Netflix triumphed in this week's YouGov trailer survey with their two new offerings, “The Dig” and “Finding ‘Ohana”.
Each week YouGov Direct investigates how effective a collection of movie trailers is in persuading people to consider seeing a film, what they think about the content of the trailer, and how good or bad they expect the movie to be. Thousands of people provide immediate feedback on movie trailers using the YouGov Direct platform.
Learn more about YouGov Direct and find YouGov Direct on the App Store and on Google Play.
Netflix uncovered a winner this week with “The Dig”, a tender new drama about an amateur excavator who discovers a wooden ship from the Dark Ages. It stars Carey Mulligan, Ralph Fiennes and Lily James.
While a film about an Anglo-Saxon burial might not sound like a particularly thrilling premise, the trailer for “The Dig” was the most effective this week at persuading viewers to consider seeing a film.
Before watching the trailer, just 13% of respondents said they were interested in watching this 1930s period piece. But after watching the trailer, that number rose to more than two in five (45%).
The film's remarkable true story - about the Sutton Hoo burial site, sometimes referred to as “Britain's Tutankhamun” - ended up being the biggest draw for viewers. When we asked respondents what they liked best about the trailer, more than half said it was the trailer’s powerful ‘story or themes’ (57%). A further third said they enjoyed the visual look of this Suffolk set drama (33%).
“The Dig” was less successful, however, at persuading viewers to consider subscribing to the streaming service that hosts it. The most successful trailer in that regard was HBO Max’s new film “The Little Things”. This neo noir thriller stars Denzel Washington as a haggard cop searching for a serial killer who's terrorizing Los Angeles. After watching the trailer for “The Little Things” there was an increase of five percentage points in intent to subscribe to HBO Max, the highest lift this week.
The second most effective trailer of the week went to the Hawaiian set adventure “Finding ‘Ohana”. This Netflix film follows two siblings from Brooklyn as they connect with their heritage on a daring quest for long-lost treasure.
Prior to watching the trailer, one in five of YouGov Direct respondents said they were somewhat or likely to see this ‘Goonies’ inspired movie (20%). After viewing the clip on the YouGov Direct platform, 47% said they were now likely to see it, making it the most popular trailer of the week.
Viewers with younger children were particularly excited to see “Finding ‘Ohana”. More than half of respondents who are parents to children under 18 said they were somewhat or very likely to see this family-friendly film (56%) after watching the trailer -- compared with 40% percent of users with either no children or children above the age of 18.
YouGov Direct also asks respondents to tell us how good or bad they think a movie will be based on the trailer. Of all the trailers we tested this week, “The Little Things” came out on top with a score of 4.0. This is compared to a median score of 3.5 for all trailers tested to date. Users gave both “The Dig” and “Finding ‘Ohana” a score of 3.8.
The lowest rated film of the week was for “Wrong Turn”, a reboot of the hit horror franchise about cannibal hillbilly killers. After watching the trailer, viewers awarded this gory flick a rating of 3.4 out of 5.0. Nearly a third of respondents also said they ‘didn't like anything’ about the trailer (29%).
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- A standing ovation for “Ma Rainey's Black Bottom” trailer
Image: Getty
Methodology: Data is based on 4,000 interviews, including a minimum of 400 responses for each movie trailer tested. Surveys were conducted online on January 28, 2021.
