The Influence of Douban Reviews and Ratings on Chinese Audiences' Movie-watching Choices

In the process of word-of-mouth, recurring social media ratings and strong reviews can influence viewers' perceptions of a film and result in changes in viewing choices. As the most authoritative movie review website in China, Douban's high score and popular movie reviews are a household name, and even the rating of a movie on Douban and whether the review is good or not become the reason for people to choose whether to watch the movie or not. This paper examines the influence of Douban's movie reviews and ratings on Chinese movie-watching choices through the use of questionnaires in the context of the media environment and media psychology, based on Douban's unique media culture. The results of the questionnaire show that in a film market surrounded by all kinds of information, Douban movies largely satisfy the needs and psychology of users' viewing guides, and in the eyes of a large proportion of people Douban's ratings and reviews have become the main measure of whether viewers will watch them or not.