BBFC Film Classification: Public Perception and Engagement, Summaries of Qualitative research

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Introduction

The BBFC's main purpose is to help everyone in the UK choose age-appropriate films, videos and websites, wherever and however they watch or use them. In particular we want to help children and parents choose what content's right for them and avoid what's not.

To make sure the age ratings and content advice we provide are meeting those key objectives, we commit to reviewing our Classification Guidelines every four to five years by asking viewers - including children and families - what they think about our ratings and what they need from us. This report sets out the conversations we've had with viewers across the UK over the course of 2018, and which form the basis of the new Classification Guidelines published today.

What's very clear from this report is that nearly everyone finds ratings useful (97%) and that over nine in ten people believe there should be standard age ratings both online and offline. What's also clear is that, as online viewing becomes the norm, parents and children are finding it challenging, and at times frustrating, to find the information they need to help them choose well. More widespread, effective and consistent use and display of BBFC ratings and content advice - which this report demonstrates are widely recognised, valued and trusted - is an obvious solution to this problem.

The BBFC is committed to collaborating with online content providers to ensure their users can access the same kinds of information they would expect to find at the cinema, or when buying a DVD or BluRay - including by developing innovative, cost- effective and trusted rating solutions. We look forward to expanding and deepening our relationships with content providers over the coming months and years, precisely in order to provide the trusted guide that families want and need.

David Austin Chief Executive 17 January 2019

4.4.1 Wrestling Videos 4.5 Threat and Tone at 12(A)/ 4.6 Transgender Representation 4.7 Difficult Themes 4.8 Sex References at 12(A), 15 and 18 4.9 Genital Nudity at 15/ 4.10 Sex at 15/ 4.11 Strong and Very Strong Language in Trailers 4.12 South Asian Cinema

IV Appendix

**1. Quantitative fieldwork agencies

2. Questionnaires** 2.1 General Public 2.2 Adult and Parent Film Viewers 2.3 Youth 2.4 Website Visitors 2.5 Teachers **2.6 App users
3. Films tested**

I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In an ever shifting media and social landscape, the two main tenets of the BBFC Guidelines still remain; to protect children and vulnerable adults from harm and to empower consumers to make informed viewing decisions. The BBFC fulfils these roles by providing age classifications and content advice and by ensuring that decisions reflect consumer sensibilities as they evolve over time.

This latest public consultation aims:

 to understand the role of the BBFC and its relevance in 2018, particularly in the light of increased viewing via platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Video

 to assess levels of awareness and engagement with BBFC age ratings, and other resources including the website and app

 to provide detailed feedback on agreement with recent film classification decisions - whether audiences feel that their views on age appropriate content are in line with the BBFC

 to identify any emerging areas of concern that need to be addressed by the BBFC and the Classification Guidelines

Role of the BBFC

The research found continuing strong public support for the principle of film classification:

 97% of the general public say that there is a need for age ratings.

 90%+ of audiences surveyed want to see standard age ratings not only in cinemas and on physical video releases, but also for films on Netflix and Amazon.

There is very little variation in opinions on film classification across the different regions of the UK.

However, among those who use these services there are very positive ratings for usefulness:

 71% rate the BBFC website as useful

 94% rate the BBFC App as useful

Agreement with recent film classifications

The BBFC Guidelines are being applied effectively in practice:

 92% of film viewers agree with the age rating of films that they have seen among the list of 62 films tested.

In contrast to previous Guidelines consultations (where films with 12A/ classification were the most likely to be disagreed with), it is films with the 15 age rating that now attract most disagreement from film viewing adults. In most cases, adults and parents feel that some films with a 15 age rating should have been classified higher. The 15 age rating is also the most controversial among 13-17yr olds although, perhaps understandably given the impact the 15 rating can have on their viewing, for youth the issue is around over classification.

Emerging issues of concern

Online viewing is now the main mode of film consumption – particularly among teenagers. There are now lower levels of awareness among teenagers of the specific age ratings for films they have viewed (due to the less prominent profile of ratings on films that are streamed/downloaded compared to films viewed at cinema/on DVD) and, significantly, evidence of exposure to inappropriate content:

 92% of teachers are concerned about the material that their students view online – this is evident in the resulting inappropriate behavior and language that teachers claim to witness among students.

It is of concern that more than half of adults (53%) and 21% of teenagers say that they mainly watch films via ‘other’ streaming services, including illegal services.

