Marketing research
Marketing research1 can be defined as the process of collecting, analysing and
interpreting information to help managers make better marketing decisions.
This chapter will introduce a number of techniques of marketing research
which can help arts organizations to gather and use information more
efficiently and effectively. This will include sections on:
_ the benefits and scope of marketing research
_ setting research objectives
_ research methodologies
_ sources of secondary data
_ methods for collecting primary data
_ conducting a survey
This chapter is more than just a step-by-step guide to the process of research.
It encourages the consideration of both the information needs of an
organization and the way in which information can be used, as well as
examining the variety of techniques for gathering that information.
1 The term ‘marketing’ research is often shortened to ‘market’ research, though strictly speaking this is incorrect. Marketing research is a wide-ranging discipline which seeks to gather information about any aspect of an organization and its environment, while market research is concerned only with trends in customer or audience behaviour, and is usually known as ‘audience research’ in an arts context.
The benefits of marketing research
Organizations that have taken marketing research seriously report significant
benefits. At the South Bank Centre in London (which includes both visual and
performing arts venues), marketing research has long been at the heart of their
planning and has driven the Centre’s development over the years. Programming
and marketing decisions, merchandising policy, advance booking
systems and sponsorship strategy have all been influenced by the results of
numerous marketing research projects (McCart, 1992).
Objections to marketing research
Arts organizations which choose not to undertake marketing research may
give a number of reasons, but the following are perhaps the most common:
‘. . . it’s too expensive’
A popular misconception is that marketing research is a highly technical
discipline which can be successfully pursued only by experts (and normally at
great expense). Certainly it is a systematic and orderly process, and it is
possible to use sophisticated information technology to interpret large
quantities of data. There are some industries and organizations for which vast
consumer surveys and detailed statistical analysis can be extremely costeffective;
but there are many more organizations that reap significant rewards
from a whole host of far less expensive methods for gathering the information
that they need to help them better serve their customers. Even the smallest arts
organization can benefit from a more rigorous analysis of its box office data,
informal discussions with its regular attenders and a closer examination of the
impact of press comment and publicity material, all of which can be done at
very little cost.
To say that marketing research is too expensive implies that an organization
may not have fully considered the range of marketing data available and the
very limited costs involved in the majority of data collection. Perhaps also it
has not considered the cost of poor decision-making which could lead to
marketing mistakes and consequently lost audiences.
Marketing research is certainly not the exclusive property of large, wealthy
private-sector commercial organizations; neither is it such a complex discipline
that it must be left to professional marketing research agencies, whose fees may
be beyond the reach of all but the central arts funding bodies.
‘. . . we don’t want to be popular’
It is sometimes feared that marketing research will identify demand for a
programme of events which would be popular but not worthy. The research
may be resisted on the grounds that its findings would not be implemented for
cultural or artistic reasons. Trevor Nunn, as Artistic Director of the South Bank
Centre, came under fire for his production of My Fair Lady, which was accused
of being populist and inappropriate for an organization supported by public
subsidy (Moss, 2001). While accessible programming such as this is supported
in some circles, and seen as a commitment by more progressive directors to reaching as wide an audience as possible, by others it is condemned as an
insult to the serious performers and a betrayal of the classical culture that the
funding bodies intend to be served. Again this is a flimsy reason for ignoring
marketing research, which can be a very useful tool for identifying the most
appropriate programmes, facilities and services within the ruling artistic
policy, and without alienating existing interest groups and audiences. At the
end of the day, marketing research cannot make decisions for you, but it can
help you to make better decisions yourself.
Measuring the immeasurable
‘Social inclusion’ is high on governments’ agendas, and arts funders and policymakers
are keen to be able to demonstrate to their paymasters that the arts can, for
example, help individuals to develop self-esteem and contribute to the development
of community identity. However, arts organizations can be hesitant when asked to
evaluate the social impact of their work, expressing fears that the essence of what
they achieve is immeasurable. Moriarty (1997) summed up the wariness arts
workers have towards evaluation as: ‘. . . the anxiety that something very precious
may be lost, that the complexity of an experience which includes relationship,
enjoyment, learning, exploration, expression will be destroyed, diluted or
reduced . . .’.
Sources: Jermyn, 2001; Moriarty, 1997.
