Russians still search for emotions

Russian urban citizens don't save on amusements. So, Arkhangelsk is the leader among cities with the largest households' annual expenses by spending on HoReCa (6,2% out of all expenses), and Vologda is the leader by spending on movie theatre visits. Ulyanovsk and Saratov are the leaders by spending on HoReCa and movie theatres among the cities with the least households' annual expenses (5,8% and 1,7% respectively). Citizens of Barnaul and Vologda more often go to the cinema - 11 times in a year. However, Moscow citizens spend on one visit more than anyone else - 945 rubles.

In July Romir research holding conducted an analysis of Russians’ expenses on the amusements in 2018. According to the data from Romir Scan Panel*, we can say that the citizens of Russian cities where households’ spending is not large don’t save on the amusements.

Thus, Arkhangelsk and Kaliningrad are the leaders by spending on HoReCa and movie theatre visits (see Histogram 1). In 2018 citizens of these cities spent on HoReCa 6,2% and 6% relatively out of total annual expenses. Vologda is the next with 5,5%. Speaking about the capitals, the rates in Moscow and St. Petersburg are slightly lower – 5,3%, but still higher than in other large cities.

Histogram 1. Major Russians cities with the largest households' annual total expenses. Share of expenses on HoReCa and movies. Year 2018.

Data source: Romir, 2018

Citizens of Vologda spend on movies more than anyone else – 2,7% out of all expenses. Moscow is close on Vologda’s tail with 1,7% of expenses. St. Petersburg’s citizens spent on movies 1,5% out of total annual expenses. Krasnoyarsk reported the rate of 1,2%-spending on movie theatre visits. Citizens of other cities didn’t spend more than 1% on movies.

Speaking about the average purchase size and its frequency, the cities with the largest annual expenses can be divided into three groups. The first group includes the cities which citizens are more often spend money on HoReCa but their purchase size is smaller. Among these cities are Arkhangelsk (411 rubles, 55 visits), Vologda (393 rubles, 51 visits) and Rybinsk (436 rubles, 48 visits). The second group includes the cities where the average purchase size and the frequency are near the medium rates. They are St. Petersburg (533 rubles, 38 visits), Moscow (532 rubles, 37 visits) and Kazan (407 rubles, 34 visits). Finally, the third group consists of the cities with high average purchase size and low frequency – Makhachkala (974 rubles, 20 visits), Vladivostok (728 rubles, 29 visits) and Krasnodar (692 rubles, 22 visits).

Among the cities where households reported the smallest annual total expenses in 2018 are – Ulyanovsk (see Histogram 2) with the largest spending on HoReCa at 5,8% out of total expenses (though it has the lowest total annual expenses among the all studied cities), Astrakhan (5,8%), Ekaterinburg (5,4%), Kemerovo (5,2%) and Pervouralsk (5,1%). Moreover, some cities have the rates of 3% - 5,4% that is equal to the rates of the cities with the largest annual expenses. It means that these citizens also don’t deny themselves the amusements.

Histogram 2. Major Russians cities with the smallest households' annual total expenses. Share of expenses on HoReCa and movies. Year 2018.

Data source: Romir, 2018

Speaking about the movies, it is worth mentioning that citizens of the cities with the smallest expenses didn’t fall much behind the leaders. So, in 2018 Saratov became the leader by spending on the movie theatre visits (1,7% out of total spending). Moreover, other cities also stay abreast – Ekaterinburg (1,3%), Astrakhan (1,2%) and Ulyanovsk (1,1%).

Frequency of purchase in hotels, restaurants and cafes as well as the average purchase size in the cities with the smallest annual expenses is significantly lower than in the cities with the largest spending. The average sum in these cities is 469 rubles and the frequency – 17 visits per year. Syktyvkar, Yoshkar-Ola and Dimitrovgrad became the leaders by the purchase frequency (23, 22 and 22 visits relatively). Citizens of Saratov had the largest average purchase size in 2018 -      621 rubles.

Citizens of Barnaul and Vologda visited movie theatres more often than the others – 11 times in 2018, citizens of Chelyabinsk and Yaroslavl – less often, only 3 times in 2018 (see Histogram 3). Moreover, citizens of Vologda became the leaders by the average purchase size – 897 rubles. Only Muscovites spent more – 945 rubles. Krasnodar is at the backdoor – 814 rubles. The lowest average purchase size was reported in Barnaul where people go to cinema theatres more often – 359 rubles.

Histogram 3. Major Russians cities by the frequency of movie theatre visits in 2018.

Data source: Romir, 2018

Andrey Milekhin, the president of Romir and Doctor of Sociological Sciences, comments on the results: “Consumers make intended allowances in the approach to the forming of their goods basket and this has everything to do with the fact that customers need emotions and amusements. Active engagements of Russians, especially the youth, with the entertainment industry bears on the increase of their expenses. Customers now emotionally starving that allows developing aggregators to attract consumers from different cities not only in terms of movies but theaters, immersive shows and other formats as well”.

*Romir Scan Panel, the research scan panel of households, is based on the consumption data of more than 40 000 Russians (15 000 households in 220 cities with the population over 10 thousand people) who represent the customer and consumer behavior of the Russian cities’ residents. Panel participants scan the barcodes of all purchased goods which are taken home and tell us about their incomes. The data gets into the database in the online mode and then is automatically processed.

Romir is the largest Russian private holding specializing in marketing, media and socio-economic surveys. The company has its own large regional network in Russia and countries of former Soviet Union. Romir is an exclusive representative of Gallup International, the international research association, in Russia and CIS countries with the research geography over 40 countries.

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