New Research From ShareThis Links Online Sharing to Offline Sales

Data reveals people who share movie content are six times more likely to purchase movie tickets

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In a new study looking at how people share entertainment content, ShareThis revealed that sharing about movies has a significant impact on movie ticket sales. The research shows that social engagement is an important indicator for studios and entertainment advertisers.

?A quarter of sharing volume across the web is driven by arts and entertainment content?

The Entertainment Research study analyzed more than 29 million users and measured how they shared movie-based online content on 120 social channels over a two and a half month period. ShareThis cross-referenced the data with roughly 385,000 online and offline ticket purchases over the same two and half month time frame to identify the links between online sharing behaviors and ticket purchases.

Key findings include:

• People who share movie-related content are six times more likely to purchase movie tickets.
• Action/adventure and Sci-fi are the most shared movie genres and generate 2.6x as many shares per film as other categories. But data shows that shared content about family-friendly movies is more likely to be clicked on.
• Moviegoers are more likely to use Twitter, email and Reddit than the general population: Moviegoers rely more on Twitter and email rather than Facebook and Pinterest. Forty-six percent of movie conversations happen outside of Facebook.
• States that watch more movies don?t necessarily share about them more often: The coastal states tend to watch more movies, but the central states share more content around them.
• Iron Man 3 has been this year?s most shared movie so far: The social engagement around Iron Man 3 began as far back as 40 days before release, and remained fairly active until at least 15 days post-release.

?A quarter of sharing volume across the web is driven by arts and entertainment content,? says Kurt Abrahamson, CEO of ShareThis. ?These insights will not only help film studios in their strategy planning for movie releases, but it will also help entertainment marketers target and connect with these influential audiences. A lot of entertainment marketers focus on Facebook, but this is a clear example of why they should spend ad dollars on other platforms too, since Facebook is actually less favored by moviegoers than the general population.?

To download the full report, click here.

About ShareThis

ShareThis powers the social web, touching the lives of 95 percent of U.S. Internet users across more than two million publisher sites and 120+ social media channels. It makes content more engaging for publishers and marketing more effective for brands by tapping into the purest expression of interest-based social activity. ShareThis is the company for those wanting to make the world more connected, trusted and valuable through sharing. Based in Palo Alto, CA, the company is privately held. To learn more visit http://www.sharethis.com

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