Proceedings of Annual Tokyo Business Research Conference
15 - 16 December 2014, Waseda University, Tokyo, japan, ISBN: 978-1-922069-67-2
Operational Efficiency of Theater Business in Bangkok
Metropolitan
Sasipim Kongpila*, Somsak Kuhasawanvej**and Nuttawut Rojniruttikul***
The purposes of this research are 1) To study the level of efficiency in the
operation of theater business in Bangkok metropolitan and 2) To compare the level
of efficiency in the operation of theater business in Bangkok metropolitan by
personal factors 400 consumers who come to see the film in Bangkok metropolitan
were randomly selected. The research instruments were questionnaires and data
were analyzed statistical program. Statistics for data analysis were percentage,
arithmetic mean, standard deviation while T-test and One-way ANOVA were used
to test the hypotheses. The research results were as follows:1Consumers agreed
with the operational efficiency of theater business in Bangkok, especially in the
dimension of physical evidence .2. Consumer who had different gender ,age ,and
monthly income had different opinion on efficiency in operation of theater at the
0.01 level of statistical significance.
Fields of Research: Operations Management
1. Introduction
Movie theaters have been a continuously evolved business. Initially, there were only large size
theater with around 800-1,200 seats or so called as stand - alone Theater. Most of this type of
theater is situated in midtowns such as the areas of Siam Square and New Petchaburi Road,
etc. Later, the size was adjusted to be smaller size so called as Mini Theater so that the theater
can be located in department stores, by leasing the place in department stores, with less than
250 seats.However, it has been unsuccessful as expected due to non-standardized design and
non-developed instruments, equipment and service form, such as no image resolution and poor
quality of sound system, etc. Such factors have caused the emergence of multiplex theaters as
the improvement of mini theater system by utilizing the light and sound system technology and
more modern with high quality sound until today (Kasikorn Research Center. 2014).
The movie theaters have provided various entertainments and better aesthetic quality than
watching from CDs or DVDs. At present, the number of movie theaters has been 95% with
approximated market value of 4,700 million baht. The growing market value of movie theater
business has been resulted from more popularity trend of movies in accompany with large
number of movies waiting for showing.
The proportion of consumers in bangkok metropolitan and its perimeter with movie watching
favors was 12 movies per person per year (Kasikorn Research Center.2014: Online) resulting
in higher competitive condition of big movie theater entrepreneurs such as Major Cineplex
Group Public Company Limited,EGV Entertainment Public Company Limited and SF Cinema
_______________________________________________________________________
* Ms.Sasipim Kongpila, Administration and Management College, King Mongkut's Institute of Technology
Ladkrabang, Thailand, Email : gall.issue@hotmail.com
** Assistant Professor. Dr. Somsak Kuhasawanvej, Faculty of Agricultural Technology, King Mongkut's
Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Thailand, Email: kkusomsa@kmitl.ac.th
*** Assistant Professor. Dr. Nuttawut Rojniruttikul, Administration and Management College, King Mongkut's
Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Thailand, Email: krnuttaw@kmitl.ac.th
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Proceedings of Annual Tokyo Business Research Conference
15 - 16 December 2014, Waseda University, Tokyo, japan, ISBN: 978-1-922069-67-2
City Public Company Limited.This has become one of the major factor that the entrepreneurs
have to focus in order to improve their operating efficiency to be more superior to their
competitors particularly Bangkok as it has been the crucial customer target group.
Bangkok is obviously the center of numerous movie theater entrepreneurs.From the consumer
movie watching statistics, the proportion was estimated to be 12 movies per person per year
(Kasikorn Research Center. 2014) and this has become the major factor that the entrepreneurs
have to focus, in order to improve their qualities and services for differentiating from their
competitive entrepreneurs. The major factor should be considered is the efficiency operation
that can appropriately meet the consumer needs in selection of movie theater.
