I guess, about people wanting to write and read reviews about the films post release.
July 8th, 2008 at 11:58 am
Very informative report. Beautiful.
By the way, we are running a portal for films from Bollywood - which is the Hindi Film Industry of India.
About 1,000 feature films are produced annually in India including the regional language films.
Almost 200 HINDI FILMS or those films produced in and around Mumbai city (previously Bombay) are released annually in India. Lately, many people and even journalists in the Mumbai film industry call it Bollywood instead of the Bombay film industry.
We have created a Database of ALL Hindi Movies which are released on and after 1 August 2007.
This site is dedicated to the enormous efforts of thousands of dreamers who put in their creativity and make us Indians - PROUD to become the producer of largest number of feature films in the world !
Filmytown is created specifically to give you complete details of each Hindi film released in India.
The uniqueness of Filmytown is that it gives complete information about the film such as the synopsis of the newly released movie, storyline, big size pictures and even the cast and credits of that film.
July 8th, 2008 at 11:59 am
Very informative report. Beautiful.
By the way, we are running a portal for films from Bollywood - which is the Hindi Film Industry of India.
http://www.filmytown.com
About 1,000 feature films are produced annually in India including the regional language films.
Almost 200 HINDI FILMS or those films produced in and around Mumbai city (previously Bombay) are released annually in India. Lately, many people and even journalists in the Mumbai film industry call it Bollywood instead of the Bombay film industry.
We have created a Database of ALL Hindi Movies which are released on and after 1 August 2007.
This site is dedicated to the enormous efforts of thousands of dreamers who put in their creativity and make us Indians - PROUD to become the producer of largest number of feature films in the world !
Filmytown is created specifically to give you complete details of each Hindi film released in India.
The uniqueness of Filmytown is that it gives complete information about the film such as the synopsis of the newly released movie, storyline, big size pictures and even the cast and credits of that film.