IV. THE PRICES PAID FOR SEATS

Some information was collected in the inquiry made in March 1946 about the prices cinema-goers paid for their seats. They were asked what seats they usually went in, and if they said they went in seats of two different prices equally often the average of the two prices named was considered. This accounts for the fact that some of the prices shown in the table below, e.g. 1/1d. to 1/5d., are not the usual box-office prices.

There were in the sample 1632 cinema-goers, and 1463 of these gave information as to the prices they paid. The remaining 169 were unable to answer the question or their replies were too vague to be classified. Accordingly the results given below are based on a sample of 1463 cinema-goers.

As might be expected certain conventional prices such as 1/9d. and 2/3d. were mentioned frequently. These conventional prices were classified separately, the ranges of prices between them forming additional groups.

It will be seen from the table that the modal price is 1/9d., and this is also the average price. (Information was recorded individually as to the prices paid by those paying 2/10d. and more and the actual prices named were used in calculating the average).

The inquiry was made in the autumn, and if cinema going habits at this in- between season may he regarded as representing the average for the whole year, it may be estimated that civilian adults spend on an average about £2. 8s. a year on the cinema. The total annual expenditure of adults on the cinema in Great Britain would thus be about £85,400,000.

No information was collected about the prices paid by children, but it is reasonable to suppose that these would be somewhat lower than the prices paid by adults. The usual price for attendance at children’s club performances is 6d., and some cinemas admit children at reduced prices to ordinary performances during the afternoon. It is unlikely that the average price paid by children should be below 9d. or above 1/6d. Thus it may be estimated that annual expenditure on cinema seats for children is something between £10,500,000 and £21,000,000, making the total spent on the spent by civilians between about £96,000,000 and £106,000,000. For a rough estimate one could say that something over £100,000,000 was spent in 1946 by civilians on cinema-going in Great Britain.

It is estimated in White Paper, National Income and Expenditure 1938 to 1946, that in 1946 £121,000,000 was spent by the public of the United Kingdom on cinema seats. The estimate made from the Social Survey inquiry does not include money spent by members of H.M. Forces or by visitors to this country as does the figure given in the White Paper. Also the Social Survey inquiry covered only Great Britain. Expenditure in Northern Ireland and by members of the Forces and visitors could not however account for the whole difference.

It is possible that the average number of attendances per month given in Section II may be on the low side. Persons saying they went to the cinema “less than once a month” were counted as going 5 times a month, and it may be that they do in fact go more frequently. This group accounts for 22% of the whole sample. If these people are counted as going to the cinema 8 times a month the estimate of total expenditure would be raised by about three and a half million pounds. Similarly it may be that those going “more than twice a week” go more frequently than 10 times a month.

It should also be noted that the “usual” price paid for seats, which were considered, may for the individual be somewhat less than the average price, owing to occasional visits to more expensive non-local cinemas.

All these factors might have the effect of making our estimate somewhat lower than that given in the White Paper.

There was no statistically significant difference between the prices mentioned by men and women. Analysis by age showed that slightly higher proportions of the youngest and oldest groups (up to 24 years and 55 years and over) than of other groups usually paid less than 1/6d. for their seats, and a slightly higher proportion of those between 45 and 55 years than of other groups paid 2/3d. or more. The differences between age groups are however small, and the average price paid by all age groups is around 1/9d. This means that considerably more is spent per head on cinemas by younger people than by older people since the younger people go to the cinema much more frequently.

As might be expected there are marked differences in the prices paid by the different economic groups.

Those in the higher groups buy more expensive seats and by considering frequency of attendance it may be calculated that the higher and middle groups spend more per head on cinema seats than does the lower group. The average amounts spent per month (during autumn) by the lower, middle and higher groups are respectively about 3/-, 4/5d. and 4/9d. per head.

There are considerable differences in the prices paid by people in different occupation groups.

Manual workers and the retired and unoccupied pay less for their seats than clerical and distributive workers and those in the professional and managerial group.

Taking frequency of attendance into account most is spent per head by clerical and distributive workers, and least by the retired and unoccupied. The average amounts spent per month (during autumn) per head by the different groups were as follows: - factory operatives 4/8d., other manual workers 3/11d., clerical and distributive workers 5/10d., professional and managerial workers 4/4d., housewives 3/7d., retired and unoccupied 1/8d. It should be noted that these estimates are very approximate, the numbers in some of the groups being small.

Analysis of the prices paid by frequency of going to the cinema was made, and the results are shown below.

Broadly speaking the less people go to the cinema the more they pay for their seats when they do go. However very much more is spent per month by frequent cinema goers than by those who go less frequently. The figures for the “more than twice a week” and “less than once a month” groups are put in brackets as the frequency with which people in these groups go to the cinema is estimated only.