Report: Internet Drives Interest in Summer Blockbusters

Very interesting press release from Claria, an online behavioral marketing company (You might know them from their "Gator" ewallet product). The company analyzed their 43 millon-strong user base to see what impact online marketing had on three big-budget summer releases...

Here's the meat of the release:

More Moviegoers Skip Theater Lines with Online Ticket Purchases

-- Of the respondents who go to the movies, 24% said that they have
bought movie tickets online.
-- Of the respondents who bought movie tickets online, 71% made a
purchase 1-3 times in the past 6 months.
-- Fandango was the most popular site for movie tickets with 44%
of people saying they have used it to purchase tickets.
Movietickets.com and Moviefone.com followed with 36% and 21%,
respectively.

Online Advertising Increases Movie Buzz

-- 43% of survey respondents had seen a Spiderman 2 ad online,
followed by Harry Potter at 41% and Shrek 2 at 27%.

Film-Related Sites Also Find Success Online

-- Yahoo! Movies was the most popular general movie site among users for
information relating the three summer blockbuster movies. The Shrek 2
Yahoo! movie site captured 30% of total traffic to the top
general movie sites related to the three movie sequels, followed by the

Yahoo! Harry Potter movie site with 29% and finally the
Spiderman 2 Yahoo! movie site capturing 12% of total traffic.
-- 39% of total traffic to the three official movie sites came on
Fridays and Saturdays.
-- Survey respondents cited "watching trailers" as the most popular reason

for visiting official movie sites with 66% of respondents going
online to see the trailer for Harry Potter, 53% for Shrek 2, and
48% for Spiderman 2.

Movie Enthusiasts Are Likely to Purchase Video/DVD

-- Harry Potter movie enthusiasts are most likely to purchase the movie
when it comes out with 48% of respondents saying they will
definitely or probably buy the DVD or video. This number is followed by

41% who cited that they will definitely or probably purchase
Spiderman 2 when it's released and 39% for Shrek 2.
-- Of those who had seen the first or earlier releases of these summer
blockbuster sequels, more than half purchased the movies when they were

released on video or DVD:

* 58% of the respondents who saw Shrek 1 in the theater also
bought it.
* 63% of those who saw one or more earlier Harry Potter
movies, also bought one or more Harry Potter films.
* 56% of those who saw Spiderman 1 in the theater also bought
it.

Other Results Indicate:

-- 39% of total survey respondents go to the movies once or more
every 3-4 weeks.
-- Most respondents plan on seeing the movies within 1-3 weeks of the
movie's release:

* Shrek 2 -- 88% will go within the first three weeks of the
movie's release.
* Spiderman 2 -- 74% will go within the first week and 92%
will go within the first three weeks.
* Harry Potter -- 60% will go within the first few days, 91%
within the first three weeks.