Please Silence Your Cellphones

Recently, I went to the movies with a friend. Right before the movie started, there was a video asking everyone to turn off their phones and to be respectful to others in the theater by not talking during the movie. This video is pretty standard protocol for most theaters. It's an attempt to reduce the negative consumption externality that others experience when a movie goer won't stop using their phones. The Atlantic articulates the extent of the effects of cellphone use in the movie theater quite well. They explain that cellphone use "doesn't just distracts someone's seat-mates; the annoyance of a screen lighting up is unavoidable to anyone in the rows behind the phone user as well." Many complain that the actions of others in a movie theater ruin the movie experience because it takes them right out of the story.

Personally, phone light in the movies does not bother me that much, but I have a friend who refuses to see movies in theaters because of cellphones. She always says that she doesn't want to pay $13 to watch someone scroll through Facebook; she is not the only one that feels this way. Many people opt to stay in and watch something on Netflix or another streaming service instead of going to the movies. In order to compete with streaming services, theaters need to reduce the cost of going to the movies. The previews asking movie goers to silence their cellphones is one attempt to lower the negative consumption externality, but is it enough? My friend certainly doesn't think so. Movie theaters will have to try something else since many are unsatisfied with their attempts thus far. Some possibilities include decreasing the price of movie tickets or beginning to strictly enforce their no cellphone rule. As things currently are, movies are being overproduced since marginal social benefit is less than private marginal benefit. It is possible that a Coasian solution could be employed here as well. If my friend really wanted to enjoy a movie without people using their phones, she could offer to pay others to not use them. However, I'm pretty sure my friend would have some complaints if I suggested she pay the very people in the movie theater that upset her the most...