A section of the Indian population is still not serious about the COVID-19 pandemic despite the growing number of cases each day, according to an ongoing study of the impact of the outbreak on movie hall-going behaviour.
At least 28% of regular film-goers still see no reason to stay away from movie theatres, if they were hypothetically open and a film they wanted to watch was showing, said the study, conducted by Mumbai-based media consulting firm, Ormax Media.
The study, titled 'Impact of COVID-19 Outbreak on Theatre-Going Behaviour in India' is being conducted across 80 cities in the Hindi-Tamil-Telugu film industry zones with a sample size of 1,200 committed film-goers every week. In view of the situation, which is changing each day, Ormax is conducting the study every three days and coming up with the findings twice a week.
The fifth in the series of surveys, conducted between March 19 and 22, shows that 72% of the country’s film buffs would stay away from theatres till the threat of the novel coronavirus reduced.
It does show a rise from 58% in the March 16-18 poll but not as much as one would have expected. The figure stood at 33% in the poll conducted between March 12 and 15, 26% in the one conducted between March 9 and 11 and 23% between March 6 and 8.
At least 75% of viewers in the Hindi-speaking markets have said they will stay away as opposed to 57% in the previous poll and 39%, 28% and 26% in the ones before that.
In the South, the rise was a lot less this time, with 67% saying they will stay away as against 58%, 30%, 21% and 17% in the previous polls.
