An In-Depth Analysis of Attendance

at Tate Theatre
Who Attends, Why They See Movies, and What Draws Them to Tate Theatre?

Prepared for:

University Union
December 2018

Prepared by:
DSRCC Marketing Research Group
Table of Contents
Executive Summary 2
Introduction 4
Method 5
Results 6

Overall Demographics 6
Section One: Assess Current Movie-Going Habits of Students 6
Section Two: Assess Current Student Awareness of Tate Theatre and Movie 10
Showings
Limitations 17

Conclusions and Recommendations 18

Appendices 20

Appendix A: Demographics 20
Appendix B: Data Tables 21
Appendix C: Questionnaire Link 26
Appendix D: Data File (submitted separately) 26

1
 Executive Summary
DSRCC Research was contracted in August 2018 by University Union to examine opportunities
to garner greater attendance at Tate Theatre. Specifically, we conducted research to (1) assess
current movie-going habits of students and (2) assess the current student awareness of Tate
Theatre and movie schedule. The purpose of this research is to provide University Union with a
greater understanding of current student perceptions of Tate Theater and preferences, including
insights on movie genre, time of showing, and advertising channel preference. Understanding
these preferences will help University Union better plan their movie schedule and advertise Tate
Theatre to the student population.

About the Research: We began our research by running a focus group consisting of five current
students from The University of Georgia. This focus group ran for twenty-three (23) minutes and
consisted of eight (8) questions. Following this, we distributed an online survey consisting of
twenty-five (25) questions through Qualtrics. We received three hundred twenty-two (322)
completed surveys from a very diverse group of students at The University of Georgia. This data
provided DSRCC with the information needed to make useful recommendations.

Key Results:

● Out of the 89% of respondents who said they had seen a movie in any theater this year,
68% said they had seen a movie in Tate Theatre. The remaining 32% is a target audience
that Tate Theatre can aim to reach.
● When attending a movie showing, freshman and sophmores utilize Tate Theatre more
frequently than other theatres in the area, while juniors and seniors utilize regional
theatres more often.
● Action and Comedy films were deemed most popular (21% and 17% respectively), with
Drama and Romance films falling not far behind (12% and 11% respectively.)
● Half of the students surveyed (50%) are unaware of the movie showings at Tate Theatre.
● Freshmen and sophomores are more likely to not attend a movie because they are
unaware of the showings, while juniors and seniors are more likely to not attend because
of parking and transportation concerns.
● For students who haven’t seen a movie at Tate Theatre, only 59% know the theatre has
free admission.
● A large portion or students (180) would see a movie on Thursday if given the option.
● For weekend showtimes, over 200 individuals stated that they would see a movie at Tate
Theatre in the early evening closer to 4pm.
● 18% of students would prefer to use Instagram to view movie showings, even though
University Union does not currently offer this as an option.

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Recommendations. We offer a number of recommendations based on these results:

1. Develop greater awareness of movies showing at Tate Theatre through the use of social
media platforms, specifically Instagram.
2. Create larger, eye-catching posters that will generate awareness across campus.
3. Increase awareness revolving around Tate Theatre’s free admission for students and $3
entry fee for non-UGA students.
4. Focus on delivering the highest quality experience possible for current attendees to
promote word-of-mouth. Students have a large influence over their peers and typically
take social considerations into account when deciding on what activities to partake in.
5. Consider showing movies on Thursday nights in addition to Friday-Sunday showtimes in
order to capture a greater audience throughout the week.
6. Switch the order of showtimes on Sunday evenings - with the blockbuster film being
played first, followed by the indie/lesser-known film.
7. Increase the amount of action and comedy films played at the Theatre.

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 Introduction
University Union, the University of Georgia's Student Programming Board, is interested
in ways to boost attendance at Tate Theatre’s movie showings. Founded in 1948, University
Union has been putting together events for students for 70 years. The organization is largely run
by student directors and coordinators with direction from staff advisors. One of the many facets
of University Union is the movie showings at Tate Theatre, UGA’s on-campus theater. Tate
Theatre targets UGA’s student population, though it is open to everyone. The theater shows
second-run films, meaning the films have left first-run theaters. A big draw to the theater is that
the showings are free for students of the university who have paid their student activity fees.
Non-students can also watch movies at the theater for $3. It is also conveniently located in the
student center on campus, which has an attached parking deck.

