More than half of U.S. millennials and Generation Z members expressed a willingness to spend more money for better seats at the movies, while older generations were less likely to do so, according to a Morning Consult survey released Friday.
54% of millennials said they would be willing to pay a $1- 2 additional fee on top of the general ticket price for the most desirable movie theater seats, with 30% saying they d be somewhat willing and 24% saying they are very willing, according to the survey. 45% said they wouldn't be willing to do so.
According to Morning Consult, fifty-two percent of Americans belonging to Generation Z expressed a willingness to pay more for the best movie seats, while 24% said they were not too willing and 21% said they were not at all willing.
The numbers for Generation X and Baby Boomers were higher than those for Generation X and Baby Boomers.
36% of Gen Xers were willing to pay more for the most desirable seats, according to Morning Consult. Only 8% of Baby Boomers said they were very willing, and 17% said they were somewhat willing.
Over two-thirds of Baby Boomers and over half of Gen Xers reported an unwillingness to buy higher-priced tickets for better spots in the theater.
The two younger generations of Morning Consult reported that they were most likely to express a willingness to take a $1-2 discount on the general ticket price to get the least desirable seats. Generation Zers and millennials were more likely to think a system of seat prices would be appropriate for Generation X and Baby Boomers than Generation X and Baby Boomers. According to the Morning Consult survey, 54% and 46% of Gen Zers and millennials think it is appropriate to have a system where the most desirable seats cost the most and the least desirable cost the least, according to 54% of the Gen Zers and millennials surveyed. Just over one-third of Gen Xers and 23% of Baby Boomers said they felt the same way.
In a survey and in its report, Morning Consult referenced the Sightline at AMC pricing plan that AMC Theaters said last month it would apply to all of its domestic locations. FOX Business reached out to AMC for comment on the survey.
Sightline by AMC has standard, value and preferred seating options, with the value option costing less than the standard seat in the front row and the preferred seat option costing slightly more than standard seats in the middle, according to AMC s press release. Only those who are Stubs members have access to the value pricing.
AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron said that costs rise in inflationary times, so prices rise. Our only option was to raise prices on all seats under the old system. Sightline lets us raise prices only on our most popular seats, but we can also hold the line on Standard seats, which actually cuts prices on Value seats. He said the company will monitor the reaction of moviegoers during the test.
Morning Consult s survey took place March 17 -- 19 and involved about 2,200 U.S. adults. Its margin of error was 2%.