The Real Reason Movie Theater Concessions Are So Expensive
Going to the movies is always a fun experience. Ticket prices are fairly reasonable, but once you get your popcorn, drink and maybe some candy, you're looking at probably $40. If you're paying for a family things can get really crazy. Why? Turns out there are good reasons why, and those reasons are actually beneficial to us.
Folks over at Stanford GSB and the University of California, Santa Cruz have done the research to find out what's going on. What it boils down to is by charging more for concessions, movie theaters are able to keep the ticket prices reasonable. If you want to go to the movies, you don't have to buy concessions, but you have to have a ticket.
From gsb.stanford.edu -
Putting the premium on the "frill" items, it turns out, indeed opens up the possibility for price-sensitive people to see films. That means more customers coming to theaters in general, and a nice profit from those who are willing to fork it over for the Gummy Bears.
It's the concessions that keep movie theaters in business as well. Ticket revenues have to be shared with movie distributors, but theaters keep 100% of concession profits.
When it comes to having cheaper tickets or cheaper popcorn, having cheaper tickets is is definitely the option we want.