Therefore, the researcher has interested to study in order to recognize the operating efficiency
of movie theater business in Bangkok metropolitan. In which, the study results will yield the
useful data for movie theater entrepreneurial companies or related person who can apply such
result for developing and improving on operating efficiency and marketing strategy in order to
continually and properly meet the consumer needs.
2. Literature Review
The researcher has conducted the study on operating efficiency of movie theater business in
Bangkok metropolitan through related theories, documents and researches, and then
determined below conceptual framework.
In efficient business operation in accordance with the concept of Peterson and Plowman (1953)
which identifies that, the effective business element should consist of product with fine quantity,
appropriate operating time spending and not too high price. When adopting with service
business, it is consistent with the concept of Kotler,P.(1975)
When consumers go to watch movies at movie theaters, they can evaluate the operating
efficiency of movie theaters. From the study on the research of Kotler,P.(1975) that studied
marketing mixes for service business and also studied marketing mix variables for service
business including product, price, place, marketing promotion, process, people, and physical
appearance. The researcher then has adopted this part in the aspect of movie theater business
operating efficiency.
Product means the goods-and-services combination the company offers to the target market
product is seen as an item that satisfies what a consumer demands. It is a tangible good or an
intangible service Tangible products are those that have an independent physical existence.
Typical examples of mass-produced, tangible objects are the motor car and the disposable
razor. A less obvious but ubiquitous mass-produced service is a computer operating system.
Every product is subject to a life-cycle including a growth phase followed by a maturity phase
and finally an eventual period of decline as sales fall. Marketers must do careful research on
how long the life cycle of the product they are marketing is likely to be and focus their attention
on different challenges that arise as the product moves.
The marketer must also consider the product mix. Marketers can expand the current product
mix by increasing a certain product line's depth or by increasing the number of product lines.
Marketers should consider how to position the product, how to exploit the brand, how to exploit
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Proceedings of Annual Tokyo Business Research Conference
15 - 16 December 2014, Waseda University, Tokyo, japan, ISBN: 978-1-922069-67-2
the company's resources and how to configure the product mix so that each product
complements the other. The marketer must also consider product development
strategies.Kotler, P. and Armstrong,G. (2010).
Price is the amount the consumer must exchange to receive the offering that customer pays
for the product. The price is very important as it determines the company's profit and hence,
survival. Adjusting the price has a profound impact on the marketing strategy, and depending
on the price elasticity of the product, often it will affect the demand and sales as well. The
marketer should set a price that complements the other elements of the marketing mix.
When setting a price the marketer must be aware of the customer perceived value for the
product. Three basic pricing strategies are: market skimming pricing, market penetration pricing
and neutral pricing. The reference value where the consumer refers to the prices of competing
products and the differential value the consumer's view of this product's attributes versus the
attributes of other products must be taken into
Place includes company activities that make the product available to target consumers. Refers
to providing the product at a place which is convenient for consumers to access. Various
strategies such as intensive distribution, selective distribution, exclusive distribution and
franchising can be used by the marketer to complement the other aspects of the marketing mix
Kotler, P. and Armstrong,G. (2010).
It not only includes the place where the product is placed, all those activities performed by the
company to ensure the availability of the product to the targeted customers. Availability of the
product at the right place, at the right time and in the right quantity is crucial in placement
decisions.
Promotion includes all of the activities marketers undertake to inform consumers about their
products and to encourage potential customers to buy these products. Advertising covers any
communication that is paid for, from cinema commercials, radio and Internet advertisements
through print media and billboards. Public relations is where the communication is not directly
paid for and includes press releases, sponsorship deals, exhibitions, conferences, seminars or
trade fairs and events. Word-of-mouth is any apparently informal communication about the
product by ordinary individuals, satisfied customers or people specifically engaged to create
word of mouth momentum. Sales staff often plays an important role in word of mouth and
public relations Solomon et al (2009).
Process is the actual procedures, mechanisms, and flow of activities by which the service is
delivered – this service delivery and operating systems. Zeithaml et al (2008). The delivery of
service is usually done with the customer present so how the service is delivered is once again
part of what the consumer is paying for.
