A Statewide Report on:

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A Statewide Report on
PARTICIPATION IN THE ARTS
Prepared for Arts Queensland CB
Contact(s) Sharon Bird Lisa Scott, Colmar
Brunton Research Services Final Report 18th
Sept 2006
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CONTENTS
Section Page No.
Background, Objectives Methodology Online Survey Sample and Breakdown Key Models from the Qualitative Research 1. Regular Past-times and Participation in the Arts 2. Information Sources for Arts Events 3. Lead Times, Ticket Purchasing and Pricing 4. Venue Awareness, Experience and Perceptions 5. Promotional Materials Findings from Qualitative Focus Groups 6. Segment Profiles Overall Conclusions Recommendations Appendix 1 Qualitative Research Conclusions Appendix 2 Demographics Appendix 3 Additional Demographic Splits 3 9 13 17 26 39 49 76 79 86 96 106 111






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Overall Background, Objectives Methodology
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BACKGROUND

• This research was commissioned to help Arts
  Queensland build a body of knowledge about the
  Arts participation habits and preferences of the
  Queensland public.
• This research was intended to complement an
  earlier report commissioned by the Australia
  Council (prepared by Saatchi Saatchi in 2000),
  which looked at the Australian publics attitudes
  to the Arts and their Arts participation habits.
  The Australia Council report proposed that
  (within Australia) there are five segments in
  terms of Arts Participation, as follows
• The Arts Lovers High consumers and/or patrons
  of the Arts who could not increase their already
  heavy involvement.
• The Satisfied Those who are perfectly happy
  with the state of the Arts, who have set
  participation levels and on this basis will not
  increase their involvement.
• The Interested Individuals with busy social
  lives, who enjoy incorporating some arts
  activities in their schedule. This group would
  go to the Arts more if it suited their
  regime/needs better.
• The Disinclined Those who are doubtful about
  the personal or social relevance of the arts and
  who face strong practical barriers to
  participation. They do not have major
  attitudinal objections to the Arts and indeed may
  value their contribution to society, but do not
  view them as a priority activity.
• The Disengaged - Individuals who feel no
  engagement with the Arts and view them as
  personally and culturally irrelevant to their
  lives. They are unlikely to develop any
  connection with the Arts.
• The overarching aim of the current research was
  to identify the characteristics, thoughts and
  feelings of the Interested and Disinclined
  segments in Queensland, as these are the groups
  that are most likely to increase participation,
  if the Arts can be delivered in a way that
  tackles their particular barriers to
  participation.

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BACKGROUND

• A two stage research project was undertaken
  during the period May-August 2006.
• The first stage was 6 focus groups 5 in
  Brisbane and 1 in Cairns. The second stage was
  an online survey of a representative panel of
  Queenslanders.
• The specification for the sample included in both
  the focus groups and the survey was that
  respondents could be identified as being from the
  Interested or Disinclined segments as defined in
  the Australia Councils 2000 Australians and the
  Arts Australia wide survey.
• It was also a specification that respondents were
  not already heavy participants in the Arts.
• The qualitative stage of the project aimed to
  profile the characteristics of these segments as
  they are particular to Queensland. The discussion
  during the focus groups was guided to uncover
  whether particular barriers and triggers to
  participation in the Arts are experienced in
  Queensland and to identify what perceptions or
  experiences people have around major arts venues
  in Brisbane.
• Another aim was to discuss peoples views of
  promotional strategies and ticketing for the
  arts, as well as looking at how they normally
  source information about entertainment.
• The major objective of the following quantitative
  stage of the research was to confirm and
  consolidate the qualitative findings, providing a
  stronger basis for inference upon which
  strategies for targeted promotion of the Arts in
  Queensland could be based.
• During the quantitative stage, 429 persons across
  five locations in Queensland were surveyed (see
  page 10 for sample specifics).
• The quantitative survey was designed to probe
  further into certain areas - such as use of
  information sources or how barriers and triggers
  are experienced on a venue by venue basis to
  provide more immediately actionable information
  that Arts Queensland can use as a basis for
  developing strategies to promote the Arts to the
  Queensland public.