If online viewing continues to grow with family film viewing decline, then the need for clearer age ratings online becomes even more imperative.

The Guidelines area of greatest concern for all audiences surveyed is sexual violence.

Research : Sample

11 with mothers, 9 with fathers, 1 with young adults, 1 with empty nesters

• Split by social class and age of child
• Conducted across the UK – Scotland,Wales, Northern Ireland, Manchester, Birmingham and Greater London

Four ‘Bollywood’ groups, two with Tamil speakers and two with Hindi speakers

2

• Girls aged 12 – 13, school years 7/
• Boys aged 13 – 14, school years 8/
• Girls aged 15 – 16, school years 10/
• Boys aged 15 – 16, school years 10/
• Girls aged 16 – 17, school years 11/
• Boys aged 16 – 17, school years 11/

All respondents were asked to view a selection of films and complete a short questionnaire before attending the research groups

26 FO C U S G RO U PS W I T H A D U LT S 6 FO C U S G RO U PS W I T H T EEN A G ERS

II. PROJECT SET UP

1. Methodology and Sample Characteristics

1.1 Qualitative Approach

Once again, qualitative research was conducted prior to the main quantitative research study with two key objectives in mind; to explore whether the BBFC’s Classification Guidelines are in line with public opinion and to provide a more detailed analysis of the Guidelines themselves.

A total of 32, two hour focus groups were conducted across the country. Respondents in each focus group were given 3 – 4 films to view in advance and each group focussed on a key area of the classification categories e.g. violence, discriminatory language, sex references. Each focus group was shown a number of clips, carefully selected by the BBFC team, to help them to explore these key issues.

The overall sample is illustrated below and a more detailed breakdown of the focus groups is included in the Appendix to this document.

1.2.1 Sample Audiences surveyed

The General Public sample represents the view of the average person on the street, whether or not they regularly watch films. This sample was recruited via an online panel survey (see appendix 1 for details) and comprised a nationally representative selection of UK adults aged 16+yrs. The six minute long questionnaire^3 for this sample covered the following core areas:

 film viewing behaviour  the perceived importance of consistent film classification across platforms and opinions on who most benefits from age ratings  awareness of the BBFC and its age rating symbols  trust in the reliability of BBFC age ratings

The Film Viewers sample taps into an important target audience. While the views of the general public are key, we know from previous research that the general public includes a significant proportion of adults who have no interest in, or regular engagement with, film classifications.

The Film Viewers sample provides the opinion of the average cinema - goer or home film viewer, and is probably the most “relevant and representative” audience for assessing classification appropriateness. The sample comprises UK adults aged 16+ who have watched at least one of a selection of recent films^4. This sample also includes a significant proportion of parents (of children under 18yrs) - the key audience for usage of classifications. Respondents were recruited face-to-face and completed a 15-20 minute personal interview in-home. The necessary length of interview and desire to maintain comparability with previous Guidelines Research lead to retention of an in-home methodology for surveying this audience.

In addition to the core areas (covered in the General Public survey) the Film Viewers questionnaire also covered the following areas:

 films watched recently from a list of 62 titles  awareness of BBFC website and App services  awareness of the BBFC and its age rating symbols  perceived importance of online content classification

(^3) Questionnaire - Appendix 2 (^4) List of films tested – Appendix 3

 extent to which check age ratings and sources used  impact of age ratings on film choice  level of agreement with age ratings of the tested films seen  for classifications disagreed with – identification of whether film rating was considered too high or too low  classification issues of greatest concern

Ultimately, it is the parents in this sample whose views are most pertinent, as they are the audience most reliant on film classifications to ensure appropriate viewing for their children. Parents provided feedback on the following additional area as part of this survey:

 extent to which they check age ratings for their children’s film viewing and sources used

The Teenagers sample represents the views of those who are ‘emerging’ solus decision-makers with regard to responsible film viewing; this is the audience at the forefront in terms of engagement with the changing media landscape and also the age group most likely to have their film viewing choices (particularly in cinema) affected by age classifications. The sample comprised children aged 13-17yrs across the UK, recruited via an online panel. The teenagers completed a 5 minute interview that covered the core areas asked of the general public, and in addition:

 extent to which check age ratings and sources used  impact of age ratings on film choice  level of agreement with age ratings of 12A/12 and 15 films seen recently  where these classifications were disagreed with – identification of whether the 12A/12/15 classification was considered too high or too low  classification issues of greatest concern

The BBFC Website Visitors and App Users are self-selecting samples, recruited via pop-up survey links placed on these services for a period of three months. These service users have shown themselves to be among the most knowledgeable and engaged audiences around the BBFC’s role as provider of age appropriate classifications. We know from previous consultation exercises however, that the opinions of these audiences are not always fully aligned with those of the wider public, and so it is helpful to analyse their feedback separately.