People are all human actors who play a part in service delivery and thus influence the buyers’
perceptions; namely, the firm’s personnel, the customer, and other customers in the service
environment. Zeithaml et al (2008).
People are an essential ingredient in service provision recruiting and training the right staff is
required to create a competitive advantage. Customers make judgments about service
provision and delivery based on the people representing your organisation. This is because
people are one of the few elements of the service that customers can see and interact with.
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Proceedings of Annual Tokyo Business Research Conference
15 - 16 December 2014, Waseda University, Tokyo, japan, ISBN: 978-1-922069-67-2
The praise received by the volunteers games makers for the London 2012 Olympics and
Paralympics demonstrates the powerful effect people can create during service delivery.
Physical evidence is the environment in which the service is delivered, and where the firm and
customer interact, and any tangible components that facilitate performance or communication
of the service.Zeithaml et al (2008).
This can refers to the way product, service, and everything about company appears from the
outside. Decisions need to be made about the size, shape color material and label of the
packaging. This should be customer tested and updated when needed. It should fall in line
with your other product offerings as well. Packaging involves the visual layout practical setup
and when needed for products clear and precise installation instructions.
Physical evidence is about where the service is being delivered from. It is particularly relevant
to retailers operating out of shops. This element of the marketing mix will distinguish a
company from its competitors. Physical evidence can be used to charge a premium price for a
service and establish a positive experience. For example all hotels provide a bed to sleep on
but one of the things affecting the price charged, is the condition of the room (physical
evidence) holding the bed. Customers will make judgments about the organisation based on
the physical evidence. For example if you walk into a restaurant you expect a clean and friendly
environment, if the restaurant is smelly or dirty, customers are likely to walk out. This is before
they have even received the service.
The determined independent variable is personal factor and the dependent variable is
operating efficiency. From the concept of Kotler, P.(1975) it identifies that the element of
marketing mixes for service business includes product, price, place, marketing promotion,
process, people and physical evidence. These elements than have been applied to measure
operating efficiency of movie theater business which is service business from the opinions of
people who entered to use services and experienced from service provision of movie theaters
through all seven aspects of marketing mixes for service business.
3. The Methodology and Model
Research Objectives
1. To study the opinion level on operating efficiency of movie theater business in Bangkok
metropolitan.
2. To compare the opinion level on operating efficiency of movie theater business being
classified by personal factors.
Hypothesis :
Hypothesis 1: The consumers with different gender have different opinions on operating
efficiency.
Hypothesis 2: The consumers with different age have different opinions on operating
efficiency.
Hypothesis 3: The consumers with different educational level have different opinions on
operating efficiency.
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Proceedings of Annual Tokyo Business Research Conference
15 - 16 December 2014, Waseda University, Tokyo, japan, ISBN: 978-1-922069-67-2
Hypothesis 4: The consumers with different monthly income have different opinions on
operating efficiency.
Hypothesis 5: The consumers with different marital status have different opinions on operating
efficiency.
Theoretical Model : The researchers offered a conceptual model constructed based on
literature review representing the relationship between the personal factors and operational
efficiency as shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Conceptual Model
Independent variables
Personal factors
1. Gender
2. Age
3. Educational level
4. Monthly income
5. Marital status
Dependent variables
Operational efficiency
Scope of Research
The researcher has focused on the study of operating efficiency of movie theater business in
Bangkok metropolitan for this study and studied on theories, knowledge and researches in
operating efficiency concept-related topics in order to be used as the component in researching
and conclusion of research result under following scope of research.
Population and Sample Group
The populations used in this research were the consumers who entered to use the services of
movie theaters in Bangkok metropolitan without knowing the certain number of populations.
The sample size was 400 people and Simple Random Sampling is used by the researcher for
data collection.
Research Instrument
The questionnaire was applied as the tool in this research for the consumers who entered to
use services of movie theaters in Bangkok metropolitan, and the following is the detail of the
questionnaire consisting of close-ended questions that determine the answers for answer
selection by the respondents and open-ended questions that allow the respondents to freely
express their opinions.