‘. . . we know what our audiences want’
Service providers in the not-for-profit sector are renowned for their overconfidence
in knowing instinctively what their customers want. On the other
hand, faced with an overriding profit motive, commercial arts are keenly aware
of their customers’ opinions, which are critical to their survival. In the
subsidized sector, marketing research is often the only tool available to arts
organizations to assess the extent to which their own non-profit objectives are
being met. To ignore it is to ignore the core of the marketing concept, which
places the needs of the customer at the heart of the organization.
The scope of marketing research
The definition given of marketing research is deliberately broad in scope. It
refers to any attempt to gather information from the environment which may
be useful in the planning of marketing activity. However, marketing research
can be subdivided into a number of categories, according to its purpose:
Audience research
In the arts, this is primarily concerned with profiling, that is, identifying the
nature, composition and preferences of current and potential audiences. It is commonly used to help organizations identify audience groupings (or market
segments) with similar characteristics and arts preferences, enabling visitor or
audience profiles to be constructed for different types of exhibitions or
performances. An audience survey will typically ask for details of demographic
characteristics including age and sex, but also income, occupation,
education, and perhaps means of transport and distance travelled to the venue.
This type of information helps galleries and theatres to target their future
programmes, events, promotional literature, fund-raising and advertising
more precisely, and it can provide useful quantified information when
negotiating sponsorship.
Customer satisfaction research
This aims to measure the extent to which an arts event has met its
audiences’ expectations. Word-of-mouth recommendation has been found to
be the most influential factor in the choice of leisure services, so it is
important for organizations to understand and respond to their customers’
perceptions of both the artistic product and the environment in which it is
produced.
Case 3.1 Mystery benchmarks
For many years, executives in some high-profile German museums had supported only
inwardly-directed scholarly museum functions, and disregarded visitor perceptions when
evaluating their institutions’ performance. They had assumed that everything was
satisfactory; but a brief analysis of attendance figures suggested that this may not have
been the case. The annual number of visits to the more than 53 300 registered museums
in Germany had reached a plateau in the late 1980s at around 95 million visits, despite
a boom in new museum buildings and extensions. Local and state authorities were
starting to question the rationale for providing financial support.
Twenty-one museums volunteered to take part in a research programme to evaluate
service and six ‘mystery shoppers’ were deployed to the various participating
institutions. Their brief was to asses four major areas of the museums’ services:
_ arrival and welcoming
_ availability and quality of peripheral services, such as cloakrooms and caf´es
_ scope and quality of communications with staff, and
_ impact of the exhibitions
The mystery shoppers, all professional market researchers, completed a 50-point
questionnaire, rating services on a scale form 1 (very positive) to 6 (very negative). The
testers gave the highest overall score to the friendliness and politeness of museum staff,
followed by the quality of the cloakroom, shops and caf´es. Significantly lower scores
were given to the process of ticket buying and the information booklets available in the
foyers. Further analysis of the figures was conducted to identify the importance of the
different service elements, and this revealed that only three items had a major impact on overall perceptions of a museum visit, these being the contact with staff, initial
impression in the entrance area, and the availability of a useful booklet.
Service component Average score (all museums)
1 = very good; 6 = very poor
Friendliness and politeness of personnel 1.78
Coat check (cloakroom) 2.04
Museum shop 2.19
Museum caf´e (environment) 2.20
Staff reactions to flash camera use in
exhibition area
2.22
Environment of exhibition area 2.24
Museum caf´e (service) 2.26
Toilets 2.27
Entrance area and orientation 2.37
Advice about personal guided tours 2.42
Positive overall experience in the museum 2.43
Staff reactions to coat/bag carrying in the
exhibition area
2.56
Accessibility and surroundings of museum 2.72
Advice about renting audio guide 2.77
Information booklet 3.57
Process of ticket buying 4.42
The figures collected from the whole group of museums were subsequently used as
benchmarks by individual museums, which were able to compare their own
performances with that of the whole group. Those with below-average evaluations knew
where improvements had to be made, and those with above-average evaluations were
able to boast about them in their promotional campaigns.
Source: Kirchberg, 2000.
