Scotland's Culture

Each year the Scottish government conduct a Scottish Household Survey that gives us an insight into the composition, characteristics, attitudes and behaviours of Scottish households and individuals. The research is used by the government to support their work in transport, communities and local government policy areas and allow for the early detection of national trends. The Survey covers a range of topics including housing, communities, economic activity, finance, education, transport and travel, the internet, health and caring, local services, volunteering and culture and sport.

I’ve been looking over the last three published reports going back to 2007 to see what trends we can detect about cultural attendance and participation in Scotland. I’ve picked out some of the things which caught my attention and I’ll let you interpret the facts in the way you want. However this type of information can help you to identify either how big a potential local or national audience you could have, or help us to identify areas that we need to grow, develop and support.

Sian’s Top Insights into the Scottish Household Survey

I’ve been looking at the reports from 2007/2008, 2009/2010 and the most recent report 2011 to see what patterns or trends I can see. These are some which stood out.

Participation and attendance

• 63% of the population read for pleasure, by far the most popular cultural activity to participate in (the second most popular activity is dancing with 17%). There are approximately 5.2 million people living in Scotland, so this means around 3.3 million people read for pleasure.
• When we then look at the cultural activities that people attend in Scotland it shows that only 5% of the population attend book or writing related events, that’s about 261,100 people. A fraction of the total number of people who read books.
• A similar trend emerged for dance – 19% of the population participate in dancing, however only 5% attend a live dance or ballet performance. It is not clear what the survey means by ‘participate in dancing’ and whether that refers to classes or dancing on a night out.
• However in music, art, theatre and cinema the behaviour shows the opposite trend.
• Around 11% of the population play an instrument, however 28% have attended a live music event (that’s around 1.5 million people).
• 9% of people actively create art or sculpture, while 17% have attended a gallery, and a further 17% have attended an exhibition or viewed an art collection (together that’s around 1.7 million people – although I would imagine that people who said they have visited a gallery are likely to be the same people who say they attend exhibitions).
• And in cinema, 53% of the population have been to the cinema to see a film (the most popular activity attended in Scotland), however only 2% of people in Scotland actively make film or video’s.

Age

I noticed three possible trends in the data around age and attendance.

• There has been a small rise (2%) of the number of 16 to 24 year olds in attending cultural events in the last 5 years (2007-2011).
• Similarly for people aged 25 to 34 there has been a 2% increase in attendance.
• Together that’s about an extra 25,000 people under the age of 34 attending cultural events.
• However, this is compared to a 3% decrease in the number of people aged 75 and over attending cultural events – this equates to a drop of around 10,970 people.

 Frequency of Attendance

• A quarter of people go to the cinema once a month in Scotland (that’s about 705,000 people), while 42% of people go 3 or 4 times in a year (around 1.1 million people).
• On average 27% of the population have attended the theatre in the last 5 years (1.4 million people), of these less than a third have been 3 or 4 times a year (approximately 469,990 people), just over a third had been twice a year and less than a third once a year.
• Similar patterns emerged from museum attendance, live music attendance, exhibition and gallery attendance. Around about a third of people will attend 3 or 4 times a year, a third twice a year and a third once a year.
• In Crafts, although the survey does not clearly outline what a craft exhibition is and whether that includes craft fairs or visiting craft shops, approximately 11% of the population (574,430 people) have attended a craft exhibition. Around 23% go 3 or 4 times a year, 35% go twice a year and 36% go once a year.
• There has been an increase in the frequency of craft exhibitions people attend in the last 5 years – we can see a 5% increase from 21% of people attending craft exhibitions 3 or 4 times a year in 2007 to 26% in 2011 – that’s an increase of approximately 28,700 people in 5 years.
• In opera and classical music 6% of the population attend these events (that’s around 313,330 people). Of these 40% attended one event per year, 30% saw 2 events per year and 22% saw 3 or 4 events, which is approximately 68,930 people.
• We can also see some rises and falls within opera and classical music attendance over the last 5 years. In 2009/2010 there was a big rise in the number of people attending classical and opera events. In 2007/08 27% of people saw 2 events per year, and then in 2009/10 34% of people had seen 2 events. However in 2011 only 29% of people went to see 2 classical or opera events – that’s a drop of 5% – approximately 21,932 people from the previous two years.
• A similar fall can be seen in the number of people who see opera or classical music once a year. In 2007/08 44% of people went to see at least one classical or opera concert (that’s around about 137,863 people). While in 2011 this dropped by 5% to 39% – which is a fall of about 15,666 people.
• Finally dance showed a different trend, of the 5% of the population who attend live dance or ballet performances, over 50% go to see a show once a year, 25% go twice a year and 15% go 3 or 4 times a year.

Rural versus Urban

For the first time in 2009/2010 the survey distinguished between urban and rural attendance and participation. Although we only have two reports worth of data to compare there are some interesting trends to be brought to your attention.

