While many bemoan the high cost of movie theater popcorn, a new study from researchers at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business (GSB) and UC-Santa Cruz says that, in fact, high prices help the average moviegoer in the end.

The study found that by charging more for concessions such as popcorn, movie theaters were able to keep ticket prices lower. Because secondary products like popcorn cost more, the primary product, the movie experience itself, can be cheaper — and, as a result, more people are able to experience the silver screen magic. For the theaters, this means more people come to the movies in general, as well as greater profits from those willing to pay for concessions.

While concessions account for only about 20 percent of gross revenues, they represent some 40 percent of theaters’ profits.

GSB Associate Prof. Wesley Hartmann and Ricard Gil, assistant professor in economics at UC-Santa Cruz, looked at detailed revenue data from a chain of movie theaters in Spain to conduct their study.