Motivation research
This attempts to get to the bottom of audiences’ reasons for attending a
particular event or venue, again to enable better market segmentation and
improved targeting of potential audiences. It has also been successfully used in
developing an understanding of reasons for non-attendance and hostility
towards the arts. At its simplest, motivation research involves asking direct
questions of visitors as to why they chose a particular event in a particular
venue on a particular day and time. But as many people are unable to describe
exactly why they act as they do, some motivation research involves a variety of
less conventional techniques in seeking a deeper understanding of the more
covert or even unconscious reasons for attendance.
Competitor research
It is often argued that arts events do not face direct competition, as it is difficult
to imagine two venues within close geographical proximity of each other
offering identical programmes at the same time. Nonetheless, audiences do
have choices as to how, when and where to spend their money, and different
venues and programmes will be competing for a share of that money over a
longer period of time. For this reason it is important for arts organizations to
understand how their audiences perceive them in comparison with other
similar organizations. Competitor research can help organizations to understand
these perceptions and then to differentiate themselves positively from
other providers of similar arts services. Failing to do so can lead to an illdefined
image and consequent rejection by key target audiences.
Product research
This is quite a difficult area in the arts. Commercial and industrial organizations
conduct product research to help them improve the products and services they
offer to their customers and to identify demand for new developments. This
reflects the overall objectives of most firms in the private sector, which are
related to profitable trading activity. If demand exists which can be supplied,
then there is an opportunity to make money. Perhaps the nearest the arts come to
this kind of research is when cinema producers try out different endings on
preview audiences, or television companies research the popularity of particular
characters in long-running soap operas. Quite apart from the question of
aesthetic integrity, the expense and complexity of such a procedure renders it out
of the question for the vast majority of arts organizations.
Product research in the more tangible areas of facilities, such as retailing and
catering, is more viable, of course. This type of research can help to identify
both inadequacies in existing provision and demand for new facilities and
services which may improve audience perceptions of a venue, encourage new
attenders and consolidate customer loyalty.
Pricing research
For commercial arts organizations, this can help in the setting of entrance fees
or ticket prices. Revenue from the box office or entrance fees can be maximized
if the organization has done some pricing research to help it understand the
monetary value that audiences will place on the experience they are expecting
to enjoy (there is more discussion on this point in Chapter 5). In the non-profit
sector, pricing research can also be used to help the formulation of pricing
policies that will promote wider access to the arts. An understanding of the key
influences on audience price sensitivity can be gained by experimenting with
different price levels and monitoring the associated attendance figures.
Promotional research
This is normally undertaken to assess the effectiveness of different media,
messages and promotional techniques in attracting audiences. It is generally retrospective. If money has been spent on promoting an event, it is important to
be able to gauge the cost-effectiveness of the chosen methods and media of
promotion. Promotional research attempts to gather information which will
identify the most persuasive promotional techniques by linking them to
attendance figures. Under some circumstances it may also be of use to pre-test
advertising campaigns, to identify the most effective visual or verbal creative
concept, and to identify the target audiences to whom a particular campaign
appeals.
Policy research
National organizations such as the UK’s arts councils use marketing research to
help them make recommendations about the levels of arts provision and the
allocation of resources. Information about national and regional public attitudes
towards the arts, as well as attendance and participation figures, is invaluable in
creating a strong case for public funding of the arts. Research can demonstrate
economic benefits from the arts, such as spending in restaurants or attraction of
tourists. It could indicate the effect of arts facilities on the image of a town, or on
local or national pride. Marketing research can also be used to detect audience
trends and attitudes in other countries which may have domestic implications or
simply provide early warning of likely developments at home.
Conducting marketing research
If marketing research is to be an effective tool for improving the quality of
marketing decisions, it needs to address three key questions systematically:
What do we want to know?
The first stage of marketing research should be to examine the marketing
problem or opportunity which requires further investigation and this should
lead to a set of specific objectives for the research. Having set clear,
unambiguous objectives it is possible to pinpoint the nature of the information
that must be obtained to help solve the problem or develop the opportunity.
Where can the information be obtained?
Secondly, it is essential to identify who can provide the information and the
best method for collecting it. The most visible aspect of marketing research is
the collecting of information using surveys. While surveys are very important,
they are but one mechanism for finding out about people, and may be neither
the most appropriate nor the most cost-effective method of data collection.
How do we use the findings?