Part I is the questionnaire relating to personal factors of the consumers who entered to use
services of motive theaters in Bangkok metropolitan including gender, age, educational level,
monthly income and marital status.
Part II is the questionnaire relating to opinion level on operating efficiency of movie theaters for
the consumers who entered to use services of movie theaters in Bangkok metropolitan in the
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Proceedings of Annual Tokyo Business Research Conference
15 - 16 December 2014, Waseda University, Tokyo, japan, ISBN: 978-1-922069-67-2
aspects of product, price, place, marketing promotion, process, people and physical
appearance. The questionnaire is in type of rating scale in accordance with Rensis Likert’s 5Scale scaling method.
Part III is the open-ended question for respondents to express their other opinions and
suggestions that should be additionally improved and developed from status quo so that the
movie theater businesses can improve their operating efficiency in order to lead to business
success.
4. The Findings
Table 1 : Personal factor
Personal factor
Frequency
Percentage
1. Gender
Male
Female
188
212
47.00
53.00
Total
400
100.00
2. Age
Less than 25 years
26 years to 35 years
36 years to 45 years
More than 45 years
227
97
37
39
56.75
24.25
9.25
9.75
Total
400
100.00
3. Education
High school
Degrees or High vocational certificate
Bachelor degree
Higher than Bachelor degree
48
21
270
61
12.00
5.25
67.50
15.25
Total
400
100.00
4. Marital status
Single
Marriage
Separately
Widowed / Divorced
303
86
3
8
75.75
21.50
0.75
2.00
Total
400
100.00
5. Monthly income
Not exceeding 10,000 THB
More than 10,000-20,000 THB
More than 20,000 - 30,000 THB
More than 30,000-40,000 THB
134
102
61
41
33.50
25.50
15.25
10.25
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Proceedings of Annual Tokyo Business Research Conference
15 - 16 December 2014, Waseda University, Tokyo, japan, ISBN: 978-1-922069-67-2
More than 40,000 THB
62
15.50
Total
400
100.00
6. Career
Student
Private business
Company employees
Government/State Enterprise
155
69
138
38
38.75
17.25
34.50
9.50
Total
400
100.00
From Table 1 represents that most of the consumers are female with less than 25 years of age,
educational level in bachelor degree and single status. The people entering to use movie
theater services mostly earned less than 10,000 baht of income and were still students and
undergraduates.
Table 2 : Mean ( ), Standard Deviation (S.D.), Level and Sequence of Opinions on
Operating Efficiency of Movie Theaters in Bangkok metropolitan
Operational efficiency
S.D.
level of opinion
Sequence
1. Product
2. Price
3. Place
4. Promotion
5. Process
6. People
4.443
3.782
4.345
3.913
4.285
4.027
0.371
0.556
0.540
0.553
0.473
0.497
Agree
Agree
Agree
Agree
Agree
Agree
2
7
3
6
4
5
7. Physical evidence
4.508
0.448
Strongly agree
1
Overall
4.191
0.237
Agree
-
Table 2 represents that the consumers have opinion levels on overall operating efficiency of
movie theaters in Bangkok metropolitan in agree level and the opinion level can be sequenced
from high to low in physical evidence, product, place, process, people, promotion and price,
respectively.
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Proceedings of Annual Tokyo Business Research Conference
15 - 16 December 2014, Waseda University, Tokyo, japan, ISBN: 978-1-922069-67-2
Table 3 : P-value in testing the difference in opinion levels on operating efficiency of
movie theater business in Bangkok metropolitan that are classified according personal
factors
Operational efficiency
Gender
1. Products
0.675
2. Price
0.076
3. Place
0.016
4. Promotion
0.001**
5. Process
0.725
6. People
0.005**
7. Physical evidence
0.859
Overall
0.001**
Note ** statistically significant at the 0.01 level.
