Flicks Cinema Census reveals New Zealand's worst movie watching habits

Talking is the most annoying thing people regularly do in New Zealand cinemas, according to new research.

However, many of the people most annoyed at others talking during movies also confess to doing it themselves.

That's one of the many findings in the Flicks Cinema Census, which is being published this week as a snapshot of Kiwi attitudes about watching movies.

Nearly 5000 people opted to take part in the survey, which was last conducted in 2015.

Questions around pirated downloads/streams and paying for streaming services like Netflix, Lightbox and Neon show a clear trend of film fans moving from illegal viewing habits to legal ones.

Of the people who watch movies online, those admitting to doing so illegally 'most of the time' measured just 7.7 percent - down from 43 percent in 2015.

While Aotearoa's film fans may have formed better habits with their online viewing, their behaviour in cinema leaves a little more to be desired.

Flicks editor Steve Newall says the survey shows obnoxiousness is rife in New Zealand cinemas.

"The proportion of people who say they have to basically act as vigilantes in cinemas is pretty significant," says Newall.

"About half of the people who completed the survey said they glare at other people in the cinema because of their behaviour. Over 40 percent shushed other people - that indicates that people can be real jerks at the movies."

Answering a phone call is the next most annoying behaviour after talking, according to the survey - but less than one percent of respondents owned up to committing that act.

The Cinema Census also shows there's a desire for more active monitoring of audiences from cinema staff.

"We're left relatively unsupervised in cinemas. The days of ushers keeping an eye on what's going on in those darkened rooms are pretty much over," says Newall.

"A significant number of people said cinemas don't do enough to police bad behaviour - almost half of the respondents."

When asked what age group is the worst behaved in New Zealand cinemas, the youth cop the most blame. People aged 18 and under were identified by every age group - including themselves - as the worst.

Of the older age groups, 18 - 25 were labelled the worst behaved, while every age demographic over 26 self-identified as the best behaved.

"I'm kind of surprised by the 18 - 25 group being labelled the worst," says Newall.

"Young people can be quite boisterous in films. They're possibly more glued to their phones than other demographics. But for myself, it's certainly not younger people I think are the worst - it's an older audience.

"This is anecdotal based on my experiences, but there appears to be a lack of awareness in older audience members that they're being annoying to other people. When I've had to interact with them because of their behaviour, they're generally surprised that anyone would be annoyed."

Other findings of the survey include less than a third of respondents saying they pay attention to censor's classifications.

Deeper analysis of the results from this year's Cinema Census will be published on Flicks.co.nz over the coming week.

Newshub.