For years the theatre has been actively used by students on campus. Screenings,
depending on the time and movie, usually draw crowds anywhere from 20-150 students. These
are relatively low numbers given that the theatre can hold 500 students and that there is a very
large student population. Looking back on this year, attendance at the theater has been lower
than ever before. This semester some extra effort was made to increase attendance, but
University Union needs recommendations on how to increase overall attendance. The overall
decision problem facing University Union and guiding the research is, “How can we increase
attendance at Tate Theatre?”

University Union had some ideas as to why their attendance is so low, including lack of
knowledge of the theatre and movie selection. A large portion of the variance in movie
attendance can be attributed to the particular movie being played and the specific demand for
that movie. With this in mind, we began the research process with discovery-oriented research
with the goal of (1) assessing movie-going habits of students and (2) assessing the current
student awareness of Tate Theatre and movie schedule.

On the following pages, we describe the method used, detail the results of our analyses,
and offer recommendations based on our conclusions.

4
 Method

After consulting with University Union, we began our data collection process with a
focus group. This exploratory research consisted of a nonprobability sample of five participants
that discussed their perceptions of the Tate Theatre. Despite the group being relatively diverse,
this could still be considered a convenience sample. The participants knew members of the
research team and were invited to the event by said members. The moderator asked participants
to discuss their opinions and previous experiences of Tate Theatre. The goal was to begin to
understand motivations to attend Tate Theatre and methods by which students initially learn
about the theatre and it’s showings. Results were gathered through observations of the
participants. These insights served as a guide to develop the data collections survey used in our
next stage of research.
For descriptive research our team collected primary data through an online Qualtrics
survey from a random sample of UGA students. We utilized insights from the focus group as
well as secondary data provided by University Union to create our survey. This secondary data
included previous showtimes, theatre attendance, and movies shown. We chose to conduct our
survey online to make it easily accessible and readily available. We anticipated a reasonable
response rate due to the population and their involvement in the topic of the survey.
The questionnaire (see Appendix C) contained a variety of closed-ended questions
designed to get the information needed to address the established research problems. There were
several branching questions asked, leaving participants answering anywhere between 15-25
questions. We included one final open-ended question asking participants to give any general
feedback they may have for Tate Theatre to take into account.
The sampling frame was students registered for Marketing 4100 at The University of
Georgia (136 students) and individuals who like University Union’s Facebook page (1,114
people). This left us with a sampling frame of 1,250 individuals, from which we created a goal of
100 usable responses. When we cut off the data collection period by closing the online survey,
we had received a total of 322 usable surveys, giving us a response rate of 26%.

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 Results

Overall Demographics Using demographic data from our survey, we can get an idea as to who
the average Tate Theatre attendee would be.

The data tables in Appendix A include complete information on these demographic variables.

Section One: Assess Current Movie-Going Habits of Students

(A) Have You Seen a Movie in Any Theater This Year?

(a) A
n
y

T
h
e
a
t
e
r

v
s
Tate Theatre
We began by asking respondents if they had seen a movie at any theater during
this year. 89% of all respondents said they had seen a movie in a theater this year
leaving 11% who had not. Of the respondents who said they had seen a movie in a
theater this year 68% said they had seen a movie in Tate Theatre. The remaining

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 32% is a targetable area of students who do go see movies in theaters but who do
not currently use Tate Theatre.

(B) What Theater in Athens Have You Gone To?

(a) O
v
e
r
a
l
l

T
h
e
a
t
e
r

A
t
t
e
nded
We asked respondents which theaters they have been to in the Athens area. Tate
Theatre is the most frequented theater with 25% and Beechwood Cinemas is a
very close second with 24%.
(b) Theater in Athens vs Class Rank
When broken down by class rank, Tate Theatre is the most frequented theater by
freshmen and sophomores. 41% of freshman respondents have been to Tate
Theatre and 35% have not been to a theater in Athens in the past year. 54% of
sophomore respondents have been to Tate Theatre while 41% said they have been
to AMC Dine-In Athens 12 and Beechwood Cinemas. Beechwood Cinemas is the
most frequented theater by juniors and seniors. 66% of juniors have seen a movie
at Beechwood Cinemas while 47% have seen a movie at Tate Theatre. 67% of
seniors have seen a Movie at Beechwood Cinemas this year while only 30% have
seen a movie at Tate Theatre. This shows that freshmen and sophomores more
frequently use Tate Theatre while juniors and seniors utilize regional theaters.

