This document summarizes the results of a survey conducted with students at Sonoma State University about their engagement with the Center for Performing and Visual Arts. The survey found that most students spend their free time hanging out with friends or watching Netflix. Over half of students had attended a campus performance before, most commonly a play or dance performance. Students reported attending performances mostly for fun or to earn extra credit. Most students said they would likely attend another performance if they enjoyed the first one. Students expressed interest in performances having more modern themes and offering food, as well as bringing friends who don't attend the university.

1.
Audience
Engagement
Project
This
is
a
research
report
on
the
students
at
Sonoma
State
University
and
their
knowledge
of
the
Center
for
Performing
and
Visual
Arts.
This
report
also
shows
what
students
prefer
and
want
to
see
in
student
performances
at
Sonoma
State
University.
Research
done
by:
External
Public
Relations
Department
At
Primitivo
PR

2.
1.
Students
were
asked
what
they
like
to
do
on
your
free
time
on
the
weekend;
we
found
that
majority
of
the
students
who
completed
the
survey
do
many
things
with
their
free
time.
However,
the
results
in
total
did
show
a
consistency
of
four
different
activities
that
are
all
dominant
in
the
responder’s
free
time.
The
activity
that
stood
out
as
the
most
dominant
activity
people
do
on
their
free
time
or
on
the
weekends
is
hanging
out
with
friends.
This
option
ended
with
739
responses,
in
total
80.6%
of
students
stated
that
they
do
this
at
some
point
during
their
weekend.
The
activity
that
came
in
second
most
popular
with
580
responses
and
a
total
of
63.2%
was
staying
home
and
watching
Netflix.
The
activities
that
we
did
not
include
as
one
our
options
but
were
written
in
the
provided
text
area
were
studying
and
working.

3.
2.
Students
were
asked
if
they
have
ever
attended
an
on-­‐campus
student
play,
music,
dance,
vocal
or
instrumental
performance
or
art
gallery
and
more
than
half
of
the
students
said
they
had.
There
are
still
35%
of
students
who
have
never
attended
any
kind
of
performances.

4.
3.
When
asked
what
specific
types
of
performances
they
have
gone
to
before
there
was
a
very
small
difference
between
plays
and
dance
performances;
an
average
of
47%
of
those
surveyed
have
attended
either
type
of
performance.
Following
behind
those
two
categories
students
have
attended
art
galleries
and
vocal
musical
performances
the
most.
Although
33%
of
students
have
gone
to
a
vocal
musical
performance
only
24%
have
gone
to
a
musical;
musicals
ranked
the
lowest
on
the
type
of
performances
students
have
attended.

5.
4.
This
question
asked
why
students
attended
the
performances
they
did.
57%
of
those
who
have
attended
performances
have
gone
for
fun/entertainment.
The
next
category
with
the
most
responses
was
for
extra
credit
in
their
class.
If
45%
of
students
have
attended
performances
because
they
get
extra
credit
it
can
be
assumed
that
if
more
teachers
offered
extra
credit
perhaps
there
would
be
a
higher
attendance
at
performances.
A
40%
of
students
have
also
attended
performances
because
their
friends
were
in
the
shows.
There
were
many
answers
from
students
that
said
they
have
gone
to
performances
because
they
have
been
required
to
for
one
their
classes.

6.
5.
A
combined
64.7%
of
students
answered
that
they
would
be
“very
likely”
or
likely
to
go
to
another
performance
after
having
attended
one
before.
This
means
that
there
are
a
high
number
of
people
that
are
becoming
satisfied
with
what
is
going
on
at
performances.
10%
of
students
said
it
would
be
“unlikely”
or
“very
unlikely”
to
go
to
another
performance
so
there
has
to
be
a
reason
for
why
they
did
not
like
the
performances.
In
conclusion
these
numbers
show
that
if
more
students
start
attending
performances
there
will
be
a
high
chance
that
they
would
go
back
for
more.

