Paper presentation at the 41st Social Theory, Politics and the Arts Conference, 10-12 December, University of South Australia, Adelaide.

1. Understanding and measuring
consumption motives in the
performing arts
41stInternational Conference of
Social Theory, Politics and the Arts (STP&A)
Adelaide, Australia
Pieter de Rooij and Marcel Bastiaansen
NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences
Academy for Leisure
The Netherlands

2. Introduction motivation
• mental disposition to aim at specific behaviour or a
trigger to act
• Understanding motivation important for:
– understanding satisfaction, experiences and decision-making process
(Crompton and Mc Kay, 1997;Snepinger et al., 2006;Hume et al.,
2006)
– designing offerings
• no common understanding on categorizing, conceptualizing
and measuring consumptionmotives in the performing arts
• current literature it is fragmented and incomplete (Swanson
et al., 2008)

3. Objective & research questions
Objective:
to understand and measure consumption motives in the
performing arts and to explore the importance of these motives
to performing arts visitors.
Research questions:
1. How can we conceptualize and categorize consumption
motives of performing arts visitors?
2. How can we measure these consumptionmotives?

4. Qualitative study
• In-depth interviews
• Quota sample of 47 respondents Dutch theatre
(Theaters Tilburg): reflecting number of attendances,
postal code areas, gender, genre and age
• Data-analysis: transcription, indexing, framework
(Ritchie and Lewis, 2003)

5. Qualitative study
Interviews:
• What does respondent expect and want to experience?
• Association technique was applied, presenting eight
cards describing eight consumption motives:
‘I want to see or hear something beautiful’ (aesthetics)
‘I want to learn something or to amass knowledge’ (cognitive stimulation)
‘I want to get away for a short while and recover my energy’ (reduction)
‘I want to get totally absorbed or be entranced’ (transcendence)
‘I want to have pleasure and be entertained’ (entertainment)
‘I want to experience new and original things’ (variety and novelty)
‘I want to be with other people’ (bonding)
‘I want to belong to the people who visit a theatre’ (distinction)

6. Results qualitative study
• each individual interrelates the motives in his/her own way
and from their own perspective
• The main reasons to attend are individual combinations of
motives, different in time, and vary with companions and the
type of performance
• This study not only shows that there are many connections
between motives, but it also shows that certain definitions
have overlapping elements

7. Conclusion qualitative study

8. ‘We have 8 grandchildren so, we never
go all together, but always the two of
us, with two grandchildren. This is what
we do and we want to continue to do it.
We think it’s a small stimulus to
develop an interest in culture’.
‘ And also because of
the shrewdness of the
cabaret performer.
What’s his view of
society is. And also the
mirror he holds up to
life.’
‘ Yes, I feel it’s just a nice
outing. Not too long, not
too short. Just something
different. Just to be
entertained.’
'And it’s logical that you
want to see something
wonderful, otherwise you
wouldn’t go. That definitely
has to be so.'

9. ‘A girlfriend of mine sings in a
church and sometimes they
give performances. And my
daughter who plays at M4U,
so I go there as well. And a
niece who plays at Factorium.’
‘Yeah, they are
after all a bit like
yourself, I think. A
little, not too
alternative and
not too common.’
‘So that really with your friends,
acquaintances and family, you also
really undertake something.
Obviously they pop in sometimes
for a coffee or suchlike, but this is
really doing something together.’
‘ I think it’s good that this often
happens. That people think: I
want to go with that group of
people, then I can talk about it
and then I can also say at
parties that I’ve been
somewhere.’

10. Quantitative study
• Goal: to test the model and to develop an instrument to
measure consumptionmotives
• cross-sectionalstudy among guests of concerthall ‘De Doelen’
in Rotterdam, The Netherlands
• online questionnaire sent to 714 visitors of a classical music
concert (Mozart) four days before the actual concert took
place
• 220 visitors completed the questionnaire (30.8% response
rate)

11. Questionnaire construction
• items taken from questionnaires used in previously published
studies in arts, tourism and sports (Crompton and McKay,
1997; Fodness, 1994; Funk et al., 2003; Glynn et al., 1996;
Kyle et al., 2006; Swanson et al., 2008).
• Where necessary: adaptation to performing arts context
• based on the qualitative study, a quantitative pilot study and a
discussion with marketing management of concerthall ‘De
Doelen’, a total of 17 items were constructedby the authors
themselves.

15. - Most of the motives: high component loadings (Cultural
Reduction, Cultural Stimulation, and all four social
motives).
- Items Cultural Transmission did not cluster together into
one single component

16. - Six items Cultural Aesthetics on two different
components (first four items Artistic Value; last
two items Enjoyment of Beauty of the
performance)
- Cultural Reduction measured by two dimensions
(escape and recreation): both dimensions clearly
cluster together in one component.

17. relatively good fit: X²(8)=8,448, p>0,05,
X²/df=1,056, GFI=0.998, RMSEA=0.007, CFI=1.000.

18. Conclusion
• Motives: cultural and social nature
• Cultural aesthetics in the heart of framework
• Framework largely confirmed in quantitative study
• Need for replication with different audiences from
different venues