• Attendance of live music events in urban areas and accessible rural areas has increased by 5%.
• Theatre attendance across urban and rural areas has stayed the same since 2009.
• Museum attendance has increased by 5% in remote rural areas.
• Gallery attendance has increased in remote small towns by 5% and 4% in rural areas.
• Nearly twice as many people in rural areas attend craft exhibitions as they do in urban areas. While 10% of urban populations go to craft events, 19% do so in remote rural areas and 17% in accessible rural areas.
• 8% of large urban populations attend dance performances compared to 7% of people in accessible rural areas; only 5% attend dance performances in remote rural areas.
• Of course there are individuals who do not attend any cultural events during the year, and the report shows us that 22% of people in urban areas do not attend, while 30% of people in remote rural areas do not attend.

There is a lot more information available in the reports which you can download directly from the Scottish Governments website (all links made available below). And if you would like any advice on how to use and interpret this kind of data then you can get in touch with me.

Scotland’s People

Scottish Household Survey 2007/2008

Scottish Household Survey 2009/2010

Scottish Household Survey 2011

This performance blew away, once and for all, the legend of the origin of the Goldbergs: that Bach composed them for a pupil, named Goldberg, to play to his insomniac employer. That’s patently nonsense. Not just because, if played properly, the work is far too stimulating to be conducive to slumber, but, as MacGregor showed, it is all of a piece. The idea that young Goldberg might have extracted a few movements, as and when, to while away the dark reaches of the night is wholly implausible.

But the fact that the legend has persisted for so long points to an early example of the deeply-rooted belief that music has to be ‘useful’. After all, in Bach’s time, most of it was: either it was embedded in church liturgies, or it had a role to play in civic and state occasions, or it was simply to aid the digestion—the origin, of course, of the term ‘Table music’.

Bach supremely demonstrated the uselessness of music, not just in the Goldbergs, but above all in the towering achievement of The Art of Fugue, which is so far from being composed for any particular purpose that Bach wrote it in ‘open stave’ with no indication of the instruments for which it was intended. But even after a subsequent century and a half of Romanticism, the idea that music should be useful didn’t go away. In the 1920’s the young Paul Hindemith declared that he was writing Gebrauchsmusik—explicitly, ‘useful music’—for social or political purposes, or for amateurs. In the next decade that high-minded aim would take a much darker turn, as totalitarian regimes in Germany and the USSR sought to stipulate that all music—indeed all art—must serve ‘the state’ or ‘the people’.

And still, today, stale old debates arise, about whether art is of benefit to society, or is simply ‘for art’s sake’. There are several ironies about this. The first is that, despite overwhelming evidence from throughout the world, governments and government departments fail to grasp the concept that the arts—and perhaps especially music—can have huge impacts on crucial areas of policy and expenditure: health, education, crime. It’s horrifying to realise that almost a decade has passed since we all hailed First Minister Jack McConnell’s speech on St Andrews Day, 2003,  in which he stated that:

Culture cuts across every aspect of government – it can make a difference to our success in tackling poverty, it can make Scotland a healthier place and it has a significant contribution to make towards our economy.

Creative Scotland has just announced a three year Arts and Criminal Justice Programme. An excellent idea. But I believe I’m right in saying that the sizeable budget will come from Creative Scotland’s own coffers. Surely one of the Scottish Government’s smallest budget areas shouldn’t be subsidising one of the largest? That’s hardly in the spirit of McConnell’s speech, where he challenged his various departmental Ministers to come up with proposals for how they would put culture at the heart of government.

The party of Government may have changed since then, but not the issue of the centrality of culture. As Neil Mulholland argued in a recent Bella Caledonia post , what is the Independence project, if not cultural?

So, instead of the Golden Age some of us hoped for back in 2003, of a flood of new resources for the arts from the big boys among Government departments, it seems instead that increasingly the arts have to prove their instrumental worth to get funded even from dedicated arts budgets. This despite the fact that it is also a decade since the Editor of the British Medical Journal argued that diverting just 0.5% of the NHS budget to arts activities would have hugely disproportionate benefits—a view supported at the time by a great number of medical professionals

But there is a further irony. The evidence I referred to is increasingly showing that almost any engagement in the arts can be beneficial. That is, these do not have to be projects designed specifically to achieve a particular end, such as boosting personal confidence, or diverting young people from anti-social behaviour. Just experiencing the live arts as an audience member is beneficial in many ways, both social and personal, both psychological and physiological.

Let’s take as an example what some would consider one of the most outmoded, or elitist, forms of engagement in the arts: the chamber music recital. I’ve written before about the excellent At One with Music series of lunchtime concerts in Inverness Town House. Inevitably, given that these are held on weekdays, the great majority of the audience is retired—indeed many of them appear very elderly and perhaps a bit frail, so a lunchtime concert offers an excellent opportunity that doesn’t involve travel in the dark. Most of those attending are regulars, and they tend to arrive very early, so there’s a real social buzz. Now, the superficial benefits of such social interaction are obvious, but here’s where we get into more difficult territory: Does the act of listening to great music have a direct physiological benefit? And is that benefit greater if the performance is ‘live’, not a recording?

