Final answer:
Movie theaters lowered their prices during the Great Depression in order to align with the reduced financial capacities of the populace and to provide an accessible form of communal entertainment and escape from daily hardships, which helped in rebounding box office sales.
Step-by-step explanation:
During the Great Depression, movie theaters lowered prices as a strategy to maintain attendance by making movies more accessible to those experiencing economic hardship. The importance of community in preserving family life meant that in difficult times, people sought collective forms of entertainment and escape from the harsh realities of the Depression era.
With incomes reduced and unemployment high, the reduced prices also reflected a broader decline in conspicuous consumption and a market adaptation to the new financial reality faced by consumers. Movies were seen as an essential way for Americans to temporarily forget their troubles and imagine better times, necessitating affordable prices for continued patronage.
Despite the economic challenges, Americans found solace in the community experience of the cinema, leading to a rebound in box office sales and sustaining the movie industry through one of the nation's toughest economic periods.