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RESEARCH AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

• The overall aims of the research were to
• Identify general attitudes towards the arts and
  seek to establish how similar Queenslanders
  attitudes towards participation in the arts are
  to those of the general Australian population, in
  order to establish the generalisability of the
  Australia wide research findings to Queensland.
• Identify gaps in knowledge regarding what Arts
  Queensland venues do namely, the range of venues
  in existence and the range of arts on offer.
• Identify perceived applicability of
  events/performances to individuals, particular
  age groups or families.
• Explore barriers that restrict participation.
• Explore views about what could increase
  participation.
• A number of objectives were explored in the
  qualitative research only. Namely
• Identify the effectiveness of current promotional
  materials, for example
• Are events advertised so as to seem important in
  terms of personal identity and development or to
  seem culturally (or sub-culturally) relevant?
• Is the impression of promoted events that they
  are high-brow or that they are accessible?
• Are the right aspects of the event emphasised
  can people find information important to them?
• Elicit suggestions for improving the types of
  promotional material currently used in a way that
  could combat the barriers to participation
  perceived by the various cross sections we
  involve in discussion.

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RESEARCH AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

• The specific aims of the Quantitative stage were
• To quantify the breadth and depth of
  participation in the Arts by querying
  participation in regular spare time activities
  and general experience of the arts.
• To quantify what sources of information
  respondents use to find out about arts events and
  to quantify how these sources are used e.g.
  specific sections of a newspaper or specific
  entertainment radio or TV shows. Also, to
  quantify which sources are preferred so that Arts
  Queensland can identify the most appropriate
  channels to reach these people.
• To investigate perceptions of pricing for
  different kinds of events to quantify any
  misperception about cost, as the perceived cost
  of participating in the Arts (or more accurately
  whether the Arts offer value for money) emerged
  as one of the more significant barriers to
  participation during the qualitative stage of the
  research.
• To investigate how and where people purchase
  tickets for the Arts and how they would like to
  do so.
• To quantify general awareness and attendance at
  various venues in Brisbane and in regional
  Queensland, amongst these segments.
• To assess actual experiences or perceptions of
  venues established in Brisbane, versus
  perceptions and experiences of venues in Regional
  locations.

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OVERALL RESEARCH STRATEGY
Project Planning
The majority of this report is based on the
quantitative stage, as quantitative research
provides inferential power to draw conclusions
about the general population, whereas qualitative
research does not. The qualitative stage
provided findings upon which the quantitative
stage was based. Generally, the qualitative stage
then gave insight as to what lies behind the
findings of the quantitative stage. However, it
happens that differences may still exist between
qualitative and quantitative findings. Where
differences exist they are discussed in the body
of the report. All research is used to interpret
the quantitative findings and to draw final
conclusions recommendations. Where conclusions
are based upon qualitative research - which has
no inferential power it is clearly indicated in
the section header. The conclusions and
recommendations from the qualitative research can
be found in Appendix I.
Qualitative Research Stage 6 Focus Groups 2 x
Interested Segment Brisbane Metro (1 x 18-30yrs
1x 31-60yrs) 3 x Disinclined Segment Brisbane
Metro (1x 18-30yrs 1x31-45yrs
1 x 46-60yrs) 1 x Mix Interested and Disinclined
Regional (Cairns 25-45yrs)
Presentation and Quantitative Survey Development
Online Survey n 429 Sample Specifications 5050
Brisbane Metro Regional QLD Respondents Split
between Interested and Disinclined
Segments Representative Spread of Age, Gender and
other demography
Final Report and Presentation
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Online Survey Sample Breakdown
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SAMPLE PROFILE Total Sample
Age Group (yrs) Total n429
18-24 28
25-29 40
30-34 47
35-39 67
40-44 43
45-49 51
50-54 45
55-59 52
60-64 33
65-70 15
70 or over 8
Location Total n429
Brisbane 216
Cairns 55
Rockhampton 55
Mackay 53
Townsville 50
Segments Total n429
Interested 266
Disinclined 163
Gender Total n429
Male 130
Female 299
Total Surveys commenced incl. respondents
screened out 829
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OVERVIEW SAMPLE BREAKDOWN BY SEGMENT

• Proportion of respondents per segment was
  balanced between the Regional areas and Brisbane
  Metro.
• A significantly higher proportion of the
  Disinclined segment were in the 30-44 year age
  group.
• Those who attended more than 3 arts events were
  screened out of both stages.
• Still, significantly higher proportions of the
  Disinclined had attended less Arts events in the
  last quarter than the Interested.
• Disinclined assigned a significantly lower mean
  value to the Arts, in personal life and in
  society, than the Interested.
• Based on the totality of findings from the
  research, we know that certain demographic
  factors play a role in segment inclusion and we
  suspect that inclusion in one segment or another
  is fluid depending on life stage.

