Marketing Research Assignment A Study Of Consumer Preference for Multiplexes

Submitted to Ms.Sobha Menon MBA Dept.

Submitted by

Govind V NO.23 S4 MBA

Index

Contents 1.Introduction 2.Research summary

Page No. 3-5 6-7

3.Data Analysis 4.Findings and Conclusion

8-22 23-24

Introduction

Multiplex

The origin of multiplex movie theatres traces its roots back to the 1930s, although the concept truly did not begin to take root until the mid-1960s. In December 1947, Nat Taylor, the operator of the Elgin Theatre in Ottawa, Canada, opened a smaller second theatre ("Little Elgin") next door to his first theatre. It wasn't until 1957, however, that Taylor decided to run different movies in each theatre, when he became annoyed at having to replace films that were still making money with new releases. Taylor opened dual-screen theatres in 1962 in Place Ville Marie in Montreal, Quebec, and at York dale Plaza in Toronto, Ontario, in 1964. In 1937, James Edwards twinned his Alhambra Theatre in the Los Angeles area by converting an adjacent storefront into a second "annex" screen. While both screens would show the same feature movie, one would also offer a double bill. It did not convert to showing different movies on both screens until some time after Taylor. In 1963, AMC Theatres opened the two-screen Parkway Twin in Kansas City, a concept which company president Stan Durwood later claimed to have come up with in 1962, realizing he could double the revenue of a single theatre by adding a second screen and still operate with the same size staff. Also, the shopping center structure where the Parkway was located could not support a large theatre, so two small theatres were built to avoid that issue, and at first both theatres played the same film. AMC followed up on the Parkway Twin with a four-screen theatre in 1966 and a six-screen theatre in 1969. A multiplex is a movie theatre complex with multiple screens, typically six, ten, or more screens. They are usually housed in a specially designed building. Sometimes, an existing venue undergoes a renovation where the existing auditoriums are split into smaller ones, or more auditoriums are added in an extension or expansion of the building.

In the earlier days of movie-going, audiences were accustomed to sitting in lavish movie palaces, complete with velvet plush chairs and an in-house organist. In the late 1970s, the multiplex concept came into being. Theatre owners realized they could reap more profit from a single building showing several movies at one time than from one building showing one movie. Movies were not released as often as in previous decades either, so showing several different movies kept audiences from becoming bored. The first multiplexes showed perhaps four movies at once, and were considered quite innovative. Then, the six, eight and ten-theatre businesses became more common. The single-movie theatres were often forced to close, or reinvent themselves as performing arts centres or classic or independent movie houses. This did have the added benefit of making independent movies more widely available, but was still hard on the proprietors, since their profit margins are smaller. As time went on, this type of theatre was often considered a major anchor at large shopping malls with big box stores. Large chain restaurants are also often recruited for these kinds of shopping centres, along with other retailers, creating a one-stop shopping experience. The multiplex has also moved far beyond the classic popcorn and candy concessions. Some theatres now serve full meals and have open bars in VIP lounges. They have installed stadium seating so every customer has an unobstructed view of the screen. The new theatres are also likely to have a stateof-the-art surround sound system, digital projection, and a host of other technological goodies designed to enhance the viewing experience. Customers can often buy their tickets at an outside kiosk, using credit or debit cards, without ever having to stand in line. Online ticket sales are even available, so customers can either print out their tickets for a particular show time, or pick them up at the counter or kiosk. The idea has blossomed into the megaplex as well, which may involved theatres with over 20 screens in one building. While the multiple screen idea has essentially taken over modern movie-going, the drawback is that most of these theatres are part of large corporations that have contracts with the major studios to run certain films. The multiplex is a good place to see a popular movie on the big screen. They make the most of technological advances in filmmaking and film projection and usually allow the audience to see the films under the ideal circumstances.
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The single theatres have lost the most in this multiplex run in India. Most of the population is able to afford the multiplexes and hence these theatres are flocked only by the lower middle class which seldom cares to watch a movie. It has been noticed that these single theatres have started to feature Tollywood or other Indian language movies rather than Bollywood or Hollywood Movies. Globe Theatre, Kolkata is one of the most popular theatre featuring classics, English documentary or Hollywood movies and used to be populated by distinctive crowd. However, the number of movie-watchers at these theatres has declined at a steady pace and now visiting these halls, one can witness numerous empty seats. Individual theatres are in the verge of closing down as the intensity of loss cannot be borne for long in comparison to the cost incurred in putting up a movie and maintenance expenses. The first multiplex that emerged in my city Kolkata was Inox (PVR Cinemas) at the Forum Mall, Kolkata. Since then it has been witnessed the coming of 89 Cinemas, Fame, Big Cinemas (Adlabs) and now the IMAX. 89 Cinemas has been acquired by Inox last year and now we have three Inox multiplexes in the city scattered in different zones. The Indian population has been attracted to bollywood in the days of Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor. Catching one glimpse of their favourite movie stars is the fulfilment of one of the most important dreams for many Indians. Movie stars visit these multiplexes in order to promote their movies and thereby fulfilling many such dreams. No wonder these multiplexes are flocked by people all the time while the individual theatres are running out of business.PVR Cinemas has branched to PVR talkies for the small town business under this separate brand name. Multiplex constitute 2%-3% of the total number of individual halls however the range of movies that the feature at one time and the convenience that they offer has won over hearts and has gone beyond the metros. Real estate players such as DLF have invested crores in Multiplex business with the surety of it flourishing now and in the long run. With the advent of multiplexes it is not only prosperity of cinema but also of the business profitability factor. Currently two multiplexes are operating in Cochin which are Cinemax located in Oberon mall and Q Cinemas located in Gold Souk Grande mall. There are couple of other multiplexes coming up in kochi which are PVR Cinemas at Lulu mall and Cinepolis at Central mall. One multiplex is under construction by the Confident Group as well.

