As moviegoers shift to the internet to learn more about upcoming movie releases, ad dollars aren't following them, a new study finds.

TV advertisements, word of mouth, and movie trailers are the most important sources for creating "first awareness" in a film, but thereafter the internet becomes an important source of information for moviegoers about a film, writes ClickZ, citing a MarketCast study titled "The Internet and Moviegoing: A Benchmark Study on Influences and Opportunities."

Nearly half of moviegoers age 13-49 seek more information on a film after hearing about it, and of those, 7 in 10 look online; moreover, 17 percent of all respondents say the internet was the most influential source of information for them about a film - yet only 2.6 percent of movie studios marketing budgets are spent online, according to Google's Industry Marketing Manager for Media and Entertainment, David Fleck.

The MarketCast study was funded by Google and prepared in conjunction with the Motion Picture Association of America and Variety magazine.