Cinema Attendance and Cinema-Going Audience in Malaysia

Cinema Attendance and Cinema-Going Audience in Malaysia

Wang Changsong
Xiamen University Malaysia, Malaysia

Abstract

Cinema audiences’ behavior interests both industry professionals and academics. Cinema-going is still indisputably popular form of entertainment in Malaysia. This study discusses cinema-going in the era of omnipresent screens. It aims to verify Malaysians’ cinema going behaviors and the sustainability factors contributing to the Malaysian film industry. The various factors affecting cinema and movie-going behavior would include encouragement, theme, motivation, perception, gratification, and genre. The local filmmaking industry fell into a decline after 2014 based on observation of annual film production. In the context of westernization, this small market presents a challenge for the government in promoting local popular films. With the influx of genre films from abroad, Malaysian cinema is struggling to the hilt to survive. To understand this situation from the perspective of the audiences, this study, using data from surveys conducted in Malaysia in 2018, discusses the fandom of Malaysian cinema, their cinema-going behavior, and the association with their identities.

Keywords: Malaysian cinema, audience studies, cinema-going behavior, descriptive statistics

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Wang Changsong (Ph.D., Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia, 2014) is an Assistant Professor and Head of the Department of Journalism and Advertising at Xiamen Universiti Malaysia, Malaysia. His research interests include cultural studies, cinema/film studies, and audience perceptions