Defining the research problem In the current scenario there is a shift seen in the behaviour of movie goers. Customers have become aware of multiplexes and are keen to try them out. Rush in the single screens have been reduced a bit and a considerable increase in viewers at multiplexes have taken place. This research is conducted to find out what is the reason for this shift from single screens to multiplexes by the customers. Objectives of the study

To find out why/whether customers prefer multiplexes over single screens To find out whether a multiplex or a single screen is desirable to go for a movie in cochin. To find out what are the factors that attract customers towards multiplexes To review the customer perceptions about multiplexes and its facilities To find out how frequently customers visit multiplexes Limitations of the study

The number of respondents was restricted to 50. No personal interaction with the respondents were possible Study was conducted in a limited time period Research methodology The research methodology used in this research was questionnaire survey among the samples. Both primary data, collected from the survey, as well as secondary data is being used in the study for the data analysis and for arriving at the findings and conclusions.

Research design The research design used in this study was the framework of descriptive research. The study aimed at studying different behavioural aspects of the customers to arrive at the findings . The main objective of the study was to find out the factors which caused customers to prefer multiplexes over single screens. Sampling design The sampling design used in this study was convenience sampling design. Population that were selected as samples were according to the convenience for data collection. Samples which were present in close contact were taken for survey. The total number of samples were 50.Age group targeted were 22 -30. Questionnaire Questionnaire was primarily designed to collect quantitative figures as well qualitative data in the forms of opinions and ratings of the customers. Data Collection The primary data were collected through questionnaire survey. Questionnaires were distributed online through facebook as well as through emails. Google forms was the platform for preparing the questionnaire.

Data Analysis

1)

Do you watch newly released movies? No. % Yes 50 100 No 0 0

yes

100%(50 no.s) of respondents have answered that they watch newly released movies. The age group of the respondents that were selected was between 18 and 25.Most of the people in this age group love movies .Increased pocket money and income enables them to watch newly released movies. Also, the movies that are being released these days is catering to different tastes of different segments in this age group. All these factors has contributed towards motivating people to watch new movies.

