Let's just take a quick example; see a film after 6 pm at my local cinema, and you'll be £8.20 short after buying a ticket and if let's say, you take up a Nacho Combo (Small Nachos, Regular Coke) you'll be a further £7.05 down.  So by the time you sit down to watch 20 minutes of trailers, your pocket is about £15.25 lighter.

If you read the annual report for the Cineworld chain, their food offerings apparently give good value, however I can go into Asda across the road and buy a 500ml bottle of coke and a large bag of Doritos and still come away with change from a fiver.  Good value?  I'm not so sure.

The problem here is that very few cinemas are competing; all want about £8.00 to let you in and about a tenner off you at the concession stand unless you're only buying a small drink.  

Having been to Finland on a number of occasions, it would seem that the dominant cinema chain there is Finnkino their main site being Tennispalatsi in Helsinki.  I prefer their model; it's a little more expensive at between €10 and €12 (prices vary on different days and times, Friday night after 5pm, Saturdays and Sundays being top whack) but head to the concession stand and a regular popcorn and a drink will only set you back about €4 to €5.  

Okay, so you're now saying that €12 + €5 = €17 which is about the same as Cineworld's £15.25 (or thereabouts), but there's some  cheeky psychology at work here.  With Cineworld, I think that £7 for nachos and a coke is extortionate, but £4.50 is expensive, but reasonable in that environment.  Had I been paying for my ticket (i.e. I hadn't had unlimited) I would pay the £8.20 at the box office and then forgo the concessions stand. Whereas, with Finnkino, the €12 is a dead loss from the outset - I want to see the film so I have to pay it, but the concessions still seem reasonable so I would buy popcorn and a coke.  

There's not much in it, but psychology sends me to the Finnkino concessions stand because I think it's reasonable value, whereas the prices at Cineword keep me away.

Would you be willing to pay more to get in if the popcorn was cheaper?  Or are you happy as it is?  Drop me a mail and let me know.