With the arrival of the National Day holiday, the curtain of National Day movies will also begin. In order to understand the current status and existing problems of consumer services in the film industry in the Yangtze River Delta region, the Yangtze River Delta Consumer Protection Committee Alliance recently launched the 2024 Yangtze River Delta Consumer Protection Committee Alliance Film Consumption Survey and released a survey report on September 29.
According to the "Jiangsu Provincial Consumer Protection Committee" WeChat official account, this survey includes three parts: online questionnaire survey, public opinion analysis and offline consumption observation. Among them, a total of 11,122 valid questionnaires were collected online; tickets were purchased offline through platforms such as Maoyan, Taopiaopiao, and the official mini program of the theater chain, and a total of 330 visits were conducted on mainstream theater brands in the Yangtze River Delta, covering 286 theaters. .
According to the report, online survey results show that the movie consumption market continues to be enthusiastic. In 2023, 84.38% of consumers will watch more than four movies, and more than 90% of consumers are satisfied with the current movie viewing services. However, there are still consumer pain points such as overtime advertisements, irregular fare markings, insufficient massage chair seat reminders, some theaters do not provide free 3D glasses, and do not support refunds at all.
A survey found that more than 20% of theaters did not show movies on time. An online survey showed that 55.99% of the respondents said they had encountered situations where advertisements were still being played overtime even after movie screening time. The offline inspection results showed that 69 samples had the problem of "failure to play videos on time", accounting for 20.91% of the total inspections. The inspector purchased a ticket for the movie "Thelma and Louise " at Hengda Jiakai Cinema in Liu'an, Anhui, which opened at 21:10, but the cinema was still playing advertisements at 21:10, and the main movie did not start until 21:14. .
The movie announcement start time is 21:10, but it is actually 21:14. The pictures in this article are all from the "Jiangsu Provincial Consumer Protection Committee" WeChat official account
. Among all the question samples, there are 10 cinema stores with a delay of more than 5 minutes in showing movies; 26 stores with a delay of 3-4 minutes; and a delay of 0-2 minutes. There are 25 stores; there are 8 sample stores that broadcast in advance, and the advance time is ≤3 minutes. Among them, most of the samples are delayed due to timeout of advertisements.
In terms of movie ticket price marking, offline observation results showed that 42 out of 330 samples were inconsistent with the actual paid price and the movie ticket price. The Shanghai China Film International Cinema (Yi Life Plaza Store) movie ticket purchased by the inspector through the Taopiaopiao platform did not have the word "fare" on it, and only had the word "11.00" suspected to be the fare. However, the original price of the movie ticket purchased online by the inspector was 51 yuan, the actual payment after deducting the discount is 40.9 yuan.
Shanghai China Film International Cinemas (Yi Life Plaza Store) movie ticket price markings.
In recent years, public opinion about massage chairs in movie theaters has been rising for a long time. An online survey showed that 68.75% of consumers support replacing some seats in theaters with massage chairs. Offline observers found during the ticket purchase process that there is currently no unified standard for marking seats in different movie viewing areas. Some theaters will mark the "massage chair area", and some use the visual effects of movie viewing to divide the best viewing areas or golden areas. In movie viewing areas, etc., consumers can only "open a blind box" as to whether there is a massage chair.
In addition, during the movie viewing session, there were 67 samples where the massage chair suddenly started up during the movie viewing. Some theaters can manually turn off the massage chair, while some theaters cannot manually turn off the massage chair and can only wait for the massage chair to stop on its own. Some observers reported that the massage chair was parked in a special position, making it difficult to relax in the sitting position. In order to relieve discomfort, they could only scan the QR code to pay and continue the massage.
3D glasses are an essential tool for consumers to watch 3D movies, but some theaters do not provide 3D glasses for free during 3D movie sessions. This move undoubtedly transfers the cost of 3D glasses to consumers, which is suspected of forcing consumption and is suspected of infringing on consumers. the right to fair dealing. The results of the online questionnaire showed that 56% of the respondents had encountered situations where movie theaters did not provide free 3D glasses. Offline observation found that some theaters provide free 3D glasses on the ticket purchase page or in the theater lobby, and some theaters remind consumers that if they have personalized needs for 3D glasses, such as lenses, they need to pay separately. Offline observations also revealed that there are still a small number of theaters that do not provide 3D glasses for free.
The issue of "refund or change" of movie tickets has always been a concern for consumers.The survey report mentioned that during the online ticket purchase process, it was found that the cancellation and change prompts on some theater brands’ official mini-program ticket purchasing platforms were not obvious. Half of the samples reported that the cancellation and change rules did not pop up when purchasing tickets, and there were also samples where refunds and changes were made. The font color of the prompt is light and easy to be ignored by consumers. The results of the offline inspection showed that more than 80% of the sample stores did not publish the "refund or change" instructions for ticket purchase in a prominent position in the lobby. This problem was the most prominent problem in this inspection activity.
online questionnaire survey data shows that 43.69% of the respondents said that they have encountered the situation where movie tickets cannot be refunded or changed, and 77.79% of the respondents support that movie tickets can be refunded or changed. Consumers have standardized the detailed rules for the refund and change of movie tickets. The voice is very strong. However, during the inspection, it was found that there are still a small number of theaters that do not support refunds at all. For example, when the inspector purchased movie tickets at the Wanda Cinema Xuzhou Wanda Plaza store on the Taopiaopiao platform, they were prompted on the purchase page that the theater does not support refunds for the time being.
The ticket purchase page prompts that refunds are not supported. The
experiential survey also found that with the popularization of online ticket purchasing models, movie ticket refunds and changes show obvious online and offline differences. Some theaters can refund and change tickets online but do not support them offline, while others do not. on the contrary. There are also some theaters where refunds and changes can be made both online and offline, but the handling fees are different. In addition, the right to cancel and change will also vary depending on whether the consumer has a theater or ticket purchasing platform membership, such as the number of cancellations and changes, and the handling fee standard.
In response to the above problems, the Yangtze River Delta Consumer Protection Committee Alliance recommends that relevant enterprises and industry associations adapt to the new situation, combine new technologies, and refer to similar service standards to further improve the rules related to movie ticket sales. For example, the fee standards and time for cancellations and changes can be changed. Linked to factors, a progressive "tiered rate" will be implemented from far to near based on the time of consumer's cancellation or change, the time before the movie is released, etc., and consumers will be allowed to make refunds or changes conditionally; the relevant theaters and platforms will work together , fully understand consumers’ consumption habits and needs, establish online ticketing information prompt standards, ensure that the price structure of ticket purchases is open and transparent, theater seats are intuitive and clear, the rules for cancellation and change are concise and to the point, enlarge or bold fonts, highlight or pop up important content, requiring consumers to click to confirm if necessary.