7.
6.
According
to
the
survey
68%
of
students
would
like
to
see
more
modern
context
in
performances.
Another
big
category
was
food
before
events;
if
food
were
accessible
it
would
attract
more
people
as
well.
Many
students
network
outside
of
school
and
therefore
build
relationships
with
people
that
do
not
attend
the
university.
47%
of
students
answered
that
if
a
free
ticket
were
given
for
them
to
take
someone
that
does
not
go
to
the
university
it
would
attract
them
more
as
well.
Another
option
that
would
incentivize
36%
of
students
to
attend
more
performances
would
be
handing
out
tickets
to
students
on
campus.

8.
7.
According
to
the
data
in
the
surveys
collected,
there
were
186
participants
that
said
yes
they
have
considered
attending
a
performance
before,
which
is
62%
of
the
student
body
pulled.
56
participants
said
that
they
have
never
considered
attending
a
show,
which
is
18.7%.
The
remainder
of
the
survey
results
said
that
that
they
were
indifferent
to
attending
a
show
or
not,
which
was
19.3%.
The
great
news
about
these
results
is
that
the
highest
percentage
of
the
student
body
participants
has
considered
attending
a
show
previously.
This
creates
a
great
opportunity
to
capitalize
on
future
shows
since
they
have
already
showed
interest
and
they
could
all
potentially
become
attendees
of
multiple
shows.
The
other
market
to
focus
on
would
be
the
indifferent
category.
They
have
not
considered
nor
not
considered
attending
a
show
and
if
you
have
a
show
that
is
of
interest
to
them
then
you
could
get
them
to
join
the
yes
category,
thus
creating
more
sales
and
revenue.

9.
8.
According
to
the
data
collected,
166
people
said
they
didn’t
know
about
the
shows/performances,
making
this
the
highest
category
response,
which
was
55.3%.
139
or
46.3%
of
people
surveyed
said
the
reason
for
not
making
a
show
was
that
they
couldn’t
make
the
date/and
or
time
the
show
was
scheduled
on.
The
third
reason
was
that
the
students
didn’t
know
that
the
shows
were
free,
making
up
34.3%
87
students
answered
that
they
are
simply
not
interested
making
up
29%.
47
students
responded
claiming
that
they
are
unaware
of
how
or
where
to
locate
tickets
making
up
15.7%
of
the
student
body
responses.
The
remainder
of
the
responses
chose
other
which
16
people
choose,
making
up
5.3%
of
the
responses.
The
reasons
noted:
do
not
have
time,
taking
care
young
children,
they
live
out
of
town,
that
they
just
transferred
to
SSU
and
are
unaware
of
the
performances
and
are
just
starting
to
find
their
way
around
campus;
no
one
to
go
with,
most
of
the
stuff
on
campus
is
low
budget/tossed
together
and
that
nobody
likes
plays
and
lastly
they
don’t
sound
interesting
or
appealing.

10.
9.
According
to
the
data,
the
incentive
that
would
get
students
to
start
attending
more
shows
is
marketing
and
advertising.59.2%
of
students
agreed
that
with
better
advertising/marketing
it
would
get
them
to
the
show.
The
second
highest
response
claimed
said
to
have
food
at
shows,
where
52.2%
agreed.
A
close
third
of
51.8%
said
having
more
modern
content
such
as
Wicked
or
the
musical
The
Jersey
Boys
would
incentivize
them
to
attend.
49.2%
of
the
answers
suggested
that
giving
a
free
ticket
would
peak
their
interest
in
going.
34.8%
suggests
that
if
there
were
more
accessibility
such
as
tickets
being
handed
out
on
campus
or
shuttles
to/from
the
dorms
it
would
be
more
enticing
for
them
to
attend.
Having
student’s
hand
out
tickets
to
other
students
is
a
great
inexpensive
way
to
get
the
students
to
attend
more
shows.
It’s
also
an
easy
way
to
track
if
it’s
working
or
not
because
you
can
simply
print
certain
tickets
with
barcodes
and
then
track
the
attendance
of
those
tickets.
16.7%
thought
that
if
you
had
better
talent
then
they
would
consider
attending.
Lastly,
3.7%
chose
other
stating
reasons
such
as:
A
newsletter
with
the
monthly
schedule
of
all
the
performances
on
campus,
relevant,
current
issues
people
care
about,
winning
prizes
and
gift
cards,
having
better
shows,
more
experienced
talent,
trailers
of
the
shows
and
local
bands.

