Beyond borders: understanding the determinants of global audience engagement with Chinese films

While Chinese cinema has enjoyed significant domestic success, its global audience engagement has been relatively low. Chinese film industry is significantly influenced by economic, cultural, and political factors. To improve the global market presence of Chinese films, there is a need to study these factors that influence the global audience engagement with Chinese films. In this study, ten significant determinants that influence global audience engagement with Chinese films were identified and evaluated using the mixed method (qualitative and quantitative) approach. The determinants were identified through comprehensive literature review which were confirmed by experts. The Total Interpretive Structural Modelling (TISM) was employed to present the identified determinants in a hierarchical structure exhibiting their significance level. While, Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) was used to categorize the determinants into the cause-effect cluster. The findings of the study highlighted that ‘cultural familiarity,’ ‘production values, and ‘cast appeal and star power ‘are top three causal determinants which influence other factors. The results support Uses and Gratifications Theory (UGT) by demonstrating that audiences actively engage with films to satisfy cognitive, emotional, and social needs. Cultural familiarity, production quality, and cast appeal function as key gratification drivers shaping purposeful media consumption. Industry managers can enhance global audience engagement with Chinese films by adopting an integrated strategy that simultaneously addresses cultural familiarity, production quality, and cast appeal. This can be achieved by supporting culturally adaptive storytelling and international co-productions, alongside targeted investments in technical training and filmmaking infrastructure to meet global production standards.