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 (c) Theater vs Living On Campus
When comparing theater frequented by whether the student lives on or off campus
it can be found that there is little difference in attending Tate Theater between on
and off campus living. (56% and 44% respectively) Beechwood Cinemas and
University 16 Cinemas are both attended by a higher number of off-campus
students (78% and 81% respectively). There is also a significant difference for
students who have not been to a theatre in Athens. 74% of students who have not
been to a theater in Athens live on campus. This shows that there is a possible
target audience of students who live on campus who either can not get to or do not
know of other theaters in Athens.

(C) Genre Of Movie Seen

(a) Overall Genre Seen

Respondents were asked what genre of movies they had seen in theaters this year.
Overall respondents said they had seen the most of Action (21%), Comedy (17%),
Drama (12%), and Romance (11%). There were numerous options and the
respondents were allowed to pick multiple options so the percentages are quite
low, but they do show a notable difference from the other choices.
(b) Genre Seen vs Gender
When broken down by gender the top 3 genres seen by women were Action
(71%), Comedy (65%), and Romance (45%). Drama was in a close fourth with
44%. The top 3 genres for men were Action (85%), Comedy (55%), and Sci-
fi/Fantasy (41%). They were allowed to pick multiple options so the totals will
not equal 100%. Overall, Action and Comedy are very popular for both women

8
 and men. Romance and Drama were more popular with women and Sci-fi/Fantasy
were more popular with men.

(D) Important Factors for Movie-Going Experience

(a) Overall Importance

Respondents were asked what factors were the most important to their movie
going experience. The most important factor overall at 25% was the type of movie
shown. Action and comedy are likely to be the type of movie people want to see,
which can be found in Part C of Section One. After type of movie, Time of
Showing (23%) and Price (20%) were the second and third most common
response. While price may be important at a typical theatre, this factor should not
be relevant to Tate Theatre as movie showings are free for UGA students.
Rounding out the survey, we Location (15%), Atmosphere (10%), and
Concessions (7%). Despite being a major talking point among our focus group,
this factor was the least important in our survey.

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Section Two: Assess Current Student Awareness of Tate Theatre and Movie Showings

(A) Has the Student Seen a Movie at Tate Theatre

(a) Of our 322 respondents, 66% had seen a movies in Tate Theatre and 34% had not.

(B) Inhibiting Factors For Not Attending Tate Theatre

(a) Overall Breakdown

We asked respondents what the major inhibiting factors were for why they did not
see movies at Tate Theatre. The factor most often chosen was being unaware of

10
 the movies playing (33%). Movie times not fitting their schedule was another
large portion with (25%).
(b) Inhibiting Factors vs Class Rank & Residence
There was a significant correlation between factors that have inhibited students
and their class rank and residence. This means that inhibiting factors differ
between class ranks and students who live on or off campus. Overall 50% of
individuals surveyed stated that being “unaware of what movies are playing” was
an inhibiting factor. The data also showed “movie times don’t fit my schedule”
was a larger concern to Freshmen and Sophomores compared to Seniors and
Juniors and parking and transportation was a much larger concern for Juniors and
Seniors than it was to Freshmen and Sophomores. One particular piece of
information that was somewhat peculiar was that being “unaware of what movies
are playing” was the largest inhibiting factor for both students living on and off
campus. Initially we expected transportation and parking to play a bigger role in
inhibiting students who live off campus from attending Tate Theatre.

