Good locations for movie theaters sell tickets more than ten yuan more
Yesterday was the first day of the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, and the movie theaters also became popular.
Yuan Zhang, who works for an environmental inspection company in Chongqing, bought tickets at a cinema in Nanping, Chongqing, and found that the same movie in the same theater has a price fluctuation ranging from 10 to 20 yuan due to different seats.
Yuan Zhang is puzzled, but the same movie is divided into different "locations". Is this reasonable?
Audience: Controversy under the fare difference
Yesterday, the reporter found on the online ticketing platform that the price of "Tropical Once Upon a Time" screened at the UME Cinema on Nanbin Road that day was different in different locations. The ticket price was 44.9 yuan, 49.9 yuan and 54.9 yuan, the highest ticket price and the lowest ticket price. The fare difference is 10 yuan.
In fact, it is not a new thing that movie theaters have different prices in the same scene. As early as the end of 2019, theaters in some first- and second-tier cities in China have begun to implement regional ticket sales.
He Yuanxu, a junior student at Chongqing Technology and Business University, told reporters that when buying movie tickets at Chongqing Cinema at the beginning of the year, there was a difference of two or three yuan between seat prices. In order to have a better experience, he would also choose high-priced seats, "but now the golden seats are After the fare gap widens to 10-20 yuan, I will choose the cheapest ticket without hesitation."
Although Yuan Zhang did not approve of the cinema’s approach, he ultimately chose the most expensive movie ticket.
He confessed that he used to watch movies a lot, and even if he was busy, he would watch movies twice a month.
"Although the fares of good seats have risen, I still choose high-priced seats when buying tickets. After all, considering coming to the theater to watch movies is to have a better viewing effect."
On Weibo, many netizens expressed opposition to the movie's move.
Some netizens said that this is a disguised price increase. If the middle position can increase the price, why can't the edge position decrease the price?
Some netizens also said that the corresponding services should be kept up if the prices are increased. There are still three or six categories for watching movies?
Cinemas: revenue under the difference in ticket prices
Different seats have different prices.
This move in theater sounds new, but it is actually not the "first time" in life.
He Jincai, an associate professor at the School of Economics and Management of Chongqing Jiaotong University, told reporters that the price of the same movie at different locations in a movie theater is different, which is called "differential pricing" in economics. The implementation of differential pricing is a strategy chosen by theaters in order to maximize profits.
The most common difference in pricing in life is the different cabin types of flights. Economy class passengers pay more attention to price, while business class passengers are more willing to pay for comfort.
He Jincai said that the same is true for movie tickets. Some consumers may be loyal movie fans. They are not sensitive to movie price changes and pay more attention to feelings, such as picture quality, sound effects, etc., so this part of the group is for enjoyment. The movie viewing effect brought by a good location is willing to bear a higher price; while another group may only be for the content of the movie and have low requirements on the environment, so for this group, they are more concerned about the price, so they They are more willing to choose a location that is a bit biased, but the price is relatively cheap.
However, the person in charge of a theater in Jiangbei told reporters that such differential pricing does not help much in terms of theater revenue.
She believes that the current average attendance rate in theaters is only 10%. Except for the Spring Festival, premiere, and fan meeting events, it doesn't make much sense to implement partitioned fares at other times.
"Unless the prime location has obvious differences in hardware facilities such as seats, and software facilities such as services, there is no reason for viewers to pay more."
Expert: movie ticket pricing cannot be one size fits all
Is the ticket price of the theater zone reasonable?
The relevant person in the market supervision said that cinemas have the right to set their own prices. As long as the merchants fully and transparently publicize the prices before purchasing tickets, there will be no violations.
However, He Jincai also believes that there is something wrong with the movie’s move. “Differential pricing is a rational decision made by theaters in order to pursue more profits. It is understandable in itself. But when it comes to differential pricing, only consider the location. It’s not fair to the audience that the price of the film is set a little higher, and the price of the position is not set relatively low. At the same time, for those films that have been broadcast for a long time, in order to attract more customers, it should be adopted The strategy of reducing prices and attracting traffic is similar to small profits but quick turnover."
He Jincai put forward suggestions on the pricing mechanism of cinemas. Cinemas should not only consider their own interests, nor should the pricing of ticket prices be one-size-fits-all. Ultimately, they should make flexible choices based on the supply and demand in the film market and the demand for films from different consumers. .
Only by considering from the perspective of consumers and catering to the diverse needs of consumers can we truly formulate a pricing mechanism that is satisfactory to both theaters and consumers.
Chongqing Morning News·Upstream News Reporter Zhang Hanxiang, intern Zhang Xiaofan