Tiered Pricing at the Movies?
It occurred to me recently that the cinema is one of the few experiences that isn’t priced for audiences, and generally speaking, movie tickets are a fixed price. Yes, some cinemas charge more because they have more leg room or bigger seats, etc., but it’s still a standard ticket. The price is set by the conditions of the viewing, not the content itself.
What if movies were priced based on their audience, quality, and content? Would you pay more for a film written by an award-winning writer, directed by a big name director and starring an A-list actor? How about paying a premium to know that the production of the film powered by renewable energy and that everyone gets paid proper wages? Would you pay more to know that your movie is shot on-location, and not in a sound stage in Vancouver? These are all factors that might play into the concept of tiered pricing for movies.
Imagine if you could head out to your local cinema and think to yourself “I can pay $10 to see Sean Penn’s latest drama, or a quick $5 to see the latest “Scary Movie” spin-off”. Suddenly, all the economics change. It may require a bit more research on the part of the viewer, but potentially one could avoid the disappointment that comes from a value-for-money analysis. High-brow and international films would cost more because they are a niche audience, but mass-produced crap (ie, anything with Ben Stiller) would be cheaper and attract numbers upon numbers. It’s all about the long-tail economy.
How about this: after the first two or three weeks, the price of a movie drops slightly. After a few more weeks, it drops again, and when it’s nearly finished, it’s practically free. That way, folks will come back to see a movie time and again, and bring their friends. Auditoriums will remain nearly full even toward the end of a run, because, hey, it’s a steal. And of course when viewers come in, they’ll be buying candy and soda and that crap.
For the studios, it would likely remain revenue neutral, but for the customers, our satisfaction would skyrocket. In turn, we’d go to the movies more because we know that we’re likely to get what we pay for, instead of gambling with the cost of a ticket.
