The analysis is based on questionnaires distributed in the movie theatres belonging to the Euro Kids Network to young people taking part in the initiatives organised throughout Europe in 1996.  The special programmes for young people and/or schools were, in fact, supported by numerous initiatives (graph 1), amongst which the most widespread regarded promotional pricing policies (discounts, season tickets etc.), the distribution of programmes and the organisation of meetings and debates.
 

The main results at a European level
An overall analysis of the questionnaires yields the profile of a young person still strongly bound to traditional media, even when watching films, according to a leisure-time model characterised by escapism and a preference for the spectacular.
Young Europeans do, in fact, spend a lot of their free time in sporting activities and like eating out.  In particular, they spend three or more hours a day watching television (in 29% of cases) or listening to the radio (22%), whilst less time is spent on using the computer or reading books and magazines, activities to which only 7%, 6% and 3% respectively of young people dedicate three or more hours a day.
There is a considerably high consumption of films, both on television, where they are watched more than four times a week by 20% of respondents, and on videocassettes, regularly bought or hired by around half of the young people interviewed.
The cinema remains one of the channels of culture most easily accessible to young people and is preferred to the attendance of cultural/social/religious associations, discothèques, libraries, concerts, museums and theatres.
More particularly, the cinema is seen by young people not as a meeting place for socialising but as a form of personal entertainment:  the main characteristics attributed (in multiple choice answers) to the offer from cinemas do, in fact, regard the recreational aspect, that is: it is a show (52%), a form of entertainment (50%) and a pass-time (27%), and also, to a fair extent, a cultural value (31%), whilst the social aspect (16%) and personal involvement (15%) play a less important role.
Young people go to the cinema mainly in groups (54% of cases) or with a friend (40%), more rarely with parents or with the school (17%) and hardly ever alone (4%).
The frequency of cinema-going amongst the young people considered proves to be fairly high compared to the European averages recorded for the whole population (1,9 times a year in 1996), since 28% stated that they went to the cinema once a month, 21% more than once a month, 6% once a week and 5% more than once a week.  However, these figures do not seem likely to change much in the future, since 61% of young people declared that they did not wish to change their cinema-going habits over the next few years.
The aspects that most influence the choice of film (according to multiple-choice answers) are the genre (61% of answers), the theme or subject (57%), the director and/or actors (51%) and whether it has been recommended by acquaintances (25%); less influence is exerted by trailers (22%), the opinion of the critics (18%), success with the general public (15%) and prizes won (6%).
The movie theatres themselves do not count a lot in the choice of the film (only 5% of replies) and young people prove to be satisfied or very satisfied with them in 76% of cases.
Nevertheless, significant changes are not noticed in the service given by the theatres over the past few years, both in terms of the quality and novelty of the films screened and the range of choice, as well as in terms of comfort and, above all, the offer of promotional activities.
Young people are of the opinion that cinema-going could be encouraged by improving the quality/novelty of the films screened and the quality of sound and image, as well as the range of films to choose from and the comfort of the theatre, whilst they do not see season tickets/discount cards, the nearness of the movie theatre and information in the mass media as particularly important ways of increasing cinema-going.
In this respect, all the peripheral¹  aspects of the service are considered to be of little importance, especially the mailing of information to the home and promotional activities organised by the movie theatre; this opinion reflects young peoples’ view of the cinema as entertainment and as a pass-time, rather than as a cultural or educational activity.
Lastly, whilst in favour of an increase in the range of films offered, young people state that they are interested in the screening of a greater number of European films in 74% of cases and show appreciation of the Euro Kids Network initiative in which they took part, considering themselves satisfied or very satisfied in 70% of cases.

Comparison of the situation in individual countries
As far as the leisure-time profile is concerned, significant differences do not emerge between the various European countries; however, it can be seen that Italian youngsters watch films on television, eat out at restaurants or pizzerias more frequently than other young Europeans (those who have been to a restaurant more than three times over the last three months amount to 64%, as against the 32% of the other respondents), attend cultural/social/religious associations more (26% against 11%) but go less frequently to discothèques (6% against 29%) and libraries (8% against 25%).
The main changes seen by young people in the audiovisual sector regard the improved quality of television programmes, in particular in Denmark, Great Britain and Sweden, whilst a higher percentage of young Britons see an increase in the range of films and promotional activities on offer in movie theatres, compared to the European average.
Referring more specifically to the cinema, important differences in cinema-going exist from one country to another; in particular the following points can be emphasised, with respect to the average figures for the whole of Europe:

