Hispanics are considered the most important consumers at movie theaters.
According to the John Fithian the head of the National Association of Theater Owners, “Hispanics are far and away the most important consumers at our cinemas”.
This is largely because Hispanics are spending more money on entertainment than any other demographic. In addition, by 2050 one out of three Americans will be Hispanic, the need for Hollywood to cater to growing Hispanic community is becoming a necessity.
According to Fithian, 44% of Hispanics go to the movies a few times a month, 63% rent movies on DVD or Blu-ray, and 76% own high quality televisions in their home – all in numbers higher than other ethnicities. Furthermore, Hispanics spend 30% more on concessions than any other ethnicity group.
A way to cater to the largely growing Hispanic community attending the movie theaters, the National Association of Theater Owners is in the process of testing an in-theater app that can translate English language films into multiple languages during a movie. However, the new app will have to overcome the threat of piracy, and disturbing audience members. However, Fithian is hopeful they will be able to create a new application to translate movies for the growing Hispanic audience.
“Hispanics want higher end concessions and alcohol as part of the cinema-going experience. We’re lobbying almost every jurisdiction in the United States to allow alcohol in cinemas,” Fithian said. “This is the future of our business, and thank God.”
“Hispanics love the movies everyone else loves, only a little bit more,” said Fithian who also noted the ticket-buying power of female and African-American audiences. “If women buy 52% of tickets, I don’t understand why 18% of major directors are women,” he said. “Diversity would help us sell tickets.”
When looking at demographics and studies, it shows that you don’t have to create a “Spanish” movie in order to connect with audiences. By, creating a movie that features themes that embrace the Hispanic culture that are coherent with spanish culture, producers are able to increase viewers in the spanish demographic. For example, Divergent recently campaigned directly to the Hispanic community by promoting on Spanish-language TV viewers on Univision.
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