Marketing research provides facts, but information is created when the facts
are interpreted in the context of the original problem. The final stage, therefore is for managers to make sense of the findings and ensure that they influence
decision-making in the organization. Without intelligent interpretation,
research is at best worthless and at worst can be misleading and dangerous.
The rest of this chapter explores the techniques and research methods which
will help managers to answer these three questions for themselves in their own
organizations.
Research objectives
Why set objectives?
Research objectives are explicit statements of what the organization wants to
know. They are important for two main reasons. Firstly, they are a constant
reminder to managers of what they are trying to find out. This can prevent time
and energy being wasted on the collection of information which will not
ultimately be of use in solving the marketing problem facing the organization.
Secondly, they can provide a benchmark or target against which the results of
the research can be measured. This enables managers to assess whether the
research was effective, which can be a crucial activity for arts organizations,
particularly in the subsidized sector. If money is scarce, marketing research
may be viewed as a luxury and marketing managers are likely to be required
to justify their expenditure in this area.
Categories of objectives
Broadly speaking, research objectives can be divided into three categories:
Exploratory objectives tend to be quite broad in scope and are normally
specified when an organization feels that it needs a better insight into the
nature of certain marketing issues. For example, a lot of exploratory research is
conducted by funding bodies to help them make policy decisions and set
planning priorities, as well as to give guidance to those they subsidize.
Descriptive objectives are usually set when an organization needs more
concrete evidence to support specific marketing decisions. Audience research
reports are normally descriptive. In other words, they describe an audience or
potential audience by their characteristics and preferences, so that the
relationships between different characteristics and preferences can be examined.
For example, it would be possible to design a survey which investigates
the age, gender and socio-economic profile of a regional opera audience, as
well as their musical preferences. It could then be determined whether operagoers
are also interested in orchestral concerts, pop concerts or ballet, and
whether any particular age group, social class or gender is more likely to prefer
one of those art forms to another. This type of information could be very
helpful in promotional campaigns.
Causal objectives are set with a view to identifying cause-and-effect
relationships, in an attempt to explain why things happen. Experiments are
widely conducted to test alternative prices or concessions by monitoring their impact on audience size and composition. This type of research could be used
for developing access policies, or simply for assessing audience price
sensitivity. Similar exercises can be performed to assess the impact of different
advertising media, programme design or even interval length, thus providing
information to help with promotion and programming decisions.
In practice, a major marketing research project may require all three types of
objectives to be set. Exploratory research could lead to the design of a survey
which would enable an audience to be defined and described. The significant
relationships between the different characteristics and preferences of this
audience could then be further investigated in a causal study. Nonetheless, the
distinction between these types of objectives is very useful in helping
managers to focus systematically on the purposes of the research.
Research methodologies
Process of research
Objectives determine the process by which marketing data should be collected.
Generating marketing information requires the collection of marketing data,
the term ‘data’ referring to the facts and figures that must be gathered to
achieve the research objectives.
Secondary research, also known as desk research, involves the gathering
together of relevant data that exist prior to the start of a marketing research
programme. The researcher is a secondary user of already existing data, hence
the name. Internal secondary data already exist within the organization
conducting the research; external data have been collected outside the
organization, for example by the government, by funding bodies or by
commercial marketing research houses. It is possible that both these types of
data were originally collected for a purpose other than marketing research, but
nonetheless they can be valuable to the researcher. If secondary data are
adequate to achieve the objectives of the research, then the more costly
processes of primary research can be avoided.
Primary research involves the generation and collection of original data. The
organization determines exactly what information is necessary and from
whom, and then sets about acquiring it. The data are thus specific to the
purpose for which they have been acquired. It is quite likely that primary
research will be undertaken after secondary research, to provide a more
complete set of answers to the researcher’s questions.
Style of research
Having set research objectives, it is also possible to identify the style of research
which should be undertaken.
