Hill Strategies - Arts Research Monitor
Arts Attendance / Performing arts
In this issue: four reports related to arts attendance, including an American study of the intrinsic impacts of performance attendance, a Canadian examination of the social impacts of performing arts attendance, a study of attendees' motivations, abilities and opportunities to participate, and a report on the demographic and cultural factors involved in performing arts attendance in Canada.
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Assessing the Intrinsic Impacts of a Live Performance
WolfBrown, January 2007
http://www.wolfbrown.com/index.php?page=books
This report "attempts to define and measure how audiences are transformed by a live performance". Two different surveys were conducted by six presenters with 1,730 randomly-selected audience members at 19 music, dance and theatre performances. The researchers caution that "we must be careful... not to generalize about all performances from the limited set of 19 performances in our sample".
A pre-performance survey examined attendees' preparedness for the performance, while a post-show mail-in survey examined reactions to the performance. The report finds that "the expectation of an enjoyable experience is the single best predictor of a satisfying experience". A number of different factors may contribute to a higher level of anticipation of the performance, including marketing methods and the ethnic or cultural alignment of the audience member and the artist. Attendees who have more contextual information can "benefit more from performances, at least in certain circumstances".
Despite arguments to the contrary, the report finds that "intrinsic impacts can be measured". Some of the potential intrinsic impacts examined in the report include "captivation, intellectual stimulation, emotional resonance, spiritual value, aesthetic growth and social bonding".
Captivation - the degree of attendees' absorption in the performance - is highly correlated with their satisfaction with a performance. The report notes that many audience members spoke of "'getting lost in the performance' or 'going to another place'".
Intellectual stimulation includes the degree of intellectual engagement with a performance, being challenged or provoked by what was seen, reflecting on one's opinions or beliefs, and discussing the meaning and merits of the performance with others. "A large majority of respondents (87%) discussed the meaning or merits of the performance afterwards, although just 19% characterized their discussion as an 'intense exchange'".
Performances can elicit emotional responses ranging from joy to despair. The data in the report shows a connection between emotion and memory, leading the researchers to argue that the emotional resonance of performances can "yield intrinsic 'benefit dividends' through life". Despite this, the researchers also argue that "the delicate alchemy of art, audience and situational factors that make possible a high degree of Emotional Resonance may, in fact, be too complicated to deconstruct in a research experiment".
The researchers note that many participants "seek out transcendent experiences in a spiritual - but not necessarily religious - sense". The aesthetic growth of attendees does not just occur from presenting new or unusual works of art, but may also occur from "attracting new or infrequent attendees to artists and repertoire that are relatively unfamiliar to them".
Performances provide opportunities for social bonding, which can lead to family cohesion, expanded social networks and enhanced empathy for others. "Presenters create Social Bonding when they expose audiences to new cultures, when they enable audiences to participate in their own cultural heritage and when audiences leave the performance with a widened perspective on social issues and a deeper understanding of human relations".
For presenters, a shift towards "benefits-based programming" could be achieved by "drawing audiences into the experience (i.e., an engagement approach) through a combination of education, outreach, marketing and interactions with artists". Recommended strategies include focussing more on pre-performance engagement, greater contextualization of performances, "further integration of educational objectives into core programming" as well as "marketing strategies that motivate and reward trial".
The researchers argue that a greater regard for measuring intrinsic impacts could mean that "arts presenters will have better evidence of mission fulfillment, will be better able to communicate with each other about the impacts of touring programs, and will be better prepared to engage with artists and managers in a more objective discussion about outcomes".
Social Effects of Culture: Exploratory Statistical Evidence
Hill Strategies Research, March 2008
http://www.hillstrategies.com/resources_details.php?resUID=1000265
While the WolfBrown report examines the intrinsic impacts of a single performance, this recent report investigates the broad social impacts of cultural activities for individuals. This report examines the relationship between four cultural activities (reading books, attending live performances, visiting art galleries and attending movie theatres) and social phenomena such as volunteering, donating, neighbourhood connections, sense of belonging and quality of life.
The data is drawn from Statistics Canada's General Social Survey of 2005. A total of 9,851 respondents answered the survey's cultural questions.
The report defines a cultural participant as anyone who read at least one book, attended at least one live performance, visited at least one art gallery, or saw at least one movie at a theatre in 2005. This is a low threshold of cultural participation. Many activities within these categories do not have explicit social goals. As such, their social impacts may be less than for those artistic activities that have an explicit social goal.
The report recognizes that there are many other factors that could play a significant role in the social indicators examined. Because of this, the report does not claim to be definitive. However, some statistics in the report do show a relationship between some cultural activities and positive social engagement.
Performing arts attendees do have positive indicators of social engagement. For example:
• The percentage of performing arts attendees volunteering for a non-profit organization (48%) is much higher than the percentage of non-attendees (28%).
• The percentage of performing arts attendees donating money or goods to a non-profit organization (88%) is much higher than the percentage of non-attendees (71%).
• Seventy-three percent of performing arts attendees (compared with 67% of non-attendees) indicated that they had done a favour for a neighbour in the past month.
• Fewer performing arts attendees than non-attendees feel trapped in a daily routine (33% of performing arts attendees compared with 38% of non-attendees).