Interested Disinclined
Location   Brisbane 52 48
Location   Regional 48 52
Age 18-29 18 12
Age 30-44 33 43
Age 45-59 38 29
Age 60 and above 11 16
No. Arts Events Attended 0 26 56
No. Arts Events Attended 1 32 32
No. Arts Events Attended 2 32 11
No. Arts Events Attended 3 11 1
Mean value of of Arts in (1-10 scale) Personal life 6 5
Mean value of of Arts in (1-10 scale) Society 7 6
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NOTES ABOUT INTERPRETATION
The major aim of the research was to investigate
the Arts participation habits of the Disinclined
vs. Interested segments and to explore the
triggers and barriers to participation
experienced by these segments. However, certain
parts of the report e.g. Use of information
sources and general satisfaction with Arts
venues, explore the data on a region by region
basis, as this split provided a more appropriate
basis for future development of Arts promotion
strategies. Throughout the report, where an area
is explored by region, or segment, the results
have been tested for statistical significance.
Where differences are significant a red circle
is used to highlight this fact
Section 4 looks at awareness of and attendance
at, venues around Queensland. It also deals with
perceptions and experiences of venues around
Brisbane and at a regional aggregated level.
Significant differences are circled in red
EXCEPT where the slide deals with a mixed
positive-negative scale. In this case
significant differences are circled in green
where they are more positive
and in red where they are
more negative. The purpose of this is to try and
distinguish between a significantly more positive
experience/perception and a significantly more
negative experience/perception. This will become
clearer when looking at the charts!
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Key Models from the Qualitative Research
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ARTS RISK MODEL OVERALL STRATEGY
Several major areas of risk which impact on the
decision to participate and general feelings
about the Arts were identified at the Qualitative
stage. Across segments these have varying levels
of influence.

• Financial Risk
• Social Inclusion Risk
• Practical Risk
• Enjoyment Risk

Cost risk occurs where there is enjoyment or
social or practical risk involved in participation
e.g. Having the right clothes to wear Not
understanding what everyone is talking about
Being culture specific
LOWEST RISK
HIGHEST RISK
e.g. Being able to find food or parking close by
Having to travel further than for local
entertainment Getting wet.
e.g. Unfamiliarity with the genre or the Subject
matter may not like it or companions may not
like it
Satisfied
Disengaged
Interested
Disinclined
Arts Lovers
Prepared to accept more risk
Prepared to accept less risk
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ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT RISK MODEL

• Based on the types of risk associated with the
  arts and entertainments discussed, the risk model
  can be broken into the following four sectors

High Risk, Individual Activity Generally
introspective people may choose to engage in
these alone and they are artistically
challenging. Social risk is high, there is
pressure to understand the message in the display
or the views of the people who are there.
Practical risk may be moderate. Venues accessible
i.e. open during the day and conveniently
located.
High Risk
High Risk, Social Activity Activities in which
people engage to socialise and be highly
entertained. They are probably expensive, they
may be socially elite or have unfamiliar subject
matter. The organiser might feel pressure that
their companions do not like the event. They may
be less practically accessible i.e. unsuitable
timings with limited parking.
Individual Activity
Social Activity
Low risk, Individual Activity Activities in
which people can engage alone. They are free or
cheap to do, are not socially elite and are
practically accessible i.e. open during the day
and conveniently located.
Low risk, Social Activity Activities in which
people engage with a strong social purpose, but
which are free or cheap to do. They are not
socially elite and are practically accessible
i.e. open during the day and conveniently
located.
Low Risk
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ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT RISK MODEL INCORPORATING
ACTIVITIES

• Based on the qualitative research the risk levels
  Queensland respondents associated with different
  types of Arts and entertainment or activities
  were as detailed below.
• These activities and types of venue were then
  explored further in the quantitative research.

High Risk
Art Exhibitions
Opera
Exhibition Opening
Ballet
Outdoor Arts Festival
New Media Installations
Theatre
Social
Comedy Show
Individual
Musicals
Rock Concerts
Library
Sports
Volunteer work
Museum
Pub
Low Risk