Let’s be clear, I’m not talking about the much debunked ‘Mozart effect’ here. But I firmly believe that if one really listens to good music—and I mean genres such as jazz, traditional and world, as much as classical—then there is a physical involvement. Most obviously we react to rhythm. But I think we also became ‘in tune’ (pardon the pun) with the pulse of the music and, in the case of something as complex as Bach, with its unfolding architecture. And so, when the music ends, we experience an elation, an exhilaration, that can be profound, and lasting. The effect of a great concert can, literally, buoy me up for days.

Give me time and space, and I’ll happily extend that argument into different artforms: contemporary dance, for certain; theatre at its best, and even the visual arts. Randy Klinger, redoubtable founder and Director of the Moray Arts Centre, argues repeatedly and eloquently that his project is about re-establishing the pre-eminence of ‘beauty’ in our lives. Randy understands well how uncomfortable many people can be with that concept of ‘beauty’. In our post-modern, ironic, self-conscious society, making a baldly stated commitment to ‘beauty’ is a bit like announcing that you’ve found religion. In both cases embarrassing silences tend to follow.

But what if Randy’s right? Humans (and indeed Neanderthals) were already making art at least 40,000 years ago—indeed the earliest use of pigment has been traced back to a date ten times earlier than that. Music is certainly at least as old—the oldest flute so far discovered is also from 40,000 years ago. The very new science of evolutionary neurology will argue—as its proponents are already doing about religion—that humankind developed art because it conveyed some form of evolutionary advantage. Others will reject such a reductionist argument. But art is not even a uniquely human concept: just look at the bower bird!

So, finally, what I’m arguing is that the long running stand-off between the intrinsic and the instrumental values of the arts is simply pointless. Perhaps the single most famous piece of classical music of the 1960s was the Sinfonia by Luciano Berio, the third movement of which uses an extraordinary tapestry of texts, ranging from Samuel Beckett to student slogans from 1968. At one point these words surface from the aural maelstrom:

And tomorrow we’ll read that ‘Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto’ [or the composer and title of any other work included in the same programme] made tulips grow in my garden and altered the flow of the ocean currents. We must believe it’s true. There must be something else. Otherwise it would be quite hopeless.

That’s my credo. Art matters, it’s as simple as that. Or it would be quite hopeless. Last Saturday Joanna MacGregor proved that, in spades.

© Robert Livingston, 2012

Barriers

Let’s take a look at the possible barriers that could be facing your potential audience.

Time Considerations

1. When I am free, they are shut – Are your opening hours appropriate for your audiences? Can people who work long hours during the week or work anti-social hours still have access to your arts event/activity/venue?
2. I can’t make it at those times – Are your performance times the most accessible for your audiences? Can parents collect their kids from school, take them home and still have enough time to attend a performance? Do your finishing times fit in well with the local public transportation schedules such as the local buses and trains?
3. I am just too busy – a lot of the time individuals cite time constraints – they feel they don’t have the time to engage or participate. It might be that they are too busy to participate in the types of events you provide, but present them with something that they are genuinely interested in and I bet you they will find the time to get involved.

Cost Implications

1. It’s too expensive to travel to and from the venue – With rising fuel prices, and the reliance on private transport in rural and remote areas, the cost of travel is a real and genuine barrier to attendance.
2. The whole experience is too pricey – ticket prices are not really a barrier any longer, research and practical experience has demonstrated that ticket price is not as pivotal a barrier to attendance, as people are willing to pay as long as it is value for money. However, when you consider the whole experience and the cost implications then a night out to the local theatre can become a pricey affair. Additional experience costs include food and drink, travel, accommodation in some cases, time and of course the cost of buying the tickets (and if that is for a family of four it can obviously be a big financial commitment).

Location

1. I don’t know where it is – How accessible is your location for the diversity of audiences you currently or could be serving? If you are situated in a more remote or isolated area then considering how people travel to an area and how they can then navigate to your location is key in understanding what barriers are presented to people who do not have a local knowledge of your area.
2. I can’t see find the venue – How well signposted is your venue? Have you ever looked at your location from the point of view of a visitor who has never visited you before? The biggest and most practical barrier is signage. Is your venue well signposted along main roads for instance? Or have you offered a Google map on your website so people can locate you easily? How well signposted is the entrance to your venue? These small but practical issues can make a world of difference if you address them early in your marketing and communication plans.
3. The weather prevented me from attending – this is particularly appropriate for rural and more remote audiences who will experience harsher weather conditions, which through no fault of their own or yours, prevents them from attending your events, or simply puts them off from booking for fear of being stopped by the snow, wind and rain. Have you considered what kind of Rainy Day or Bad Weather refund you can offer, or how you can still involve those who were unable to attend by sending them a personal email with images from the event, the review, a programme, anything that thanks them for their commitment.

