Irish among Europe’s top cinema attendees

More than four in five (81%) Irish adults have been to the cinema at least once in the past year, making it one of the leading countries in Europe for cinemagoing, a study by Pearl & Dean Ireland, conducted by Kantar Media, has found.

Irish consumers are now going to the cinema more often than in the pre-pandemic peak year of 2018 (76%), with Ireland ranking above both Northern Ireland (73%) and Great Britain (68%) in terms of cinemagoing.

High value activity

More than half of Irish cinemagoers value cinema above other leisure activities, the study found, with 64% of those attending the cinema regularly aged between 16 and 44.

Among heavy cinemagoers, 64% are main household shoppers, and 55% work full-time, while 1.2 million attend cinemas with children.

In terms of whether regular cinemagoing influences Irish consumers to invest in steaming services, the study found that heavy cinemagoers are 51% more likely to personally pay for four or more streaming subscriptions.

‘Broad appeal’

“Cinema has broad appeal and transcends across all life stages,” commented Anna Cremin, head of research and consumer insight at Pearl & Dean Group.

“What this data shows us is how diverse audiences are in Ireland, in terms of what they value and their priorities, and how cinema has the power to connect with these audiences in a meaningful way. It’s interesting that the more likely a consumer is to be a fan of streaming – they are also cinema lovers and cinema can add incremental or unique reach to advertisers’ media planning strategies.”

The research revealed additional consumer habits and opportunities for targeted advertising. Couples who frequent cinemas have collectively spent €1.2 billion on travel in the past year, it found. Additionally, 172,000 adult cinemagoers attend with their parents, with 69% owning a car and 17% intending to purchase one in the next year. Read more here.