Overall, given the mix of positive and neutral findings regarding performing arts attendees, the report finds mild evidence of a link between performing arts attendance and positive social engagement. It should be noted that the definition of the performing arts in the report is quite broad, including popular music, classical music, theatre, dance or opera.
Art gallery visitors have a stronger sense of social engagement than non-visitors for many social indicators. For example, the percentage of art gallery visitors volunteering for a non-profit organization (50%) is much higher than the percentage of non-visitors (31%). The percentage of art gallery visitors donating money or goods to a non-profit organization (87%) is much higher than the percentage of non-visitors (73%). Seventy-six percent of art gallery visitors (versus 67% of non-visitors) indicated that they had done a favour for a neighbour in the past month. Fifty-one percent of art gallery visitors have a very strong sense of belonging to Canada, compared with 45% of non-visitors. Fewer art gallery visitors than non-visitors feel trapped in a daily routine (30% of art gallery visitors compared with 38% of non-visitors).
Book readers also have a stronger sense of social engagement than non-readers for many social indicators. In particular, the percentage of book readers volunteering for a non-profit organization (42%) is much higher than the percentage of non-readers (25%). The percentage of book readers donating money or goods to a non-profit organization (82%) is much higher than the percentage of non-readers (66%). Seventy-one percent of book readers (compared with 65% of non-readers) indicated that they had done a favour for a neighbour in the past month. Forty-nine percent of book readers have a very strong sense of belonging to Canada, compared with 42% of non-readers. Book readers have a lower rate of workaholism than non-readers (22% of book readers compared with 31% of non-readers).
Given the mix of positive, neutral and negative findings regarding movie goers, there is very little evidence of a link between movie theatre attendance and positive social engagement.
MAO-Model of Audience Development: Some Theoretical Elaborations and Practical Consequences
Mia Stokmans, Tilburg University, 2005
http://neumann.hec.ca/aimac2005/PDF_Text/Stockmans_Mia.pdf
Motivation, ability and opportunity are three key pre-requisites to cultural attendance. This paper, presented at the 8th International Conference on Arts and Cultural Management, examines how arts organizations can better understand and use these three concepts in their audience development work.
Motivation results from "the activation of beliefs about the cultural participation", including positive or negative associations with the activity. Some possible perceptions of cultural activities may include: significant (or insignificant), effective (or pointless), valuable (or worthless), fundamental (or trivial), enjoyable (or annoying), fascinating (or boring), exciting (or not exciting), and relaxing (or frustrating).
The ability to participate can be "defined as having the skills or proficiency to act", which can encompass all the personal resources of an arts attendee. Ability can be affected by financial resources, time budget, physical capacities, and mental resources.
The opportunity to participate, "defined as the absence of environmental barriers to action", can be influenced by a range of factors, including:
• Price (price knowledge, perceived costs and perceived value)
• Place (location, familiarity, accessibility)
• Product (the cultural activity itself as well as services and facilities that augment the experience)
• Promotion (awareness and image of the cultural organization, like or dislike of the organization, intentions to visit)
Findings such as these can help cultural managers develop additional information about their participants (and non-participants), with the goal of increased audience development.
Factors in Canadians' Cultural Activities (Performing arts findings)
Hill Strategies Research, February 2008
http://www.hillstrategies.com/resources_details.php?resUID=1000256
This report examines demographic and other factors involved in performing arts attendance (as well as three other cultural activities), based on data from Statistics Canada's General Social Survey of 2005, an in-depth telephone survey of about 10,000 Canadians 15 years of age or older.
In 2005, 41% of the population 15 or older (10.8 million Canadians) attended a concert or performance by professional artists of music, dance, theatre or opera (excluding cultural festivals).
Demographic factors that appear to have a substantial impact on performing arts attendance are education, income, residing in an urban area, and activity limitations.
• 57% of individuals with at least a bachelor's degree attended a performance in 2005. This is 2.4 times the attendance rate for individuals with less than a high school diploma (24%).
• Performing arts attendance increases with income. Fifty-nine percent of individuals in households with incomes of $100,000 or more attended a performance in 2005, a figure that is double the attendance rate for individuals in households with incomes of less than $20,000 (29%). The ratio of 2.0 is slightly higher than the equivalent ratio among movie-goers (1.7) but is lower than the education ratio for performing arts attendees (2.4). This indicates that income is a somewhat less important factor than education in performing arts attendance.
• Performing arts attendance is higher for those Canadians residing in larger urban centres (43%) than rural areas or small towns (33%).
• Canadians with activity limitations (due to a physical condition, a mental condition or health problems) have a lower performing arts attendance rate (33%) than respondents with no limitations (43%).
Demographic factors that have either a limited or no impact on performing arts attendance include sex, age, presence of children, country of birth and language.
The report finds that cultural experiences and cultural exposure are, in general, more important factors in book reading than demographic factors. In fact, eight of the top 10 predictors of performing arts attendance are cultural activities, not demographic factors. The performing arts attendance rate is very high for a number of other cultural attendees:
• 68% for attendees at another type of performance (such as dance, opera or circus);
• 68% for those who went to a cultural festival;
• 68% for Canadians who visited an art gallery;
• 65% for those who visited a museum;
• 65% for attendees at a performances of cultural/heritage music, theatre or dance(e.g. Aboriginal Peoples, Chinese, Ukrainian); and
• 59% for those who visited an historic site.
All of these cultural crossovers rank more highly than the best demographic factors (high income and education).