Tracking audience sentiment in 2021: a brave new era in arts & culture

AnnouncementsArtsCulture
Written By Patternmakers

As the culture sector stares down a challenging year (as one colleague said, likely the second worst year ever!), we're pleased to announce an extension of the Audience Outlook Monitor in Australia. Three more phases of data collection are planned in 2021 to help shine a light on audiences in a time of enormous uncertainty.

In March, July and November, we'll be working with our international research partner WolfBrown and local partners across the country to gather data about audience attitudes and behaviours, and how they're changing over time. The research tracks indicators like attendance, ticket buying and spending, and measures things like comfort at different types of venues and confidence in different safety measures.

It's thanks to ongoing support from the Australia Council for the Arts and state governments around Australia that we're able to do this in a cost-effective and coordinated way. Instead of working with a handful of clients who can afford consultants, this work is enabling 150+ arts organisations to adopt a consistent approach to surveying their audiences. This means audiences are spared from multiple surveys about the same thing, and that we can compare and contrast sentiment in different artforms, audience segments and jurisdictions.

And perhaps most importantly, that the results can be shared publicly for everyone and anyone to use. From independent artists to the Ministers for the Arts, our goal is to ensure that everyone working on our recovery has consistent, accurate and timely insight about audience demand, barriers to attendance and projected behaviour.

Why extend the study?

When we first set up the Audience Outlook Monitor, we thought the pandemic would last six months, if that. We now know better.

While creative activity has resumed in many venues across Australia, we are dealing with sporadic outbreaks and regular changes in restrictions. International travel is unlikely until later this year, at the earliest. Not all local audiences have returned to events, with some saying they are waiting for a vaccine and others opting to simply 'wait and see' before they invest in tickets or plan social outings.

Australia's vaccine roll-out is due to commence in late February, with an aim to vaccinate the adult population by October. However research from UNSW (covered in The Conversation) has cast doubts on that timeframe, and indicated it could push out into 2022.

The economic outlook is also uncertain and if past history of economic shocks is anything to go by, it will take time to rebuild the market.

Colleagues in the sector have described challenges such as 'Managing consistently changing circumstances and ongoing rescheduling of shows.' and 'Ensuring appropriate patron behaviour in venues without impeding on the customer experience.' Another said they are facing 'Increased costs of ensuring audience safety, impacts on our team, decreased audiences and increased output for both digital and physical.'

With decision-makers continuing to face tough decisions about investment, programming and operations, it's important that we never lack accurate and timely information from audiences. We've planned to produce regular updates and snapshots throughout the remainder of 2021 - and we're looking at ways we can do this longer-term, if needed.

We believe ongoing data-informed decision making and strategic support will play an important role in the sector’s recovery from the pandemic and ultimately will help rebuild arts participation in Australia.

How will the study change in 2021?

We'll continue to track key measures like the % of audiences who have attended a cultural venue or event in the past fortnight - and how much audiences are spending on tickets. But we'll also be probing new areas, so that we can provide insights on:

  • Proportion of audiences that are likely to be vaccinated and when

  • Top three things preventing audiences from attending more events

  • What digital experiences are attracting ongoing engagement

  • Willingness of audiences to travel to regional areas or interstate to attend a cultural venue or event.

When will the results be available?

The next national snapshot of data will be released in mid-March 2021, and state/territory reporting soon thereafter. We'll also be releasing fact sheets monthly on topics like digital inclusion and First Nations culture.

In March, we'll be taking a closer look at audience donations and support for arts causes, as the sector builds up to end-of-financial-year campaign season. In July, we're aiming to capture insight at the start of the cold & flu season, when cases could potentially spike once more. And in November, we'll provide a read on audience sentiment for the summer festival season.

How can I use the data?

Through engagement points like regular webinars, snapshot reports and fact sheets, we're aiming to turn the data into practical insights and highlight how they can be applied.

You can use this data for decisions like what events to program where and when, and what safety measures to put in place. You can use it to kick-off strategic planning meetings, brief front-of-house staff and prepare board reports. And it's proven to be really powerful in communicating with audiences and allaying concerns about venue safety: crafting copy for social media posts, EDMs and ticketing pages.

One colleague described the study as their 'anchor for audience sentiment' in 2020 and we hope that it will continue to be a useful resource in 2021.

To receive updates directly to your inbox, as soon as they are available, you can head to the study's Australian homepage and subscribe. And if you have any suggestions about how we can continue making this work stronger and more useful - I'd love to hear from you in the comments or by email at info@thepatternmakers.com.au.

Let's do this!

Image: Mika Baumeister via Unsplash

 
 
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About the Author

Tandi Palmer Williams
Managing Director

Tandi is Founder and Managing Director of Patternmakers. She’s an arts research specialist and leader of the agency’s research projects.

 

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