(C) Genre of Movie Students Would Like to See

(a) G
e
n
r
e

p
r
e
f
e
(
a
)
(a) Genre Preference vs Gender
Similar to when we asked what movie genre respondents have seen, we asked
them what movie genres they would want to see in Tate Theatre. We again broke
this down by gender. The top three (3) genres women wanted to see were comedy
(64%), action (59%), and romance (44%). Again, drama was in a close 4th with
43%. The top three (3) genres men wanted to see are action (91%), Sci-Fi Fantasy
(59%), and Comedy (57%). Horror/thriller came in a notable 4th with 52%. These
results do generally line up with the respondents answers to what genres they

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 have seen this year. Combining both genders, the top 2 genres wanted are action
(62%) and comedy (62%). Drama, Horror, Romance, Sci-Fi

(D) Awareness of Pricing

(a) Awareness of Pricing vs Theatre Attendance

We asked our respondents if they were aware that Tate Theatre’s showings are
free for students who have paid their students activity fees and $3 for non-
students. Of the students who have seen a movie in tate 99% knew the movies
were free while only 78% were aware of non-student tickets being $3. Of the
students who have not seen a movie at Tate Theatre 59% are aware that the
showings are free and only 31% are aware that non-student tickets are $3.

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(E) Movie Showtimes on Weekdays

(a) Preferred Showtimes on Weekdays

Respondents were asked which weekday they preferred to watch a movie on. Our
result show that as the week goes on, students are more likely to watch a movie.
Moday (13%), Tuesday (14%), Wednesday (18%), Thursday (23%), Friday
(28%), and 4% said they would not see a movie on a weekday.

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(F) Movie Showtimes on Weekends

Saturday Showtimes
Sunday Showtimes

(a) Preferred Showtimes on Weekends

Respondents were asked what times they preferred to watch movies on both
Saturday and Sunday. Our results show that students prefer late evening
showtimes between 7pm and 9pm on Saturdays. However, on Sunday’s our data
shows that people prefer to see a movie earlier in the afternoon - from 4 - 6pm.
From this we can conclude that the blockbuster film should be played first on
Sundays and the indie/lesser-known film should be played following.

(G) Sources of Information

Current Sources

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 Preferred Sources

(a) Current vs Preferred sources of Tate Theatre Information

There was a significant correlation between how students currently get
information about movie showings at Tate Theatre and how they would like to
receive information about movie showings in the future. Students overwhelmingly
prefer to utilize the sources they are currently using in the future to continue
receiving information about Tate Theatre. One category for future preference that
saw significant response choice regardless of how students currently receive
information was the use of Instagram. Over 40% of students in seven out of the
ten categories and over 30% of the students in each category for current
information stated they would prefer to use Instagram for information about
movie showings in the future. This shows that although individuals usually prefer
to use the same source they currently use for movie showing information in the
future, regardless of what individuals currently use, students overall want to
increase their exposure to Tate Theatre through Instagram. Overall 47.69% of
students chose Instagram in their top three medium of choice for movie
information in the future. The second two most selected choices were the
University Union calendar with 43.38% students choosing it as a medium of
preference and posters around campus with 43.08% choosing it as medium of
preference.
(b) Current vs Class Rank & Living Situation
There was a significant relationship between students’ class rank and how they
currently receive information about Tate Theatre showings and whether they live
on or off campus and how they currently receive information about Tate Theatre

15
 showings. We discovered that over 50% of Freshman, Sophomores, and Juniors
and 45.9% of seniors currently receive their movie showing information from the
University Union Calendar. The University Union calendar was the most popular
used medium regardless of class rank. The data also showcased that only 36.96%
of freshmen use posters in dorms to receive Tate Theatre showings information.
The data also shows that less than 16% of all class ranks use Instagram as their
source to receive movie showing information, and overall only 11.75% of
students use Instagram as their source of choice. The data shows that currently
freshmen use posters in dorms to receive information about movie showings
significantly more than sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Additionally, Seniors
currently utilize Facebook more than all other class ranks and the use of Facebook
progressively declines as class rank decreases. Seniors and Freshmen are
generally less aware of the sources available to receive information about Tate
Theatre than juniors and sophomores. This may be because freshmen are still
getting accustomed to the amenities UGA offers and seniors are less involved in
on campus activities. The data also showcases the difference between how
individuals who live on campus receive information versus individuals who live
off campus. As we expected, only 3.03% of individuals who live off campus
receive Tate Theatre information from posters in dorms. Instead individuals who
live off campus enhance their knowledge of Tate Theatre showings by using TV
screens outside of Tate and Word of Mouth Communication
(c) Preferred vs Class Rank
There was a significant correlation between students’ class rank and the top three
choices they would prefer to utilize to receive information about Tate Theatre
showings. The data revealed that 66.3% of freshmen chose posters as a preference
for future movie showing data. This percentage falls dramatically as class rank
increases. With freshman naturally being on campus more than other students,
posters are a marketing method that would be most beneficial for them. Seniors
and Graduate Students heavily prefer Facebook, Juniors and Sophomores clearly
preferred other sources over Facebook, and Freshmen had a very strong aversion
to it. 40% or above of all class ranks besides freshmen chose Tv screens outside
of Tate Theatre as a medium of choice for future movie showings, but 16.3% of
freshmen chose this option. This may be due to the lack of freshmen awareness of
these TV screen outside of Tate Theatre.