11.
10. According
to
the
data
gathered,
25.1%(217
people)
answered
yes
that
they
were
aware
the
fee
included
the
shows.
This
left
the
remaining
74.9%
(647
students)
not
knowing
that
the
IRA
fee
included
performances.

12.
11.
This
survey
question
gave
participants
seven
options.
538
students,
62.3%,
would
be
persuaded
to
go
to
a
performance
or
gallery
by
a,
peer
or
friend
recommendation.
This
proves
that
students
are
more
likely
to
go
if
another
student
is
interested
in
it.
Students
in
the
performance
or
in
the
department
should
try
and
tell
as
many
people
as
people
possible
to
circulate
information
on
the
performance.
The
second
most
popular
response
with
500
students,
57.9%,
was
posters
around
campus
flyers.
This
form
of
physical
and
visual
advertisements
seems
to
be
what
the
performing
arts
department
has
done
for
many
years
and
proves
by
this
survey
to
still
be
successful.
A
handful
of
students
responded
in
the
“other”
option
with
social
media
like
Facebook.
Social
media
is
huge
medium
that
the
performing
arts
department
should
take
advantage
of
in
order
to
reach
our
University
audience.

13.
12.
After
yielding
the
results,
we
determined
that
students
are
most
likely
to
discover
new
music
on
the
Internet
at
sights
such
as
Pandora,
Spotify,
and
online
radio
and
the
second
highest
result
was
through
the
AM/FM
radio.
Quantifiably
speaking,
our
results
yielded
almost
82%
(711/920)
of
those
who
took
the
survey
discovered
music
on
Pandora,
Spotify,
and
online
radio
while
47.2%
(410/920)
discovered
music
on
AM/FM
radio.
Other
top
notable
results
include
social
media
networks
and
blogs
(45.2%
of
those
surveyed)
as
well
as
music
festivals
(25.5%
of
those
surveyed).
When
looking
at
the
“other”
response
section,
most
of
the
responses
were
online
sites
or
places
electronically
accessed;
such
as
YouTube,
Soundcloud,
8tracks.com,
and
iTunes.
When
analyzing
the
data,
we
believe
the
majority
of
the
answers
were
online
content
because
the
majority
of
the
students
surveyed
are
part
of
the
generation
that
is
constantly
online
(ages
18-­‐23).
Only
25.5%
of
people
discovered
music
at
Music
Festivals,
and
of
the
8%
of
“other”
answers,
the
only
off-­‐line
answers
were
“word
of
mouth”
and
“through
a
friend”.
Because
they
are
constantly
online,
it
is
much
easier
for
them
to
find
music
on
sites
they
frequent
everyday.

14.
13. After
yielding
the
results,
we
determined
that
62.7%
(546
of
920)
of
the
people
surveyed
had
listened
to
classical
music
to
study
and/or
relax
and
37.3%
(325
of
920)
had
not
used
classical
music
to
study
or
relax.
This
could
be
because
classical
music
is
known
to
not
use
much
voice
as
well
as
have
softer
relaxing
tones.

15.
14.
When
the
survey
participants
were
asked
what
type
of
dance
show
they
would
like
to
see
more
of
at
SSU,
a
multitude
of
responses
were
received
in
regards
to
specific
forms
of
dance.
According
to
the
report,
students
would
like
to
see
more
contemporary,
hip-­‐hop,
and
group
dances.
Based
upon
our
findings,
students
are
more
likely
to
go
to
dance
shows
that
are
more
connected
to
as
well
as
those
that
have
more
of
a
modernized
twist
to
them.

