Audience studies, their limits and their informational needs Michele Trimarchi

1. Audiences Europe Network Masterclass - Milano, Italy - 22-23 April, 2005 Audience studies, their limits and their informational needs Michele Trimarchi Università IULM - Facoltà di Scienze e Tecnologie della Comunicazione ECCOM - European Centre for Cultural Organisation and Management

2. Audiences Europe Network Masterclass - Milano, Italy - 22-23 April, 2005 The picture Cultural consumers are normally portrayed through their socio-demographic identities. Gender, age, income and education are the main aspects measured by analysts A 1998 study (Colbert, Beauregard and Vallée) tells us that 61% of the audience is female, 54% holds a degree, 45% earns more than $ 40,000 per year Other studies confirm such figures: adult, rich and educated people are the typical cultural consumers. This implies a strong and consistent inference

3. Audiences Europe Network Masterclass - Milano, Italy - 22-23 April, 2005 What do these figures mean? Are we really interested in such a picture? What does it tell us about the reasons, goals and expectations of cultural consumers? Is it sufficient? Are we able to identify the cultural content of goods and services, or do we simply deal with their material container (books, live performances, movies, etc.)? A major issue is generated by quality: it has a different meaning in the evaluation of critics and experts on one hand, and in consumer perception on the other

4. Audiences Europe Network Masterclass - Milano, Italy - 22-23 April, 2005 Objectives and constraints Gender, age, income and education cannot be considered determinants of cultural consumptions. A clear distinction must be made between objectives and constraints A wide majority of rich people do not consume culture. Income is not a cause of cultural consumption. It is only a powerful means to release budget constraint In the same way, many educated people simply ignore culture and the arts. Education per se does not grant any specific behaviour. It may act in both ways

5. Audiences Europe Network Masterclass - Milano, Italy - 22-23 April, 2005 Time Age may be a more complex factor: it can be considered an effective proxy for individual cultural experience. What young consumers lack is just past consumption Cultural appreciation strongly depends upon a learning process generated by the accumulation of a stock of knowledge whose value increases progressively Not only direct exposition to culture generates value, but also every possible informational integration through critiques and reviews, books and catalogues, etc.

6. Audiences Europe Network Masterclass - Milano, Italy - 22-23 April, 2005 Space For many actual and potential consumers, the real problem is the material availability of opportunities for cultural consumption in the area where they live Space is a factor that can strongly influence consumer choice, since it raises costs (and time) of consumption, and implies many organisational problems Although supply does not necessarily create its demand, the opening of new venues quite often generates a strong increase and consolidation of the demand for culture

7. Audiences Europe Network Masterclass - Milano, Italy - 22-23 April, 2005 Competition According to some analysts, the arts and culture are in a sort of double competition: on one hand, within the wider leisure set; on the other, within the cultural sector The arts are not fungible, and it is not indifferent for any consumer to go for shopping, to walk or jog in a park, to go out for dinner or to visit a museum Also within the cultural sector, there are many relevant differences; normally consumers are selective, and do not give the same value to every cultural experience

8. Audiences Europe Network Masterclass - Milano, Italy - 22-23 April, 2005 Do prices matter? Prices are often considered as the main obstacle against cultural consumption: price level is high, and consumption implies the purchase of other services (transport, meals) In consumer’s evaluation, price per se is not relevant if the budget constraint is not extremely tight: price is considered together with the expected quality and the opportunity cost For some cultural experiences consumer is willing to pay even a very high price; in other cases even a zero or negative price can prove effective

9. Audiences Europe Network Masterclass - Milano, Italy - 22-23 April, 2005 What should policy do? Public subsidies should allow producers to reduce prices, in order to generate a progressive expansion of demand, and to attract new consumers This is not true: public subsidies are used to maintain the present level of expenditure, other things being equal. Public action should focus on information and opportunity In the accumulation/appreciation paradigm what matters is the first access to culture, and the transformation of occasional consumers into a culture-addicted one

10. Audiences Europe Network Masterclass - Milano, Italy - 22-23 April, 2005 Markets for the arts Cultural consumers are more active and intelligent than their picture offered by many analyses. They move quite flexibly, choose rationally, acknowledge value The object of cultural consumption is a subjective and heterogeneous bunch of goods and services whose common element is critical and technical information The exploitation of such wide set of markets can help cultural producers to increase their degree of financial autonomy, and to develop their cultural projects

11. Audiences Europe Network Masterclass - Milano, Italy - 22-23 April, 2005 Thank you