Commentary

The Whole Story - Dinner and a Movie?

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Going to the movies is almost always a social activity, and this USA TouchPoints analysis shows the extent to which it dovetails with Casual Dining, which in this case encompasses visits to Restaurants/Bars and Quick Service Restaurants (QSRs) in the same evening.

Like movie-going, casual dining in the evening tends to be part of a social occasion -- more so than lunchtime, when people are more likely to be grabbing a bite to eat before heading back to work.

The big nights for the movies are Thursday, Friday and Saturday. When looking at movie-goers who also go to a Restaurant/Bar or QSR in the same evening, it is clear that both experiences go hand-in hand as part of a night out.

The percentage of moviegoers visiting Applebee’s, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Olive Garden and the like is high -- ranging from just over 19% on Thursday to nearly doubling 37% on Saturday.

Although the increase over these three days may not be particularly large, the real point is the extent to which the two behaviors -- movie-going and casual dining appear to correlate.

For advertisers, few other activities or media exposures deliver an audience where such a high percentage are likely to be making a buying decision directly relevant to the category so close to the point of purchase. Such immediacy combined with what amounts to a smaller degree of situational wastage than in general combines to heighten relevance and potential receptivity to the right messaging.

The right promotional message and perhaps the use of mobile redemption linked to an in-theater campaign could go a long way to influencing the buying choices of as much as 37% of the movie-going public on these key evenings. That amounts to millions of meals served from this socially active slice of the market.



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