This robust sample size allows for confident measurement of opinions among key target audiences and provides a reliable basis for testing the validity of concerns/issues that emerged from the initial qualitative phase of research.

The large sample size also allows for identification of any significant shift in public opinion that has occurred since the previous Guidelines evaluation exercise undertaken in 2013, although updating of the questionnaire has limited the number of questions where direct comparability is possible.

1.2.3 Sample Profile

The age profile of the General Public sample is representative of the national population in terms of age (with over half being aged 45yrs+), gender, social class and ethnicity (see chart 2). In contrast, the Film Viewers sample is much younger (74% under 45yrs old, which correlates with other published data on cinema and film viewing).

Our Film Viewers sample has a lower proportion of AB social class respondents and higher proportion of DE respondents than among the general public – this (unlike published cinema visiting data) reflects the fact that our sample includes those who have watched films not only in cinema, but also on DVD and online at home.

In addition to standard demographics, respondents were also profiled on religious affiliation. This factor correlates with usage and attitudes towards the appropriateness of film classifications – those who identify as practising a religion tend to pay more attention to classifications and to have stronger views around films being age rated lower than appropriate. The incidence of this religious sub-group has fallen from 29% of the Film Viewers sample in 2013 to 16% in 2018 – a decline that may be reflected in more liberal overall attitudes toward film classification.

Adults with a learning disability (and those who care for them) were also identified, to allow for analysis of attitudes toward film classification amongst this potentially more sensitive/vulnerable audience.

The BBFC Website Visitors audience has a distinct profile, being predominantly young, male, and higher social class (see chart 3). They are less likely than Film Viewers in general to have children but significantly more likely than average to subscribe to Netflix and Amazon. As might be expected, this audience are avid film viewers. Comments made by this audience also indicate that it comprises a high proportion of film professionals and enthusiasts, who have strong views on the BBFC’s Classification Guidelines and ratings.

The BBFC App users are a new audience for Guidelines evaluation. On the assumption that many of these respondents would be completing the survey by mobile phone, the interview was kept very short and therefore only age, gender and parental status profile information was collected. App users have an even

1.3 Research Team

Nicky Goldstone is an independent qualitative market researcher with over 25 years’ research experience. After a degree from Manchester University in Social Sciences, Nicky began her market research career as a Graduate Trainee at The Harris Research Centre specialising in social and political research. Nicky joined The Research Business where she had particular responsibility for children, NPD and brand development research and was the account director for LEGO. She established her own consultancy in 1993 after the birth of her first child. Currently, she is the main UK research supplier for LEGO and Nickelodeon UK and also works on an ad hoc basis for a number of other clients and charities. Her first project for the BBFC was in 2003 and, together with Deborah, she has conducted the past three Guideline reviews (2005, 2009, 2014) for the organisation as well as a number of other projects. Nicky is also a qualified counselling psychotherapist and is currently working towards a MA in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy.

Deborah Slesenger is an independent qualitative market researcher with over 25 years’ experience. Deborah qualified as a science teacher and taught A Level Chemistry before joining The Research Business as a Graduate Trainee. She specialised in youth research, as well as gaining wide experience in qualitative consumer research. Deborah then joined Context Research where she continued to focus on work with children and teenagers as well as social and medical research. Deborah established Slesenger Research in 2000 and has worked extensively for clients in government, media, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and retail, as well as with non-profit organisations. Together with Nicky Goldstone, she has worked for the BBFC since 2003, most notably conducting their last three Guideline reviews (2005, 2009 and 2014). Deborah recently completed a graduate qualification in Child Psychology and she has been working towards a Masters degree.

Bernice Hardie is an independent quantitative research consultant experienced in designing and implementing ‘evaluation’ and ‘policy research’ studies.

Bernice specialised in marketing and market research as part of her Honours degree in Management Sciences at Aston Business School and started her career at the then Unilever owned Research International.