• the highest attendance at present is found in Great Britain and in Italy, where a greater number of young people state that they wish to increase their cinema-going in the future; in France, Denmark and Sweden attendance, both present and future, seems to be lower;
• although young people throughout Europe attend the cinema mainly with a group of friends, differences occur in terms of a greater number of young people attending cinemas alone in Great Britain, with parents in Sweden, with a friend in Denmark and with the school in France and Italy;
• those aspects that influence the choice of film are particularly heterogeneous: in particular a higher percentage of young people base their choice on the trailer in Denmark and in France, on the opinion of the critics in Great Britain, on the advice of acquaintances or prizes won in France. It is also interesting to observe that the movie theatre itself, although generally of less importance, has a greater influence on the choice of film in Great Britain, Denmark and Sweden;
• although the cinema is seen in a recreational perspective in all countries, a larger percentage of young people value it from the point of view of social relationships in Great Britain and from the point of view of personal involvement in Italy;  Great Britain and Italy are also the countries where young people attribute an educational value to the cinema;
• as regards the core factors of services offered by the cinema to increase audiences, young people in Great Britain prove to be particularly sensitive to the nearness and comfort of the cinema and to the range of films offered, whilst young people in Denmark consider the offer of season tickets/discount cards, nearness and number and range of films screened of far less importance (graph 1);
• as regards the importance of peripheral factors in the services offered to encourage audiences, young Swedes and, to a lesser degree young Britons, are those who consider them generally important, with particular reference to promotional activities in the theatres, cultural and entertainment initiatives, the mailing of information to the home and the availability of bars/restaurants in the cinema (graph 2);
• interest in the screening of European-produced films is particularly felt by young Italians, who favoured the screening of a greater number of European films in 82% of cases, as against 65% of other young Europeans.

 
Cinema-going according to age of young people in Europe
Age is a major influence in the organisation of leisure time and in cinema-going.
Dividing the total group of respondents (excluding Sweden²) by age, in categories of under 14 (18%), between 14 and 17 (58%) and between 18 and 25 (24%), it appears that, as the age increases, more time is dedicated to going to discothèques, restaurants/pizzerias, concerts and theatres, whilst fewer films are watched on television, either on cable or on satellite, or by buying or hiring videocassettes.
Cinema-going also increases, with less accompaniment by parents or family members and more and more by a friend or with the school.
As they grow older, young people are less influenced by public acclaim in their choice of film and pay more attention to the genre, the director/actors and to the opinion of the critics.
It is very interesting to note that, the older the respondents are, the less cinema-going tends to be characterised as pure entertainment, gaining instead the characteristics of personal involvement, educational value and, above all, cultural value.
As they grow older, young people suggest encouraging audiences by emphasising the core aspects of the service offered, in particular the quality/novelty of the film, the sound/image quality and season tickets/discount cards, whilst the only aspect of the peripheral aspects considered of growing importance is that of information in the mass media.
On the other hand, interest in seeing a greater number of European films does not seem to depend on age.
 

 
Cinema-going based on attendance levels
More frequent cinema-going, from a few times a year up to more than once a week, can be related to certain extremely clear trends in the behaviour or opinion of young Europeans (excluding Sweden); in particular the following aspects are recorded:

• greater use of the computer and reading of magazines and, in the case of frequent cinema-goers (those who go to the cinema more than once a week), far more time spent watching television or reading a book;
• more films watched on videocassettes, except for very frequent cinema-goers;
• more attendance of theatres and libraries and far greater attendance, for frequent cinema-goers, of discothèques, concerts and museums;
• greater perception of improvement in the quality/novelty of films screened in theatres and of promotional activities, over the past few years;
• genre and public acclaim are less influential in the choice of film;
• increasing importance of what the theatre offers in terms of social and, above all, cultural aspects, with a decline in evaluation of services as a pass-time and a form of entertainment;
• the attribution of growing importance to peripheral services of an informative/cultural nature for increasing audiences, as well as core aspects such as the quality/novelty of films screened and the availability of  season tickets.

Conclusions
Young peoples’ cinema-going, whilst being generally characterised by specific aspects, linked mainly to a view of the cinema as a form of entertainment, has many different sides to it:  in particular, it is of fundamental importance to distinguish cinema-going by children from cinema-going by young people over 18.  This is because the demands of the former group regard mainly sound/image quality and the range and novelty of films programmed, whilst in more adult cinema-going cultural/informative and promotional initiatives by the theatre emerge as important factors.
The study also seems to confirm the importance of encouraging young people to approach the cinema, since it is the knowledge and love of the cinema, in other words frequent cinema-going, that yields greater appreciation of quality films and, in particular, of European films.

 
Milano, 3 November 1998

PAOLA BENSI
Expert on statistics at Milan’s Catholic University
 

Table 1. The distribution of questionnaires on the basis of the nationality and of the cinema