2)

How often do you watch such movies? No. Once in a month 1-3 times a month More than 3 times a month

% 24 48

17

34

18

>3 times a month Once in a month 1-3 times a month

24 respondents have answered that they watch movies once in a month,17 others have answered that they watch 1-3 times a month and 9 have answered that they watch more than 3 times a month. Major part of the respondents were students. Since they have limited money for spending they watch movies once in a month or twice in a month. Those respondents, who are students, with a high amount of pocket money can afford to watch upto 3 times a month. Some part of the respondents have regular income which enables them to watch movies more than 3 times a month.

3)

Which was the platform in which you watched a new movie? No. % Multiplex 27 54 Single screen D2H 23 0 46 0

Single screen Multiplex

27 respondents have answered that they watched a new movie in a multiplex and 23 of them have answered that they watched a new movie in a single screen. None of the respondents have seen a movie in a D2H platform. Multiplexes are new entrants into the cochin city. They are the bases of modern film viewing. These days most of the young people have turned into this phase just like in Bangalore ,Hyderabad, Mumbai etc. Majority of todays young generation prefer multiplexes. Yet another part of young people still prefer going to single screens. Cost may be the factor that is still causing some people to view in single screens. None of the respondents prefer watching in a D2H.In a D2H platform viewers have to pay to watch a movie in a prefixed time, which

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may be inconvenient for young people. This factor may have led them for not choosing it.

4)

Which is the factor you give top priority to while choosing where to go for a movie? No. % Comfort 18 36 Convenience Ambience Cost factor 16 6 10 32 12 20

Cost factor Comfort Ambience

Conveneince

18 people looks at comfort while viewing movie. They look for seating comfort and other facilities while watching a movie.16 people choose their place of viewing according to convenience. Convenience may refer to ease of access and related factors.6 people have chosen ambience as their criteria. The environment of cinema viewing must be well set, colourful and attractive for those respondents.10 people have responded that they look at the cost while going to watch a movie. They look at their financial resources and choose a location which they can afford and is cost effective. They may be the group with limited amount of money to spend.
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5)

Have you seen a movie in a multiplex? No. % Yes 50 100 No 0 0

Yes

All of the respondents have seen a movie in a multiplex atleast once. Multiplexes have been successful in attracting people to try out their cinema viewing. The facilities, picture quality and safety assurance may be the factors that have made the young people think about switching their film viewing to multiplex.

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6)

How do you rate the facilities of multiplexes? No. % Excellent 23 46 Good Fair Satisfactory Poor 17 8 2 0 34 16 4 0

Satisfactory

Fair

Excellent

Good

23 respondents have responded that facilities of the multiplexes are excellent and is therefore highly satisfied.17 respondents have answered that facilities are good and is therefore almost highly satisfied.8 people have answered that the facilities are fair and therefore is moderately satisfied.2 respondents are of the opinion that facilities are satisfactory and is fulfilling the basic expectations.

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7)

How do you rate ticket charges of multiplexes? No. % High 24 Moderate Low 26 0

48 52 0

High Moderate

24 of the respondents are of the opinion that ticket rates of multiplex are on the high side.26 people have responded that ticket rates of the multiplexes are moderate. None of the respondents are of the opinion that ticket charges are low. The economical class or the silver class of the multiplex costs Rs.120 to Rs.150.The gold class of the multiplex costs around 300 Rs. Gold class refers to the premium class of the multiplex, whereas silver class refer to normal class. Rates of the ticket vary according to the time of the show. Rate is low for the morning shows and rate increases for later shows.

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8)

How do you rate the comfort of multiplexes? No. % Excellent 22 44 Good Fair Satisfactory Poor 17 8 3 0 34 16 6 0

Satisfactory

Fair Excellent

Good

22 respondents have rated the comfort as excellent.17 people have answered that comfort is good.8 people have responded that comfort is fair and 3 have responded that comfort level is satisfactory. Comfort combines factors of seating comfort and cooling conditions etc. Almost all multiplexes provide comfort according to basic expectations. Therefore customers get the what they expect or more than what they expect.

