The books takes the reader beyond the glitz, glamour, and gossip of Hollywood to examine the motivation and behavior of movie audiences. It provides a broad look at moviegoing behavior with special emphasis on

• Why the movie industry markets pictures the way it does
  
• Why we choose to see a particular movie
  
• The effect of movies on the attitudes of society
  
• The role movies play in society's leisure time

Authoritative research is used to evaluate the movie rating system and to show the influence of new communication technologies such as cable TV and VCRs on moviegoers.
Brue A. Austin (PhD., Temple University) is the William A. Kern Professor in Communications at Rochester Institute of Technology. His well-known and well-respected work has appeared in numerous TV/Film and Communications journals.