Chapter 109 Question ○98

Why do American movie theaters generally allow audiences to watch multiple movies with one ticket, while Asian movie theaters only allow one movie ticket to watch one movie? (Frank Fu) Although not hyped, most American movie theaters do not discourage audiences from buying one ticket to see several movies.After the audience showed the movie ticket to the waiter at the entrance of the cinema, there was no other ticket checking point.So, after watching the movie they want, they can watch a second, or even a third, movie for free.On the contrary, in most cinemas in Asia, movie tickets are carefully checked at the entrance of each screening hall.Why is there such a difference?

To make a reasonable explanation, we first need to see that in American cinemas, there are many empty seats when movies are shown, while in Asian cinemas, most of the seats will be sold out.This point has been mentioned in the previous example.So, if American moviegoers don't buy extra tickets for the second movie, it doesn't prevent others from watching the movie.Conversely, if someone wants to watch a second movie in an Asian movie theater without buying another ticket, it will make it impossible for others to see it. So the benefits of preventing viewers from buying multiple movies on one ticket are much greater in crowded Asian cinemas than in half-empty American ones.And because it is expensive to hire ticket inspectors for each screening hall, Asian cinema managers have an incentive to see through to this practice.

It’s also possible that not implementing a one-ticket, one-per-view approach could help U.S. theater managers increase ticket sales.Although in American movie theaters, there is no separate ticket inspector at the entrance of the screening hall, most audiences only watch one movie at a time.And whether the few viewers who want to watch more than one movie decide to buy a ticket to enter the venue, it all depends on whether the ticket allows him to watch more than one movie.Therefore, not implementing the rule of one ticket, one ticket can increase the total ticket sales revenue. In other words, not implementing a certain policy may be just another form of price discrimination.Spectators who violate the default one-vote-one-per-view rule are generally more price-sensitive than others.At this time, if the policy is not implemented, it acts as a simple threshold, allowing theater managers to give discounts to this part of the audience without having to lower prices for others.

In the end, the additional income from multiple trips to the cinema kiosk to buy snacks because the audience wants to watch multiple movies likely offsets the loss of tickets for multiple movies on one ticket. The next few examples illustrate that some of the interesting international differences stem from differences in the opportunity costs of pursuing different occupations.