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9)

Do you think multiplexes are more well set up than single screens? No. % Yes 50 100 No Cant tell 0 0 0 0

yes

All respondents are of the opinion that multiplexes are well set up compared to single screen. The multiplexes are more ambient and are having luxurious interiors than single screens. The traditional single screens just consist of a cinema hall and a cafeteria. Whereas multiplexes make it more attractive to the customers by providing additional facilities like food court.

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10)

How often do you use food court facilities of multiplexes? No. % Regularly 7 14 Very often Often Rarely Never 14 12 11 6 28 24 22 12

Never

Regularly

Rarely Very often

Often

7 respondents regularly use food court facilities of multiplexes as they have a considerable amount of money to spend on their visits. 14 respondents very often uses this facility, they use this facility almost every time they visit a multiplex. 12 people just often uses this facility, they do not use this in their every visit.11 people rarely use this facility. 6 people never uses food court facility as they may have only a limited amount of money to spend and they just go for film viewing.

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11)

How much are you willing to spend on multiplexes per visit? No. % 300-400 Rs. 21 42 400-500 Rs. 500-600 Rs. 600-700 Rs. More than 700 Rs. 12 8 7 24 16 14

> 700 Rs

600-700 RS 300 - 400 RS 500 - 600 RS

400 - 500 RS

21 respondents are ready only to spend 300-400 rs. on a visit. They are only ready to pay for ticket charges and any other minor additional cost.12 people are ready to spend 400-500 rs.,8 people are ready to spend 500-600 rs. and 7 people are ready to spend 600-700 rs. People coming under bracket of 400 to 700 rs. are ready to spend a considerable amount of money on a visit. They spend on meals as well as ticket charges.2 people are ready to spend more than 700 rs. one a visit. They make use of the food court facilities and are able to pay for their partners ticket at times. They are capable of using premium class facilities of multiplexes.
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12)

Where do you prefer to go for a movie in cochin? No. % Cinemax 21 42 Q Cinemas Other single screens 23 6 46 12

Other single screens Cinemax

Q cinemas

21 people prefer to watch a movie in cinemax,23 people prefer watching in Q Cinemas and 6 people prefer watching movies at single screens within the city. From this we can understand that Q Cinemas is the most desired location in Cochin to watch a movie. They are successful in satisfying the customers better than any other movie houses. Facilities, comfort and neatness that Q Cinemas provide is of premium class. The second most preferred location is Cinemax. They are also plying to the basic standards of multiplex and is also desired by customers in large numbers. Yet another small group of customers prefer single screens due to some other factors.

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13)

Which other multiplex chains are you familiar with? No. PVR Cinemas 50 INOX movies 38 Fun Cinemas 24 Cinepolis 27 Satyam cinemas 12

60 50 40 30 20 10 0 PVR Cinemas INOX movies Fun Cinemas Cinepolis Satyam Cinemas

The most known multiplex chain to customers are the PVR Cinemas. It has just opened in Cochin and is gaining popularity. The INOX movies and Cinepolis stand just next to the popular list of multiplexes to PVR Cinemas. Fun cinemas and Satyam cinemas are also known to some respondents. This data reveals that respondents have also visited other multiplex chains outside Cochin.

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14)

Is there any other factor which you think is a limitation of multiplexes? No. % Inconvenient location 9 18 Show timings Cost None 22 15 4 44 30 8

None Inconvenient location Cost Show Timings

9 people are of the opinion that inconvenient location is a limitation of multiplexes. They find that location is difficult to reach from their place. 22 people considers show timings is another limiting factor. Show timings is different for multiplexes comparing to the show timings of single screens. Respondents may find it difficult to adjust their schedule according to this. The second major group, ie 15 respondents, consider cost to be another major limitation of multiplexes.4 respondents do not find any major limitations.

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15)

Will you accept if there is a reasonable rise in multiplex charges? No. % Yes 29 58 No Cant tell 8 13 16 26

Cant tell

Yes No

29 respondents have answered that they can adjust to reasonable price changes in charges. As the other costs of multiplexes are rising corresponding rise in ticket charges can also be seen. They are confident that the rise in charges can be met by their income level. 8 respondents have answered that they cannot adjust to anymore rise in the charges of multiplexes.13 respondents are of the opinion that they have not thought what they will do if the charges of multiplexes rise.

