Nielsen poll: Movie reviews more influential than social media

In the age of social media, it should come as no surprise that moviegoers are weighing the recommendations of their peers on sites such as Facebook and Twitter when making their choices at the multiplex. Even so, the majority of moviegoers still rely on good old-fashioned reviews, according to a recent Nielsen poll.

Nielsen’s 2013 American Moviegoing report found that 80% of moviegoers refer to reviews at least some of the time when they’re considering what to see. By comparison, 40% of those surveyed they value recommendations they see posted by their friends or family on social media.

In terms of influence, that puts social media about on par with movie trailers, which 44% of those polled cited as a trusted source of information.

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The report uncovered other tidbits about how moviegoers find information about and interact with movies online. For example, 41% of millennials polled said they check the average critic ratings on websites that aggregate reviews, such as Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb.

The poll also found that Facebook users are also 15% more likely to watch trailers or movie clips than non-users, and 24% of Instagram users said they have used the service to post photos about a movie.

The Nielsen poll surveyed about 3,000 people between the ages of 12 and 74 who said they’d seen at least one movie in theaters in the past year.

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