Lack of Accessible Information

1. There was no available information about the show – Are you communicating all that you can to your potential audiences? A major barrier to attendance is a lack of visible information that is available to people who are not already committed attenders. Not everyone is going to look to the same resources or places for information, and for non-attenders they are not going to be looking at all. So making sure the information you have is more widely accessible is essential to breaking down such a fundamental barrier to attendance and participation.
2. I didn’t know they did that – Have you clearly communicated all of the services you offer? It is easy to communicate to people who already come through your doors the diversity of services you offer, but how well are you communicating that outside of your doors? If non-attenders are not aware of the services you offer then you are unlikely to attract them to your offerings.

Transport

1. I can’t get there easily – Access to public transport is a big issue, particularly in more rural and remote areas. If your audiences can’t get access to public transport, or it is limited in terms of its service, then this can really hamper your ability to attract new or non-attenders to your offerings. Although there is little you can do about directly improving your local public transport services, you are in a position to help your audiences who do not have access to private transport. Proving information about public transport routes and times on your website to considering how the start and finish times for the performance fit with local public transport timetables, or considering how you can encourage groups of people to come together – car sharing, or sharing the cost of a taxi to and from your venue might be the simple solution you are looking for.
2. Where can I park? – We rely heavily on private transport, but does your venue provide adequate parking facilities? You may be restricted in developing or improving parking facilities, however you can always point out to your audiences where they can park locally, especially if you are trying to attract people out with your local area or tourists, the last thing you want to encourage is a build up of traffic and parked cars outside of your venue each night. Alternatively you can use you website to promote the available public transportation options. Perhaps there is an opportunity to partner up with a local restaurant or hotel who have available parking facilities, might they be able to offer your audiences a place to park for the duration of the performance? (You will need to consider what is in it for your local restaurant owner first though).

It’s not for me

1. I am not interested – The arts is not for everyone, much like sport or science isn’t of interest to everyone. It’s important to acknowledge that you can’t change everyone’s minds, but understanding that there are people who consider the arts as something on the periphery of their lives is important when you consider your marketing messages. If the subject matter or art form doesn’t particularly appeal to an individual, maybe the socialising element or the enjoyment of going out for the night is something that you should focus on communicating.
2. I have no one to attend with – for some individuals attending on their own is not an option, not everyone is as confident in attending an event solo, and feeling self-conscious is not particularly conducive to a good night out. There is also the added peer pressure which individuals (predominantly young people) experience in attending something which is not necessarily part of their peer group experience.
3. I wouldn’t understand it – knowledge and prior experience of arts and culture is a key element in creating attendance and repeat attendance. If your non-audiences do not feel they possess the knowledge or understanding to appreciate a piece of art or theatre, then they are unlikely to see their attendance at an event worthwhile or value for money. This is a barrier which can be addressed through providing more useful background information, particularly when showcasing an unusual or contemporary art form. Reviews and features are a great way of giving an insight into the artform, the event and the experience, using your marketing materials to give more information about the art form is another effective way of engaging those who might not otherwise consider attending.

Of course, as I mentioned in the introduction, there are numerous barriers that face audiences, above is only a selection. Some of the other barriers which have been identified by research and practical experience include:

Other Barrier’s to Attendance and Participation

• A lack of cultural diversity in the programme
• A bad past experience – either of the art form or the venue
• Unclear and misleading marketing messages
• Poor customer service
• The historical or past image of the venue/organisation.
• Relationship or family responsibilities keep me from attending
• Work responsibilities keep me from attending
• Physical or health limitations
• Language – particularly for those who English is not their first language.
• I don’t ‘Get It’
• My friends and family don’t attend
• There is a lack of facilities that meet my needs
• Lifestyle change I’ve just had a baby/moved house/ got married/ gone on an expensive holiday – there are obvious lifestyle changes which can impact on free time, disposable income and therefore the ability to attend.
• The number and/or age of my children – there might not be anything appropriate for them, or it might cost too much to take the whole clan.
• Local aesthetics – unfortunately the local aesthetics of the area can be a barrier, it can put people off. (This is probably more a significant barrier for those who live in more urban and city areas).
• Safety – this can be a concern for individuals especially when attending evening performances.
• Arts activities are boring
• I have never experienced an arts event before
• I am too old/young/middle aged
• The lack of quality and talent in productions
• The lack of choice in my area.

We are in the business of providing an experience, one which is enjoyable and rewarding; however we don’t often measure this impact. When we talk about the enjoyment factor of live performance experiences we don’t necessarily mean that the event was entertaining, we want to look to all the types of impacts that an audience member might define for themselves as enjoyable. For instance audiences might be looking for a challenging and intellectually stimulating experience, which would be equally enjoyable for them as someone who was looking for the emotional and spiritual experience of attending an event.

It is about time we started looking to measure the intrinsic impact of the types of events we present to audiences, rather then whether we hit the numerical and demographic targets our funders so often ask us for. At the end of the day you might have been able to attract 100 people to attend your event, but what it 99 of those people did not enjoy the experience, have the arts made a positive difference in their lives that day? And are they likely to come back to your venue or attend another one of your events again? The reality is that repeat attendance will be unlikely, especially if they are first-time attenders. What we really need to know about our audiences is what they are interested in experiencing, or what they might need in advance of the event to truly appreciate the experience, even if they didn’t express an interest in that particular art form or event.

Audiences communicate impact as it is happening – their facial expressions, body language and audible reactions – have you ever thought of measuring how long audience applause lasts or how loud it is for your live performances? I have certainly been more likely to take a standing ovation and clap for minutes, even when my hands begin to hurt, when a live performance has been more then just enjoyable, but uplifting, compelling, and has hit right at the heart strings. On other occasions I have been witness to measly applause for a live performance that has been disappointing and unsatisfying – basically a polite applause to give you time to figure out where your closest exit is – surely that is a more reliable measure of the emotional and intellectual success for a live arts performance then how many men, women and children attended?  

In 2007 Alan Brown and Jennifer Novak of WolfBrown (consultancy agency for the non-profit arts sector) conducted a study in America to attempt to define and measure how audiences are transformed by a live performance. What I found both enlightening and encouraging is that there is a way to measure the success of a live arts performance without relying on the typical sales/attendance data and truly begin to get to the heart of why arts and culture is so important in our everyday lives.

The study ‘Assessing the intrinsic impacts of a live performance’ looks at how we can begin to measure the emotional and intellectual impact or benefits of live arts performances. Brown and Novak identify three levels of intrinsic impact:

1. The intrinsic impacts of an entire arts system on its community.
2. The cumulative intrinsic impacts or ‘value-footprint’ of an institution on its community.
3. The intrinsic impacts of a single performance on an individual.

These are surely impacts which we, as arts providers, strive to provide and measure, particularly as we begin to face a more challenging economic climate and funding, support and sponsorship becomes more difficult to secure.

Brown and Novak identified the key constructs that determine both the readiness of audiences to receive a live performance and the intrinsic impacts of a live performance. Basically, they outline how there are a number of stages or phases that individual audience members will go through in preparation of an event and the impact that event then has on them during and after the experience.

The study looks at how important the context, relevance and anticipation prior to a live arts experience is to the overall impact of an event on your audiences. The prior knowledge and experience of an arts attender influences their anticipation in advance of an event. Relevance is important in assessing how comfortable your audience is in receiving the type of art or culture on offer. And their anticipation will set the basis of their expectations – whether high or low.

In terms of the intrinsic impacts, the study draws on a number of constructs that help us to define how audiences engage with the arts experience, as it is happening. They look at Captivation, Intellectual Stimulation, Emotional Resonance, Spiritual Value, Aesthetic Growth, and Social Bonding. It is important to remember that arts experiences are multi-dimensional, and that not all performances should be expected to generate the impacts across each of these areas, and you must not assume that a live arts experience can generate these impacts in every individual you engage with. 

The full report itself is about 170 pages, so I won’t start an overview here, but you can download the report and the summary report of the study by selecting any or both links below.

• ‘Assessing the intrinsic impacts of a live performance’ by Alan Brown and Jennifer Novak Full Report 
• ‘Assessing the intrinsic impacts of a live performance’ by Alan Brown and Jennifer Novak Summary Report

Based on the findings in this study and another fantastic handbook ‘Capturing the audience experience’ (created by The New Economics Foundation, Independent Theatre Council, The Society of Theatre and Theatrical Management Association) I have set myself the task of drawing up some template surveys that you can utilise in measuring the impact of your own live events and experiences. I will post back here once they have been completed. In the mean time if you would like to talk more about measuring audience experiences then please do get in touch.

Flags of the European Union

“Culture and creativity are important drivers for personal development, social cohesion and economic growth.” European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

Back in 2007 the Education and Culture Directorate-General of the European Commission commissioned the TNS Opinion & Social to carry out a survey of public opinion on culture and its value within Europe. 26,755 people across the EU were interviewed across the 27 member states, including residents in the UK.

The survey was designed to look at how Europeans conceive the idea of culture, their involvement in cultural and artistic activities, their opinions on the value of culture and the barriers that they face in accessing cultural activities.

