A Long Lead: The Decision-Making Timeframe of Cultural Attendees

August 15, 201815 August 2018

Issue

Arts participation / Performing arts

Publisher

Colleen Dilenschneider

Article Link

https://www.colleendilen.com/2018/05/02/long-lead-decision-making-timeframe-cultural-attendees-data/

Based on data from various American sources including the National Awareness, Attitudes, and Usage Study from IMPACTS Research and Development, this brief research post indicates that “there is a long lead time in peoples’ intent to visit cultural organizations – even for locals”. On the other hand, “the time between a ticket purchase and redemption is very quick”.

Among people residing close to a cultural organization, 60% of those who intend to visit a cultural organization at some point in the future do not plan to do so within the next six months. This proportion decreases to 38% within a 12-month timeframe. Returning visitors typically come back to an organization only after about 19 months.

As noted in the post, “the vast majority of tickets (80.4%) were purchased and redeemed on the same day as the visit.” Purchasing tickets in this way allows attendees “to skip a line, ensure access, and potentially keep schedules open when leisure activity competition is fierce”. The post also indicates that about 5% of tickets purchased online were never redeemed.