Investigating how the attributes of live theatre productions influence consumption choices using conjoint analysis : the example of the National Arts Festival, South Africa

While there is a fair amount of work on determinants of demand for the live performing arts, results have often been contradictory with little explanatory power. This may be because of the difficulty in describing the attributes of a performance, particularly in terms of its quality, and the heterogeneity of consumer preferences. This article uses conjoint analysis, also called choice experiments, to investigate the impact of the attributes of live theatre performances on demand, using data collected from 483 randomly chosen attenders at live theatre performances at the 2008 South African National Arts Festival. Attributes include the type of cast (professional, semi-professional or amateur), reputation of the producer/director, the context or setting, production type and ticket price of the show. Results largely support the a priori expectations based on the results of other demand studies. For example, it is found that the age of consumers affects the type of show chosen, that utility and willingness to pay increase for shows with professional and semi-professional casts and that 93% of the potential audience prefer shows with a South African context. It is concluded that the method could prove useful to both event organisers and policy makers, especially where the goal is to broaden access to the arts

French Decentralisation of the Performing Arts and Regional Economic Disparities

The standard deviation, the Gini coefficient, entropy measures and Atkinson's indexes are used to study French regional inequalities for per capita subsidies to the performing arts, as compared to GDP per worker, from 1992 to 2002. The two former indexes are more sensitive to transfers around the average, while the others are more sensitive to transfers at the lower end of the distribution scale. Whereas regional disparities remained stable for GDP per worker, they decreased for per capita subsidies to institutions and companies but increased for festivals. State subsidies are less unequal than local grants, so that a balanced decentralisation seems to rely upon some state control. Copyright Springer Science + Business Media, Inc. 2005decentralisation, inequality measures, performing arts, subsidies,

Major influences on circus attendance

Circus, Demand, Performing arts, Italy, Attendance, C2, D2, Z1,

Full-income and price elasticities of demand for German public theatre

Demand, Performing arts, Leisure time, Quality, Nonprofit, Germany, Z11, L32, L82, D12,

Ethics of Celebrities and Their Increasing Influence in 21st Century Society

ethics, celebrities, mission creep, fame, addiction, internet,

Ethics of Global Internet, Community and Fame Addiction

ethics, community, fame, celebrity, internet, civic associations, addiction, social contagion,