Bernice worked across a range of consumer, b2b and international markets before becoming Director of the Advertising and Media Group at RI, where she was responsible for developing the agency’s proprietary advertising pre-testing service, as well as bespoke international tracking programmes for clients such as Sony, Kodak and Heinz. She founded her own market research consultancy in 1993 to allow her to work more closely with clients across a broader range of business issues.

Bernice started working with the BBFC in 2009, when she piloted and introduced the quantitative Guidelines evaluation method that was adopted and repeated in

2013. She has also helped to co-design and implement research projects for the Digital, Video Games and Schools teams at the BBFC.

More recently, as Founder of a charitable organisation focused on developing inclusive communities, Bernice has a particular interest in ensuring the relevance of the Guidelines for the protection of vulnerable adults, as well as children.

Bernice is a Certified Member of the Market Research Society and works under the Code of Conduct with IQCS registered fieldwork and data processing agencies. She is a registered Data Controller with the ICO.

what they are discussing in school.” (Dad 3 – 8, C2D)

“Too much, too soon. I mean I like the idea of this being gradual, they find out what rape is, they might see the aftermath, how that affects people, but they don’t have to actually see the rape.” (Mum 15 – 18, BC1)

Focus groups with teenagers reflected parental anxiety about these issues. For many, the world can feel like an unsafe place and having access to social media and the news, combined with a greater awareness of recent domestic terrorist and other atrocities has heightened this anxiety. Yet at the same time, teenagers and young people want to individuate from their parents and have to balance this need to stay safe with peer pressure to experiment and to take risks.

1.2 Classification ‘hot spots’

This heightened sense of anxiety translated into a number of key classification hot spots.

Once again, sexualisation and sexual references were spontaneously mentioned by respondents in 2018 as being key issues, tapping into deeper concerns about the loss of childhood innocence and general ‘pornification’ of society.

Parents were keen that their children should watch content that was in line with their world view and ethos; that they should not be exposed to sexual references that introduced new themes and ideas above and beyond what was appropriate for a child at that age to know. This was often what was felt to be in line with sex education /PHSE at school.

“I don’t want my daughter to think that it was normal for someone to walk into your room and say take your clothes off and say do you want to fuck and then you get down to it. Like those shows, Love Island…I know I sound old fashioned but I don’t want one night stands to be the normality.” (Dad 6

• 11, BC1)

‘Normal’ sex between two consenting adults was one thing, seeing promiscuous, sexualised, controlling behaviour was another:

“Normal sex that happens between two people, that they grow up to learn how it works, is absolutely fine. As you say, not when they think that that’s normal behaviour, that everybody’s got whips and whatever.” (Mum 15 – 18, BC1)

“The control over women. Or two gay guys and one man is really controlling or whatever. It’s just it’s the control and the domination of somebody against their will.” (Mum 15 – 18, BC1)

“It’s very uncomfortable for us because we know it’s not normal. If my child saw that I would like to think that he knew that was so wrong and not nice.” (Mum 15 – 18, BC1)

The power balance of sexual relationships was another key issue for many and really came to light during discussions about sexual violence – perhaps the strongest emergent theme of the 2018 review.

“I think there’s a lot of domestic violence and sexual violence for women, but it’s also younger girls that experience it now. I think there was something in the media not that long ago, that girls as young as thirteen and fourteen are experiencing that and even thinking that they have to do things to be liked or to stay in a relationship and feeling uncomfortable.” (Mum 15 – 18, C2D)

“It’s all about a progressive level of maturity and emotional intelligence. As we’ve said, they grow to a point where they can deal with the violence, then they get a wee bit older, they can accept the drug taking and the bad language. Then it’s a big jump to where they can accept the sexual violence.” (Mum 15 – 18, BC1)

The perceived increase of well publicised sexually violent or motivated crimes in the UK has contributed to an increased sensitivity about this issue. Older girls actively worried about being sexually harassed or having their drinks spiked on a night out.

“It depends on the situation, I guess, but, yes. If I’m, like, going to a party or something, I’m a bit warier even though I shouldn’t have to be.” (Girl 16 -17)

“(12 Years a Slave) I mean, that can happen to anyone. I know there’s the whole racism part in this as well, but just thinking about sexual assault, it can happen to anyone.” (Girl 16 -17)

Unlike fantasy based movies, sexual violence was felt to be something that could happen and as such, really resonated with 2018 respondents.

It was interesting to observe what did disturb young people in this respect; the threat of kidnapping, car crash, people dying, suicide and self-harm were all mentioned as being too real and something that did happen and could happen. A belief that