A company called YouGov recently conducted a survey discussing public reaction to movie trailers and the impact they have on movie going habits. The study’s major finding is that 49% of people polled felt that trailers gave away too many of a movie’s “best scenes.” In comparison, only 32% of people thought they gave away the movie’s plot.

However, out of those same people, only 19% said it made them not want to see the movie. In fact, 24% of the people said it made them want to see it more. The other 57%, said it didn’t matter or they didn’t know.

Read some more results from the survey, and see the whole thing for yourself, after the jump.

The Hollywood Reporter alerted us to the survey, which can be found on the YouGov page. Download the full findings here.

Other notable findings include the fact movie trailers, plot revealing or not, are the #1 reason people go to see movies. 48% of people said so. 46% of people said a friend’s recommendation is the main reason they see films. Also, 77% of people say the story of a movie is the main thing they like about it.

But back to the movie trailers. With the summer movie season upon us, we’ll be seeing more and more trailers, as well as the final films of trailers we’ve been obsessing over for many moons. I know personally, if I’m familiar with a trailer, I’m on some level waiting for specific scenes while watching the movie. For example, I saw Star Trek Into Darkness Thursday. I was watching the movie, following the plot, but part of me was wondering, “How does what I’m watching later result in Spock jumping off a ledge” or whatever other cool image stood out from the trailer.

Now, is that a bad thing? Do the movie studios care? The answers are probably “Yes” and “No.” Ideally, trailers make us want to see a movie, but we should forget about them once we sit in the theater. These days, though, they’re so prevalent (international trailers, teaser trailers, trailers for trailers) memorable scenes get ingrained in our heads an most of the time, those scenes are the best the movie has to offer. Why wouldn’t they be? If you’ve got it, flaunt it. Once we’ve paid our money, who cares how we engage with the film? Just that we paid to be there.

Well, according to this survey, 46% of people might have something to say about that. The people who prefer personal recommendations.

Can you think of another way to sell films without giving away the best scenes? Do you watch movies thinking about scenes in a trailer?

Cool Posts From Around the Web: