Chapter 108 Question ○97

Why in South Korea and many other Asian countries, movie theaters are reserved for seats, but in the United States, movie theaters are always seated? (Gloria King) In Seoul, South Korea, audiences are always seated when watching movies.But in Chicago, USA, after the audience enters the stadium, they can sit wherever there are vacant seats.What is this difference? No matter where you are, it costs money to be seated on the right number.For example, the conductor must ask the audience's seat preferences, and the usher must take them to the correct seat, and if there are multiple people vying for a seat, they must be mediated.These costs vary from country to country.Therefore, this international difference is likely to be due to the different benefits brought by the registration of seats in each country.

In cities with roughly similar populations, American cinemas consistently show more screenings per movie than Asian cinemas.More movie screenings can bring at least two benefits to audiences.One is that it is easier for the audience to find a movie that suits them at a certain time.The second is that when each movie is shown, there are quite a few empty seats in the cinema, which is convenient for the audience to decide which movie to watch at the last minute. Asian cinemas show fewer films because of lower per capita income and higher land prices for Asian audiences compared to the US. Frequent screenings drive up costs, and people on lower incomes are naturally reluctant to pay for the convenience that comes with doing so.Higher land prices in Asia make it more expensive to build movie theaters, further limiting the number of screenings.

Due to the low number of movie screenings, movies shown in Asian theaters are sold out most of the time.And since the audience expects that a movie will be sold out, they will naturally arrive early in order to buy movie tickets.So there was a long queue before the movie started.Since long lines do not increase the supply of seats, the overall time spent arriving early and getting good seats is wasted.However, those who refuse to line up cannot see the movie. (This is yet another example of individual interests conflicting with group interests.) Checking in is a simple solution to this problem.The audience bought tickets for the numbered seats in advance, and everyone can get a seat, without having to wait in line for hours.