An Unscientific Cinema Survey

There is an interesting historical paradoxical trend that indicates box-office revenues INCREASE in times of economic downturns. If you have never heard of this, feel free to look it up. It is entirely true. The general theory behind this trend is that consumers look upon movies as a mental escape from reality; a chance to forget about their troubles and become absorbed by a good story.

Without getting into economic predictions about how bad things will become when the dollar crashes, I would like to ask a few questions to the more knowledgeable steemit community. The following question may apply to you already, but if not, consider being in this financial position for the sake of the survey.

ASSUMPTION: At the end of the month, you’re left with $100 of disposable income.

DEFINITION: Disposable income is the money left over, at the end of the month (for this survey, anyway) after all expenses, including tax provisions, have been met. This is also sometimes referred to as “consumer discretionary spending.” In other words, money you spend on stuff you want, but don’t need, and are not purchasing with debt.

QUESTION: Would you spend 10% of your monthly disposable income on a $10 movie ticket?

If your answer is NO, what would you likely dedicate this 10% towards?

A. Savings
B. Investment (I count crypto currency purchases here)
C. Restaurant Spend
D. Consumer Goods
E. Debt Repayment
F. Other

The reason I ask is because nowhere in the past has there been a true alternative to the movie theater. The trend may no longer hold true since far more people can now opt to simply stream a given movie on their personal electronic devices and have the $10 they would have spent on a movie ticket to spend elsewhere.

So in the end, the question actually becomes whether or not the “cinema experience” is synonymous with the “movie experience” or have these two elements, that were once one in the same, becoming more and more mutually exclusive?

Thanks in advance to those who choose to respond. I mean this sincerely. I will actually take the results of this informal survey to my company’s distribution rep and discuss how we weigh new media distribution opportunities versus the more traditional domestic and international sales structures.

BONUS: By the way, did you know the ingredients in that “butter-flavored topping” found at local movie theaters for pumping over your delicious, hot popcorn are:

• Partially hydrogenated soybean oil (trans fat)
• Beta carotene (for color, only)
• “Buttery flavoring” (mystery ingredient/components)
• TBHQ (tertiary butylhydroquinone – a preservative)
• Polydimethylsiloxane (silicon-based polymer de-foaming agent)

I haven’t yet tried it, but I would bet that this would make your tires shine more and last longer than regular Armor All. This car-care tip is included free of charge to all survey participants.