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Gen z Film Habits
RQ1: What factors influence members of Gen Z to watch a film?
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Findings
Participants were asked how often they found themselves watching a film, with the top three responses being once a week (36.47%, n=31), a few times a week (23.53%, n=20), and a few times a month (23.53%, n=20). Additionally, participants were asked how often they watch a film they had not seen before, to which the majority responded with sometimes (51.56%, n=44), followed by 36.47% of respondents answering often (n=31), and the remaining 11.76% answering that they rarely watch a film they have not seen before (n=10). A cross tabulation of these results can be seen in Table 1.
To support RQ1, participants were also asked to identify which factors influenced them to watch a film and specifically what influenced them to watch a sequel. In terms of what influenced the individual to watch any given film, the most popular choice was interest in plot (92.94%, n=79).
The most popular response when asked about motivations to watch a sequel was nostalgia (67.05%, n=57). These figures as well as the distributions of other answers can be seen in Figures 1 and 2.
Discussion
Audiences are more likely to be interested in a film’s plot if they are familiar with the concept or source material. This is supported by Berliner (2001) and Kim (2019), who each study how studios are able to formulate films from an existing source material in order to guarantee viewership. This research also supports the findings from the survey that nostalgia and franchise loyalty were the top two responses when respondents were asked what motivated them to watch a sequel. Even if after the fact participants were disappointed in what they had seen, they were still drawn in to watch the sequel, remake, or adaptation due to the fact that it was based on subject matter they were already familiar with.
It has been shown across industries that nostalgia is an extremely powerful marketing tool, and the film industry is no exception. The results of the survey that support research question one are in line with Hellerman’s (2020) research on how professionals in the industry have been increasingly using nostalgia as a driving force for filmmaking. In addition, Harvey (2023) studied how studios are mitigating risk by creating ‘new’ films based on existing properties in order to bridge the gap between audience comfort and stimulation. Through this research, it seems as though the combination of an interesting plot and a factor of nostalgia are main factors that contribute to members of Generation Z's decision to watch a film.
Gen z Feelings on the Current Film Market
RQ2: How do members of Gen Z feel about the current market of sequels, remakes, and adaptation films?
RQ2b: Are members of Gen Z aware of the current market saturation of sequels, remakes, and adaptation films?
RQ2c: What factors do members of Gen Z feel make a quality sequel, adaptation, or remake?
Findings
Participants were asked to indicate, on a scale from 1-10, how satisfied they feel with the current selection of new films available to them. The majority of respondents answered with a 6 or 7 (49.41%, n=42) point rating. The rest of the response totals are visualized in Figure 3.
Participants were also asked if they thought Hollywood relied too heavily on sequels, to which 64.70% (n=55) answered yes.
Image source: Wikipedia
Finally, the results from the question asking if participants felt Hollywood was lacking originality were cross-tabbed with the results from the question that asked respondents to rank their satisfaction with the quality of film sequels in recent years.
This cross-tabulation, which can be seen in Table 2 below, revealed that 64.71% of respondents (n=55) selected that they did believe the industry was lacking originality and that they were either very dissatisfied, dissatisfied, or neutral with the quality of recent sequels.
Gen Z Habits for Sharing Opinions on Film
RQ3: What methods, if any, are members of Gen Z using to share their opinions with others after watching these types of films?
Image Source: Freepik
When asked to identify the frequency with which participants share their thoughts on films with others, 85.88% (n=73) said sometimes or often, the full results can be seen in Figure 10. The following survey question asked respondents where/how they were sharing their opinions with others. The most popular answer here was text or in-person conversations with peers (90.58%, n=77). This was followed in a not-so-close second by TikTok (27.05%, n=23), and Letterboxed or similar apps (24.70%, n= 21) in third, the full list can be seen in Table 3.
Finally, when asked, 56.47% (n=48) of the participants identified that whether they liked or disliked a film they are equally likely to share what they thought of it.
Discussion
Zhao (2013) found that it is critical for organizations and products to gain some level of distinctiveness to stand out from the crowd. In a way, sequels are doing this and they are doing it successfully. There’s a saying that all publicity is good publicity, and if audiences are talking about a film whether they have a positive or negative opinion of it, they are still giving it their attention as well as getting others to do the same. Sequels, remakes, and adaptations get audiences talking, they bring attention back to the original source material, and they do extremely well in ticket sales. After a ticket is sold, the studios have gotten what they wanted: your money. Whether or not the audience liked or disliked the film, if they are still talking about it, others are going to turn their attention toward it as well.
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