Age
0.000**
0.000**
0.000**
0.002**
0.000**
0.000**
0.000**
0.000**
P-Value
Education
Level
0.015
0.017
0.005**
0.000**
0.000**
0.003**
0.532
0.040
Monthly
income
0.000**
0.013
0.000**
0.964
0.000**
0.000**
0.000**
0.001**
Marital
status
0.287
0.902
0.000**
0.025
0.058
0.000**
0.000**
0.021
As represents in table 3, the consumers who used movie theater services with different gender,
ages and incomes have different opinion levels on operating efficiency of movie theater
business at statistically significance level of 0.01. The consumers with different educational
levels and marital statuses have indifferent opinion levels on overall operating efficiency of
movie theater business.
Table 4 : P-value of comparison in the difference of mean ( X ) and opinion level on
operating efficiency of movie theater business for consumers with different ages
in pairs by applying LSD method.
Operating
efficiency
Age
Less than 25 years
Group
1
26 years to 35 years
2
Overall
36 years to 45
3
years
More than 45 years
4
Note ** statistically significant at the 0.01 level.
p-value
1
-
2
0.000
3
**
4
0.567
**
0.264
0.000**
-
-
0.000
-
-
-
0.688
-
-
-
-
As represents in table 4, the consumers with less than 25 years old have opinion levels on
operating efficiency of movie theater business different from the movie theater service users
with 26–35 years at statistically significance level of 0.01.The consumers who are 26–35 years
have opinion levels on operating efficiency of movie theater business different from the movie
theater service users with 36 – 45 years and more than 45 years at statistically significance of
0.01. In addition, other pairs of the consumers with different ages have different opinion levels
on operating efficiency of movie theater business
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Proceedings of Annual Tokyo Business Research Conference
15 - 16 December 2014, Waseda University, Tokyo, japan, ISBN: 978-1-922069-67-2
Table 5 : P-value of comparison in the difference of mean ( X ), opinion level on operating
efficiency of movie theater business with different incomes in pairs by applying LSD
method.
Operating
efficiency
Overall
Monthly income
Group
Not exceeding 10000 THB
More than 10,00020,000THB
More than 20,000 30,000THB
More than 30,00040,000THB
More than 40000 THB
Note ** statistically significant at the 0.01 level.
p-value
3
4
0.001** 0.001**
0.331
0.281
1
2
1
-
2
0.005**
-
5
0.193
0.297
3
-
-
-
0.835
0.066
4
-
-
-
-
0.064
5
-
-
-
-
-
As represents in table 5 , the consumers with not exceeding 10000 baht of income have
opinion levels on operating efficiency of movie theater business different from the consumers
with over than 10,000 – 20,000 baht of income, over than 20,000 – 30,000 baht of income and
30,000 – 40,000 baht of income at significance level of 0.01. Other pairs of consumers with
different incomes have different opinion levels on operating efficiency of movie theater
business.
5. Summary and Conclusions
From the data analysis finding, it indicates that the consumers have opinion levels on overall
operating efficiency of movie theater business in Bangkok metropolitan at high level of
agreement. The consumers agree with the efficiency in physical appearance aspect at
maximum level of agreement since physical appearance is the thing that is tangible for service
users in the primary level and can make the service users sensible for movie theater concerns
and good service provision by movie theaters. This is consistent with the research finding of
Ming-Miin,Y. (2004) for the study on opinion level on operating efficiency of Taiwan domestic
airport that internal appearance of the airport primarily affects opinion level and attracts service
users since it is considered to be the first section tangible by service users and regarded to be
the airport image.
The movie theater consumers with different gender have different opinion levels on overall
operating efficiency of movie theater business. It is said that the male movie theater service
users have more opinion levels on operating efficiency than female since male has more
opinion levels on operating efficiency in marketing promotion and people aspects than female.
This is consistent with the research finding of Dwyer, S. (2000) that different gender have
different effect on opinion levels on operating efficiency of restaurants. It is said that male has
opinions on operating efficiency more than female.
