Let’s Watch Indonesian Movie! – Survey Report on 2016 Indonesian Movies’ Viewers

After its apparent death during the last decade of the New Order regime, Indonesian movie industry had come back into life in the early 2000s. Following the resurrection of the industry, the data have shown a significant increase of Indonesian movies’ viewers each year, particularly in 2016.[1] Therefore, regarding to this matter, recently Jakpat has conducted a survey in order to see further towards the distribution, preferences, and habit of Indonesian movies’ viewers in 2016. This survey involved 2005 respondents from across Indonesia. For the further notes, Jakpat’s respondents in this survey are Indonesian smart-phone users, with a range of age from 15 to 50 year-old.

This survey report is divided into five chapters. The first chapter is the general findings about Indonesian movies they watched recently. First of all, about the last time they watched Indonesian movie, we find that many of our respondents (34.71%) watched Indonesian movies within this week, while some other watched it more than 6 months ago (23.04%) or within this month (15.21%). Next, about the place where they watched Indonesian movies the last time, we find that many of our respondents (40.90%) watched Indonesian movies at the theater, while some other watched it on the television (37.21%) or at some places using personal computer or laptop (16.51%). Hence, regarding to the number of Indonesian movies they have watched during this year, we find that most of our respondents (60.45%) have watched about 1 to 3 Indonesian movies this year, while some other have watched about 4 to 6 movies (20.15%) or even 10 movies or more (14.66%).

The second chapter is about watching Indonesian movies in general, regarding to their preferences. Apparently, they watch Indonesian movies just to fill in their spare time (47.73%) or just out of curiousity (34.31%). However, there are also some people who watch it in order to watch a good movie (37.61%) or to appreciate Indonesian filmmakers (26.78%). On the other hand, there are also some people who don’t have any particular reason to watch Indonesian movies (25.34%). Furthermore, regarding to the source of information about Indonesian movies, our respondents got it from movie ads in mass media (48.98%), recommendation from friends (46.98%), review from mass media (38.80%), movie trailer in Youtube (33.87%), and movie trailer in theater (19.40%). Next, regarding to the factors that attract them to watch Indonesian movies, our respondents admit that they are attracted to the storyline (72.57%), the actors (60.15%), and the genre (46.38%).

The third chapter is still about watching Indonesian movies in general, and still regarding to their preferences. About the favorite genre to watch, apparently most of our respondents (69.53%) choose comedy, while many of them choose drama (44.14%) and action (37.96%), and there are some other who choose horror or thriller (20.70%). Next, regarding to things that would make them feel satisfied when watching Indonesian movies, our respondents choose the movie plot (81.70%), the acting from the actors (67.13%), the movie setting (37.26%), the movie script (33.57%), the visual effect (26.38%), the cinematography (22.69%), and the sound design (16.56%). In addition, we find that less than half of our respondents (45.39%) admit that they try to watch every released Indonesian movie that is popular.

The fourth chapter is about watching Indonesian movies at theater, regarding to some preferences and habit. Apparently, less than half of our respondents (48.73%) admit that they have watched Indonesian movies at the theater for this year. About which theater they have visited to watch Indonesian movies, our respondents choose Cineplex 21 or XXI (67.03%), Cinemaxx (18%), and CGV Blitz (12.77%). Apparently, the Cineplex network still dominates the movie exhibition industry in Indonesia. Hence, their reasons for choosing that theater are because of the location (43.29%), the movies that are screened in there (42.14%), and the theater’s facilities (40.85%). Regarding to some habit, we find that most of our respondents (79.55%) usually buy the ticket directly at theater. When going to the theater, our respondents usually go with their friends (41.05%) or partner (32.87%). Furthermore, while waiting for the showtime to begin at the theater, they usually make themselves busy with their own gadget (43.49%), have a chat with their friends (39.15%), just keep waiting in the waiting area (34.61%), have meals outside of the theater area (31.37%), or just take a look at some movie posters on display (30.47%).

The fifth or the last chapter is some trivia we gather about Indonesian movie, particularly their opinions toward Indonesian movie industry. Apparently, most of our respondents (83.69%) think that Indonesian movie must reflect Indonesian’s culture. Next, we find that for them, censorship is important, since most of our respondents (80.50%) think that the existence and function of Lembaga Sensor Film (Indonesia’s Film Censorship Agency) is important. Almost all of our respondents (91.47%) admit that they will recommend any good Indonesian movie they have watched to their friends or other people. And also, almost all of our respondents (99.20%) think that the quality of Indonesian movie must be improved. Lastly, almost all of our respondents (92.37%) admit that they feel optimist about the development of Indonesian movie in the future.

[1] See the complete data in http://filmindonesia.or.id/movie/viewer#.V-pQAYh97IU

For more detail you can download XLS report at the button below (bahasa). JAKPAT report consists of 3 parts which are 1) Respondent Profile, 2) Crosstabulation for each question and 3) Raw Data. Respondent profile shows you demographic profiles ( gender,age range, location by province, and monthly spending). Cross tabulation enables you to define different demographic segment preference on each answer.