Although the survey was conducted back in 2007, the information and the findings give an illuminating look at Culture across Europe, which can help to inform you if you were considering touring a production across Europe, or considering a wider audience development initiative locally. I’ve highlighted below some of the key findings from the survey, the full document can be downloaded from the Europa website. http://ec.europa.eu/culture/pdf/doc958_en.pdf

Key Findings

People were asked ‘What comes to mind when you think about the word ‘Culture?’’ They answered:

• 39% Arts – performance and visual, architecture, painting, galleries etc.
• 24% Traditions, Language, Customs and Social or Cultural Communities.
• 24% Literature, Poetry, Playwriting, Authors.
• 20% Education and Family Upbringing.
• 18% Knowledge and Science.
• 18% Lifestyle and Manners.
• 13% Civilization
• 13% History
• 11% Museums
• Under 10% said Leisure, Sports, Travel and Fun, Values and Beliefs and Other.
• Only 2% of people said they were not interested in Culture, and only 1% said they thought Culture was elite, snobbish, posh and boring.

‘Culture’ was found to be associated closely with Creative activities – in the form of arts and literature – as well as describing your social and cultural community, it is encouraging to see so few negative reactions to culture.

There was a wide range of answers across countries, some of the more interesting statistics to emerge were: 

• 39% of Italians and 36% of people from Spain said education and family upbringing came to mind.
• In Spain 36% said Education and family upbringing, both much higher then a EU average of 20%.
• In Cyprus 43% said lifestyle and manners (only 18% across the EU).
• While in Greece 38% of people said civilization came to mind (only 13% across the EU).

These types of insights begin to show you the divergence across European countries and how closely resident’s attitudes and opinions on Culture are tied to their historical and social identities.

The Survey also asked people ‘How important is culture to you personally?’ They answered:

• 31% Very Important
• 46% Fairly Important
• 17% Not Very Important
• 5% Not at all Important
• 1% Don’t Know.

This means a huge 77% of all Europeans feel culture is important to them personally. Culture, regardless of how it is defined, occupies an important role in the lives of many Europeans.

• In France and Italy 88% of people said Culture was important to them personally.
• In Poland 92% of people said Culture was important to them personally.
• While in the UK 67% of people said Culture was important.

The survey found that urbanization exerts an influence on people’s opinions, with a higher proportion of urban based respondents indicating the importance of culture in their lives (80%) then in rural villages (72%).

The survey also asked people about their cultural consumption habits over the last 12 months (2006 – 2007). Typically these lists include mainstream media such as TV and radio, which can at times dominate survey findings, although little is different here, the survey did strive to ask respondents to indicate their consumption of Cultural TV and Radio programmes.

The following were the most popular forms of cultural activities:

• 78% of people watched one cultural TV or Radio programme in a year, 46% watched more than 5 programmes.
• 71% said they read one book, 37% said they had read more than 5 books in the last year.
• 54% had visited a historical monument once, 12% had visited 5 or more times in the last year.
• 51% of people had been to the cinema once in the last year, 17% had been more than 5 times.
• 41% of people had been to a sporting event in the last year, 15% had been more than 5 times.

Interestingly performing arts, visual arts, heritage and music did not feature in the top 5 responses despite ‘Arts’ being the predominant answer when people were asked what ‘Culture’ means to them.

• 41% of people visited a Museum or Gallery in the last year, only 7% visited more than 5 times.
• 37% of people attended a concert in the last year, only 5% had been more than 5 times.
• 32% of people had been to the theatre in the last year, 4% had been more than 5 times.
• And only 18% of people had attended a Ballet, Dance or Opera performance, with 2% having attended more than 5 times in the last year.

These are quite revealing statistics when you considered that the majority of people said Arts were what came to mind when they think about culture, that 77% of all Europeans feel Culture is important to their lives, and yet attendance, particularly repeat attendance, is very very low. Only 5% of people attend the theatre more then once in a year compared to 46% of people who will watch a cultural television programme. This can give a real insight into the habits of European cultural consumers, and perhaps hint towards the attitudes around active engagement – ie. getting out of the house to partake in culture as opposed to sitting in front of the TV.

The survey found that participation was highest among the youngest, more educated and urbanized respondents across the EU. There was a marked decline in participation as people get older:

• In cinema 82% of 15 to 24yrs old will have attended the cinema, 53% of 40-54yrs old ands only 24% of 55yrs+ have been to the cinema in the last year.
• 52% of people aged 15 to 24yrs have been to a concert in the last year; where as only 27% of 55yrs+ have been to a concert.
• While in theatre there is less of a decline; 35% of people aged 15 to 24yrs have attended the Theatre, 32% of 25 to 39 yrs, 33% of 40 to 54 yrs and 27% of 55yrs+ have attended the Theatre.

The Commission also wanted to know about the active involvement in cultural activities on an amateur basis, as an individual, as part of a group or in a class.