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Limitations

Although every measure within control was taken to avoid any limitations, with a survey
of this nature there are some limitations that are difficult to foresee and avoid. The
question that asked individuals to recall the number of times they had seen a movie in the
past year may have had recall bias, as some individuals may not have been able to
remember the exact number of movies they attended. There was a revision after the initial
survey was sent out because some participants that skipped several questions. The
research group wasn’t aware of the motive for no response but decided to force a
response for all questions to ensure we received responses from all individuals surveyed.
It is important to acknowledge that there was an overwhelming majority of female
respondents (75.93% of respondents identified as female). This means that some results
may be skewed to female preferences, however a University Union associate mentioned
that many of the current visitors of Tate Theater are females. We took account for this
disparity by isolating the male and female responses.

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 Conclusion
Based on the analysis of our study, we came up with several recommendations for
University Union to take into consideration when planning for the upcoming semester. Our
recommendations are split into two major categories:

1. Increasing Awareness
Social Media
The biggest thing that can be done to help Tate Theatre’s attendance is increasing
the awareness of the theater itself as well as the movies being shown. Our data
shows that an increase in social media usage would make a large impact, as it is
largely underutilized at the moment. The largest discrepancy was between current
and desired Instagram usage.
Posters Around Campus
There was also a significant number of students who use posters to get movie
showing information. Making posters more visible around the campus would help
boost awareness of showtimes and movies playing. This also supports something
mentioned in our focus group about the lack of posters on the south and east side
of campus.
Pricing Information
Our data showcased that students who were unaware of Tate Theatre’s pricing
information were less likely to attend a showing. For Tate Theatre to better reach
potential viewers it must better advertise that Tate Theatre is free for students at
UGA who have paid their student activities fee and that costs $3 per movie for
non UGA students.

2. Logistic Changes
Weekday Showtimes
Due to the overwhelming number of individuals who stated in the survey that they
would prefer to see a movie at Tate Theater on a Thursday evening, we
recommend that University Union considers an additional showing time of the
scheduled blockbuster movie at around 8pm on Thursday evening. We are aware
that University Union has previously had a few movie showings in the past on
Thursday evenings and had turnouts of above 100 individuals, so this is a
consideration that could very well be implemented.
Weekend Showtimes
Due to the preferences of individuals surveyed stating they preferred to see a
movie at Tate Theater in the early evening on a Sunday, we recommend
University Union also consider switching the order of Sunday evening showtimes.
Currently, an Indie or older film is shown in the early evening with a blockbuster

18
 film shown right after. The switch would be showing the blockbuster film during
early evening to get the most attendance and an Indie film shown later in the
evening.
Genre Preference
The final recommendation that we have for University Union comes from the
research surrounding genre preference. There was an overwhelming majority of
individuals who stated they would prefer to see more action and comedy films
being played at Tate Theater. With that being said, we recommend that University
Union considers increasing the amount of action and comedy films they select to
be shown at Tate Theater.

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 Appendices
These Appendices contain relevant tables and that are referenced in our reports.

Appendix A: Demographics

20
Appendix B: Data Tables

Section One:

A(a):Any theatre vs Tate Theatre

B(b): Theater in Athens vs Class Rank

21
B(c) class rank vs athens theatre

C(b) Genre Seen vs Gender

22
Section Two:

A(b): Inhibiting Factors vs Class Rank & Residence

C(a) Genre preference vs Gender

D(a) Awareness of Pricing vs Tate Theatre Attendance

23
G(a) Current vs Preferred sources of information

24
G(b) Current vs living situation & class rank

25
G(c) Preferred vs class rank

Appendix C: Tate Theatre Survey Link

https://ugeorgia.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5oj2kz4cxiguOR7

Appendix D: Data File: submitted separately as an excel file

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