The finding for the analysis on the comparison between age and operating efficiency level of
movie theater business indicates that the respondents with different ages have different opinion
levels on overall operating efficiency of movie theater business. It is said that people who
entered to use movie theater services with 26 - 35 years of age have more opinion levels on
operating efficiency than the movie theater service users with less than 25 years of age and
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Proceedings of Annual Tokyo Business Research Conference
15 - 16 December 2014, Waseda University, Tokyo, japan, ISBN: 978-1-922069-67-2
with 36-45 years of age and 46 – 55 years of age since older people have more delicate and
profound experiences and opinions on operating efficiency in all aspects than younger people.
This is consistent with the research finding of Case,R.D. Kurland, M. and Goldberg,J. (2004) on
the study of operating efficiency of bookstores that the examiners with 25 - 35 years of age
have opinions on operating efficiency more than those older than 40 years of age.
From the analysis on the comparison between monthly income and operating efficiency level of
movie theater business, the finding discovers that the respondents with different incomes have
different opinion levels on overall operating efficiency of movie theater business. It is said that
people with not over than 10,000 baht of monthly income have fewer opinion levels on
operating efficiency than the movie theater service users with monthly incomes of 10,00020,000 baht, 20,000-30,000 baht, and 30,000-40,000 baht since people with high incomes can
select the seats and movie theaters that provide them the conveniences more than those with
low incomes. This is consistent with the research finding of Mark,P.B. , Michael,C. and
Marcia,J. Simmering (2010) that different compensations and incomes affect different opinion
level on operating performance and efficiency by the way that people with low incomes have
fewer opinions on operating efficiency that those with high incomes.
From the analysis on the comparison between educational level and operating efficiency level
of movie theater business, the finding indicates that the respondents with different educational
level have indifferent opinion levels on overall operating efficiency of movie theater business
since either higher or lower educational level has no effect on opinion expression on operating
efficiency in different aspects. This is inconsistent with the research finding of Robert, A.P. and
Richard, W. (2012) that low educational level makes the opinion level on decision making
efficiency and operating efficiency lower than higher educated people.
From the analysis on the comparison between status and efficiency level of movie theater
business, the finding reveals that questionnaires with different status have indifferent opinion
level on overall movie theater business operating efficiency since different efficiency has no
effect on the opinion level on different aspects of operating efficiency. This is consistent with
the research finding of Panisoara, G. and Serban, M. (2013) that different status anyhow
makes indifference in operating efficiency.
Recommendation from this Research
According to the research result, it revealed that overall operating efficiency level of movie
theater business in Bangkok metropolitan in physical appearance aspect is in high level. The
researcher has had the opinions that the organization should continuously focus, promote and
support the operations in this aspect in the future in order to prevent the decrease in operating
efficiency level and ability to extremely operate since the physical appearance of the movie
theater affects the attraction of consumers for use of motive theater service. If the atmosphere
and image is created to have good appearance, it will enable to further increase the number of
service users and attain the organizational objective in different aspects.
According to the operating efficiency data in price aspect, it also indicated that the service
users have had the opinion level on operating efficiency in this aspect in minimum level. The
management should adjust price to be more reasonable by implementing the research result
derived from this research for application in strategic planning in price to be reasonable for
competition or consistent with product positioning for higher level of operating efficiency level in
price and ability to fully further operate in the future.
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Proceedings of Annual Tokyo Business Research Conference
15 - 16 December 2014, Waseda University, Tokyo, japan, ISBN: 978-1-922069-67-2
The management should implement the research results derived from this research for
application in strategy planning in order to continuously attract the movie theater service users.
Suggestion for Future Study
The researcher studied the opinion level on operating efficiency of specific business in movie
theater only for this research. The ones who are interested in researching about operating
efficiency should implement the result of this research for application in order to be the
guideline of future research.
Other factors relating or affecting operating efficiency should be additionally studied by
implementing the result of this research for application.
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Service Firms’.,Chicago, IL,American Marketing Association.
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Kotler,P.1975, ‘Marketing Management’, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall
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