The most popular activity was found to be Decorating, Handicrafts and Gardening (36% of EU respondents) and 38% of people had not taken part in any of the artistic activities suggested. The next most popular answers were:

• 27% photography or made a film.
• 19% dance.
• 16% artistic activities such as painting or graphic design.
• 15% singing.
• 12% written something.
• 10% played a musical instrument.
• And 3% acting.

Artistic participation was highest in Sweeden with only 7% not taking part in an activity. Whereas in the UK 26% of people had not taken part in an artistic activity. In Portugal a huge 73% of people had not taken part in an activity.

Participation in artistic and creative activities was generally found to be higher amongst the younger age groups, except for handicraft, decorating and gardening which was lowest amongst younger age groups.

The last question I will feature here looks at the barriers faced by respondents in accessing culture. They were asked ‘Sometimes people find it difficult to access culture or take part in cultural activities, which of the following, if any, are the main barriers to you?’ The survey found that:

• 42% of people said their lack of time was a barrier.
• 29% said it was too expensive.
• 27% admitted a lack of interest.
• 17% said a lack of information about the activity was a barrier.
• 16% said that limited choice and poor quality of activities in their area prevented them for participating.
• 13% said a lack of knowledge or cultural background was a barrier.
• Only 8% said there were no barriers, 3% other and 1% said they did not know.  

The survey concluded that 9 in every 10 people find at least some difficulty in fulfilling their creative lives, and that 3 in 10 people lack the interest or the money to engage. The responses varied across the socio-demographics of the respondents. It was found that men were more likely then women to cite a lack of interest (30% and 23% respectively) and women (31%) were more likely then men (26%) to cite expense as a key barrier. 44% of 15 to 24 year olds said a lack of time prevented them from participating in culture.

What the survey has shown is that there are varying levels of engagement and participation in culture across countries, gender and age groups. Education levels played a significant role in determining the level of engagement in culture equally, finding that people who had more years in education had a higher level of engagement. The report explains in more detail the specific breakdown by socio-demographics, and gives an interesting look at how these key aspects aide our attitudes towards culture, and ultimately how we then value culture.

This is a great document to use for supporting your own market research, or to give a overview of how culture is viewed by different countries. Although the sample was very large, 26,755 people were interviewed, it is important to bear in mind that this was a EU wide study, and of those 26,755 people interviewed 1,310 were from the UK (which represents 0.002% of the UK population). To see all the figures for the UK I complied the stats into a document called European Cultural Value Statistics EU vs UK that you can download here.

http://ec.europa.eu/culture/pdf/doc958_en.pdf

As described on their website Culture Segments is…

‘A new, sector-specific segmentation system for culture and heritage organisations. The system is powered by data from Audience Atlas UK, and draws upon a decade’s leading-edge practice helping our clients to truly understand and meet the needs of audiences for arts and heritage.

‘The principle objective of Culture Segments is to provide the sector with a shared language for understanding the audience with a view to targeting them more accurately, engaging them more deeply, and building lasting relationships.

‘Culture Segments is designed to be more subtle, granular and sophisticated than existing segmentation systems. This is because it is based on people’s cultural values and motivations. These cultural values define the person and frame their attitudes, lifestyle choices and behaviour.

‘The segments are distinguished from one another by deeply held beliefs about the role that art and culture play in their lives, enabling you to get to the heart of what motivates them and develop strategies to engage them more deeply.’

I must confess, this is really exciting stuff, especially for marketers and those offering to sell a cultural experience. Ultimately we always want to know why people engage, attend, participate or consume culture, but often we are left with data such as 53% of women said they would attend the theatre, 2/3’s of teenagers who attend the cinema live in urban areas, people who live in KW6 are busy families who want to attend family events…etc etc etc. We kinda know this already, you see it when people buy their tickets, when they show up for the performance, or when they leave a post on your Facebook page. What it doesn’t tell you is Why! Ultimately cultural consumption is based on your own motivations to be part of culture, and your postcode, gender, age or occupation can’t really tell marketers or audience development the real motivations behind the engagement or lack of engagement.

What Culture Segments does is explain Why people engage, participate, buy and consume culture in the UK. Morris Hargreaves McIntrye is sharing the products of their year-long analysis, in manageable Persona’s – you can find these on their website http://www.lateralthinkers.com/downloadculturesegments.html. However here is a short overview of the types of cultural attenders, why they attend and how you can then use these to motivate attendance or participation or spending or donating or….. the list will go on.

First off some Stats

• 85% of the UK (16+) population are in the market for arts, culture and heritage – that amounts to 42,688,100 individuals.
• Between them they spent a total of £13.6 billion on arts, culture and heritage in 12 months.
• 73% state their spending on arts, culture and heritage will stay the same or increase in the next year.

The Culture Segments

Enrichment

The enrichment segment is characterised by older adults with time to spare who like spending their leisure time close to the home. They have established tastes and enjoy culture that links into their interests in nature, heritage and more traditional art forms.

