How Culture & Arts attracts audiences
With how we have spent the past year it is understandable that reopening may seem daunting for some venues, it has been an entire year since they have opened their doors. These are untread waters we sail in, in preparation of this it is advisable to look back in time to see what brings people to the Arts, to be able to effectively remind your audiences that you are indeed back.
Why exactly do people attend Arts performances? What drives them to spend money on a display of human creative skills and imagination?
There is no simple answer to these questions, different people have different drives. For example, different ages attend for entirely different reasons. 50% of adults attend the arts with friends and family, as a form of socialising, similar to parents of children who are under the ages of 6 who also attend as a mean of socialising. Adults have some of the most interesting statistics, such as 76% of adults with no diploma and or the lowest income attend the arts in the interest of education.
In general, regardless of age research shows that:
“73% attend to socialise with friends or family”
“64% attend with the aim of educating themselves”
“63% attend with the sole intention of experiencing high quality artwork”
“51% of attendees go to support the community”
Values of Arts Participants:
83% being devoted and loyal
76% listening to other perspectives
60% being creative, original
47% trying new things
28% enjoying the excitement, adventure and risk-taking
However, although these statistics for why people are rather high, there are still plenty of reasons why people don’t attend the Arts.
47% of people don’t have time
38% of people cannot afford to attend the arts
37% simply can’t access the arts for a variety of reasons
and 22% just have no one to with
The latter two of the four points is regularly seen within older adults. Whilst, these reasons are completely legitimate reasons for non attendance, there are ways to work around these reasons and grow your audience, such as:
Increasing community engagement
Provide opportunities to attend arts performances
Focus on marketing to couples looking for options for ‘Date Night’