[Richard] McKenzie did a fair amount of real-world research on the popcorn front,
and his most important finding (as far as I’m concerned) is that if
you’re in a cinema which gives you a choice between buying a medium bag
of popcorn and a large tub of popcorn, there’s a greater-than-50%
chance that the medium bag will actually contain more popcorn than the large tub.
That’s from Felix Salmon.
Wow, I would NOT have guessed that!
I worked at a movie theater (one of the Consolidated Theater chain) in college, and I can believe this. I’ll note that I’m comparing the tub to a large bag, as we had 3 sizes of bags and the tub. The thing was that the tub seems bigger, is more stable, and was like 50 cents more, so they weren’t too hard to up-sell.
By the way, if anyone’s ever wondered why the concession line people annoyingly ask you if you’d “like to get a large soda for only 25 cents more,” just remember that they are, like at fast foods restaurants, supposed to attempt the up-sell. Just say no thanks and move on. (you be surprised at how many people go to the movie theater in some sort of unstable, rude, foul mood–seemingly just waiting to snap at the concession line)
Large popcorn often comes with a free refill, though. Just ask for a box when you buy the popcorn, dump out all the popcorn into the box, and ask for a refill. A good way to get your money’s worth.
There was a video on Youtube too. I think he was promoting his book.
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