They know what they like and their visits to cultural organisations are driven by their own interests and not those of others, or what is considered to be new or fashionable. Their cultural consumption fits with their interests in heritage, gardening and nature. These personal interests, along with the desire to experience nostalgia, awe and wonder, motivates them to engage with culture.

Essence

The essence segment tends to be well-educated professionals who are highly active cultural consumers and creators; they are leaders rather than followers. Confident and discerning in their own tastes, they will act spontaneously according to their mood and pay little attention to what other’s think.

The arts and culture are an integral, even essential, part of their life. Rather than a social activity or form of entertainment, culture is a source of self-fulfilment and challenge, a means for experiencing life. They are inner-directed and self-sufficient, actively avoiding the mainstream.

Stimulation

The stimulation segment is an active group who live their lives to the full, looking for new experiences and challenges to break away from the crowd. They are open to a wide range of experiences, from culture to sports and music, but they do like to be at the cutting edge in everything they do.

This segment wants to live a varied life of novelty and challenge – partaking in a wide variety of art forms and taking risks with their cultural consumption. As early adopters and innovators, they are keen to break away from the mainstream, to try new things and to ensure they remain the ones in the know amongst their peer group.

Release

The release segment tends to be younger adults with busy working and family lives who used to enjoy relatively popular arts and culture, but have become switched off as other things have taken priority in their lives. Consequently they feel they have limited time and resources to enjoy the arts and culture, although they would like to do more.

This segment is preoccupied with meeting life’s demands and seeks opportunities for relaxation and socialisation in their leisure time. They need to be encouraged to view culture as a social activity and an alternative means to taking time out from their busy lives. The arts and culture can offer them a means of staying connected to things that are current and contemporary – keeping them in the loop.

Expression

The expression segment is in-tune with their creative and spiritual side. They are self-aware people who have a wide range of interests, from culture, to community, to nature. They lead an eclectic lifestyle, trying to cram in as much as possible to make the most of their free time.

Open to new ideas, they pursue challenge, debate and intellectual stimulation through their cultural engagement. They enjoy being part of a crowd and seek communal experiences. The arts offer a means of self-expression and connection with like-minded individuals who share their deeply held values about the world.

Affirmation

The core of the affirmation segment comprises young adults, often studying or looking after family at home, for who the arts is one of many leisure choices. They welcome cultural consumption as a way of improving themselves and developing their children’s knowledge. They are looking for larger, non-specialist events and activities, as they offer a low risk means of satisfying their needs.

The arts and culture also provides this segment with a means of validating themselves with their peers. They care what others think about them and as a result want to be seen to be engaging with cultural activities, not just popular entertainment.

Perspective

The perspective segment is fulfilled and home-orientated. The arts and culture are low among their priorities, however their spontaneous nature, desire to learn and make their own discoveries provides a focus for engagement with them.

This segment is optimistic and prioritises their own needs above others. Whilst this means they are highly contented, their horizons have become somewhat narrow. Nevertheless, they do see some forms of culture as providing the opportunity to broaden their horizons.

They tend to gravitate to a limited ‘day out’ focus in their leisure time, based upon a small number of habitual interests. Beyond this their cultural-consumption is one-off and generally led by others.

Entertainment

The entertainment segment tends to be conventional, younger adults for whom the arts are on the periphery of their lives. Their occasional forays into culture are usually for spectacular, entertaining or must-see events, and compete against a wide range of other leisure interests.

This segment looks for escapism and thrill in leisure activities. They are largely socially motivated to attend, looking to pass the time in an enjoyable way with friends and family.

The entertainment segment prefers to stick to the tried and tested and are not looking to be challenged or take risks in discovering something new. They do not want to try new things that are not well established, strongly branded and with popular currency.

Of all the segments only the Entertainment Segment likes to and wants to be marketed too!  

To read all about the individual personas you have to download this pdf http://www.lateralthinkers.com/CultureSegments/CultureSegments.pdf it’ll give you the background you need to consider who your audiences are.

What these very concise overviews gives you is the sense of how varied our current, potential and non-attenders are. That arts and culture plays and important part in each of these segments lives is encouraging, and now you have been given an insight into how you might craft your message, your events, or your offerings to acknowledge their differences in attitudes, opinions, motivations and most of all Interest!

 http://www.lateralthinkers.com

talk_to_me

Over the next couple of months HI-Arts will be working hard to develop a new and exciting audience development project. While I can’t go into the specifics at the moment, I would like to ask for your help.

We’d like to get a real picture of the landscape of arts and culture across the Highlands and Islands. In order to do this I need a couple minutes of your time.

If you are a Highlands and Islands based artist, musician, promoter, arts venue, community group… anyone involved in the Arts and Cultural sector basically, be part of this Highlands and Islands wide audience development survey.

Just click here http://audiencedevelopment.questionpro.com to complete the survey.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me on sian@hi-arts.co.uk.

Ta.