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Findings and Conclusions It has been observed major chunk of young generation is watching newly released movies these days. Highly stylized movies and their genre are now more appealing to the young generation. Most of the people view new movies between the frequency of one to three times a month. This is a proof that young generation have become more attracted towards movie entertainments. Through this survey it has been found that most people prefer to go to a multiplex for watching a movie since it produces a premium class of movie experience, even though some of them prefer to go to a single screen due to their personal reasons. Comfort and convenience is the two main important factors that people look into while going for a movie. The cost factor and ambience is only secondary factors. Through this survey it has been understood that almost all young people have experienced going to a multiplex at least once. This shows the popularity that multiplexes have got among young people inducing them to go there. Facilities of multiplexes are rated as excellent by most of the young people. At least all of the people agree that facilities are up to the standards expected by the people or exceeds that. The ticket charges of the multiplexes are rated between high and moderate. This is evident from the fact that multiplexes charge for their tickets based on facilities that they provide which is higher than single screens. One half of the population consider it fairly high and another half consider it as moderate. All of the population is satisfied with the comfort of the multiplexes. The seating comfort and cooling conditions that the multiplexes provide is of excellent standards and none of the population has a disagreement with that. Multiplexes also stand ahead of single screens in the case of interiors and ambience. Multiplexes posses luxury interiors and facilities like food court and play areas which makes it well set up than single screens. The food court facilities are also been used by the customers often. Most of the people buys food stuff from food courts very often or at least rarely. Even though people with considerable amount of disposable income uses them frequently. There are also people who never use food court facility since they are new towards multiplexes, but may use it gradually. Majority of the population spends between rs.300 500 in multiplexes. This shows that young people are more interested in watching the movie and buying small eatables. However some people can afford more than that who uses premium class facilities of multiplexes like buying big meals and sitting in premium classes.
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From the survey conducted it has been observed that Q Cinemas is the most desired multiplex to go in cochin. Standing behind Q Cinemas is Cinemax, which is the second most desired location. Both multiplexes provide almost same and excellent facilities. But people are more favouring Q Cinemas. The services quality of Q Cinemas may be better than Cinemax which may be the factor making it the most desired location, Another few people are still loyal towards single screens, Cost may be the only factor for that reason. Other than multiplexes in Cochin the most popular multiplexes are PVR Cinemas and INOX Movies.PVR Cinemas and Cinepolis are the newest multiplexes to enter Cochin. The limiting factor of multiplexes that most of the people consider is the show timings. The people are not used to the show timings of multiplexes unlike single screens. The cost is another equivalent factor which is considered widely as a limitation. Location is not much of a drawback except for some. From the survey it has been understood that most of the people are willing to pay a reasonable price hike in multiplex charges. They are ready to go along with changes in modern film viewing. But, there are people who are not willing to adjust to further hike in charges which may change if the disposable income also rises. On the whole we can summarize that the facilities, comfort and experience that multiplex give to customers is well above single screens. Other than this factors multiplexes ensures security and safety for families which is now a concern in Cochin city. A multiplex visit give added value to a customer in addition to film viewing. It is evident from the study that customers are starting to switch over to modern film viewing from traditional ones which indirectly makes multiplexes superior to single screens. It can be recommended that there must be proper financial planning while choosing multiplexes. Any person with average income who falls under middle class or above can afford to view in multiplexes. But it is strongly recommended that additional facilities of the multiplexes should only be used when they have surplus money to spend, otherwise a considerable part of the income will be consumed. Taking a large group to multiplexes is also not advisable. Multiplexes are advisable for families or any other small group of individuals.

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References Web sites;

http://theviewspaper.net/the-multiplex-business-in-india/ http://businesstoday.intoday.in/story/multiplex-boom-india/1/24168.html http://www.livemint.com/Companies/X2s94NdmlM0hoWwvk1lYeO/Multiplexes-seek-higherrevenue-share-from-producers-distri.html

Books; Marketing research,An applied orientation Naresh K Malhotra, Satyabhushan Dash

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