16.
15.
When
the
participants
were
asked
what
types
of
plays
they
would
like
to
see
more
of
at
SSU,
the
top
answer
was
Popular
Broadway
plays.
With
many
responses
in
the
other
categories
as
well
a
majority
of
students
are
interested
in
plays
as
a
whole
as
long
as
it
has
something
interesting
to
keep
interest
throughout
the
performance.

17.
16.
According
to
the
survey
students
want
to
see
more
popular
Broadway
musicals
preformed
at
SSU.
Many
of
the
shows
that
have
been
done
at
SSU
in
the
past
are
shows
that
many
students
have
not
heard
of.
Shows
such
as
Wicked,
Hairspray,
Legally
Blond,
and
more
are
shows
that
are
more
known
to
the
public
and
will
draw
more
student
interest.
Also
in
the
other
box
option
students
wrote
musicals
that
are
also
Disney
movies.

18.
17.
When
asked
questions
about
preferences
in
the
type
of
art
they
would
like
to
see
in
art
galleries
students
prefer
to
see
more
displays
that
mainly
consist
of
paintings,
as
well
as
sculptures.
These
particular
forms
of
art
tend
to
be
more
analytical
and
up
to
interpretation.
In
the
“other”
bow
option
students
wrote
that
they
want
to
see
fun
and
creative
pieces
specifically
photography
and
digital
art.

19.
18.
When
asked
if
they
would
attend
a
spoken
word,
or
slam
poetry
event,
the
responses
were
very
close
in
percentage,
but
the
majority
concluded
that
they
would
not
attend
an
event
like
this.

20.
19.
According
to
the
survey
the
types
of
musical
performances
that
students
would
like
to
see
more
of
at
SSU,
participants
responded
with
the
genres
of
modern
and
hip-­‐hop
music.
It
is
clear
that
the
students
the
students
at
SSU
are
requesting
to
see
more
modern
performances
at
SSU,
which
are
more
relatable
to
them
and
their
generation.
In
the
“other,”
box
option
the
genres
of
rock
and
alternative
were
mentioned
often.

21.
20.
Due
to
the
fact
that
most
students
have
class
during
the
day,
it
is
no
surprise
that
the
majority
of
responses
dictate
that
evening
time
is
the
peak
of
interest
to
see
an
on-­‐campus
student
performance.
58.1%
of
students
who
took
the
survey
feel
that
early
evening
(5pm-­‐6pm)
is
the
best
time
for
them
to
see
a
show,
while
77.4%
of
the
participants
said
even
later
in
the
evening
would
be
best
(7pm-­‐10pm).
From
these
statistics,
the
students
indicated
that
they
are
most
likely
to
see
a
performance
on
campus
if
it
is
later
in
the
evening
because
they
have
more
availability
around
that
time
since
classes
are
usually
out
by
then.

22.
21.
An
overwhelming
71.9%
of
students
who
took
the
survey
feel
that
a
Friday
night
would
be
the
night
of
the
week
when
they
would
be
most
likely
to
see
an
on-­‐campus
student
performance.
Not
far
behind,
56.7%
of
these
students
felt
that
a
Saturday
night
would
be
best.
The
Center
for
Performing
Arts
should
be
sure
to
schedule
events
on
weekends
more
than
week
days,
because
students
have
more
free
time
on
these
days.
With
school
and
sometimes
work,
these
days
tend
to
work
out
best
for
students
who
typically
don't
have
class
or
work
on
weekends.
22.
In
regards
to
the
length
of
time
students
would
sit
and
watch
on
on-­‐campus

23.
performance,
most
students
(71.3%)
said
they
would
stay
for
1-­‐2
hours,
depending
on
the
performance.
Most
students
would
not
stay
for
less
than
30
minutes,
or
for
more
than
2
hours.
For
the
free
response
portion
of
the
question,
almost
every
response
stated
that
the
length
of
time
they
would
stay
depends
entirely
on
what
type
of
performance
it
was
and
their
interest
in
this
type
of
performance.
Furthermore,
students
commented
that
they
would
be
comfortable
to
sit
through
a
2-­‐hour
performance,
as
long
as
there
was
an
intermission
incorporated
into
the
schedule.