Qualitative research is undertaken if research objectives require information
to be generated about why people act as they do, or how they think and feel
about the experiences that the arts are offering them. Qualitative research
usually requires interviews to be conducted with small numbers of people though other techniques such as observation and experimentation may also be
useful in getting to the root of audience behaviour. In the arts, qualitative
research is particularly useful as it is able to explore the subtleties of people’s
reactions to the aesthetic experience. It may seek to explore issues such as:
_ motivations and inhibitions for participating in the arts
_ what people are looking for from the arts
_ perceptions of different art forms
_ reactions to specific productions, titles and artists
_ reasons for success or failure of productions or events
_ appropriate types of promotion
_ sources of influence over audiences (reviews, advertising, word-of-mouth)
_ the perceptions of sponsoring organizations
Quantitative research is undertaken if the research objectives require information
to be generated about how many people hold certain views or fit into
certain categories. Conducting quantitative research usually requires a survey
to be undertaken among a sample of the population of interest to the
researcher. The findings can then be interpreted with the help of statistical
techniques, and assumptions can be made about the whole population from
the information generated among the sample. This is a very common form of
research in the arts, and is a popular method for investigating the nature of
audiences.
Duration of research
The necessary duration of research is also implied by the research objectives.
Continuous research examines an issue or problem on a regular basis in
order to monitor changes that are occurring over a period of time. For example,
funding bodies are interested in changes in arts attendance patterns, hence
their use of TGI data (discussed later in this chapter).
Ad hoc research is the term used to describe a one-off piece of research
undertaken to obtain information relating to a particular issue or problem. The
findings of this type of research are reported in such a way as to help a specific
marketing decision to be made.
Sources of secondary data
Internal sources
Internal data already exist within an organization. Arts organizations frequently
own a lot of data which can potentially be used for marketing research:
the accounting system, for example, may be able to identify the relative
popularity of catering and retail outlets during specific exhibitions or
performance programmes; staff may be able to report on customer reactions to
ticket prices at the box office; but the most important sources of internal data
for arts organizations are invariably their databases storing details of attenders.
Performing arts organizations which use computerized box office systems are
best placed to make the most of this type of data.
Box office systems
Tomlinson (1993) describes box office systems as ‘. . . systems which integrate
ticketing and marketing functions, compile a patron or customer database as a
central function, and offer additional opportunities to record information’. Any
organization which maintains a comprehensive database through its box office
system has immediate access to information which can help answer both
strategic and tactical questions. For example:
_ At whom should we direct mailshots for contemporary dance productions?
_ What price concessions should be offered on which days of the week?
_ At what point should action be taken to improve ticket sales for a low-selling
event?
_ Who should I include in a sample for conducting primary research into
attendance at productions of Shakespeare?
_ What type of person prefers to attend exhibitions on a Sunday as opposed to a
weekday?
Compared to their manual predecessors, computerized box office systems have
vastly extended the range of transaction data and details of attenders that can
be gathered and processed. Indeed, the researching and analysis of potential
audiences, and information retrieval and statistical analysis related to these
audiences, may only be possible with help from the computer.
Data can be recorded as part of processing the ticket sale – name and
address, ticket prices and concessions, details of event attended, time of
performance or exhibition etc. (see Table 3.1). Valuable additional data can be
added to this by simple questioning – for example: How did the customer hear
of the event? What was the main influence on attending?
For research purposes, there are many uses of box office data. Historic
booking patterns can be analysed to inform forecasts (e.g. how far in advance
did people book? did they come in groups or alone? which were the most
popular seats? what was the average ticket price?). Current patterns which
depart significantly from forecast patterns can be flagged up and remedial
action taken (e.g. if advance ticket sales are very slow, more effort can be put
into promotion or price promotions introduced; if an event is quickly sold out,
efforts can be made to switch-sell the disappointed customers). A box office
system can also provide a statistical overview of the audience for a particular
venue. This information is particularly useful for touring companies trying to
include towns and cities where the profile of local attenders is similar to the
profile of attenders for their own art form. Catchment areas, demographic
customer profiles and attendance patterns can all be collected and stored.
Drye (1998) discusses a segmentation system developed by Heather
Maitland on the basis of box office information about the intervals between
ticket purchase. She discerned a sizeable number of what she termed
‘Bouncing balls’ – people who enjoyed going out for an evening at regular
intervals, but were happy to consider a broad range of entertainment options.
78 Creative Arts Marketing
By contrast she called another segment ‘Festival attenders’ – people loyal to a
particular art form who were prepared to attend arts events in concentrated
bursts of frequency rather than at regular intervals.
This kind of perspective on an audience allows marketing resources to be
targeted more effectively. For example, if you recognize a patron on the box
office database as a ‘Bouncing ball’, regular contact via direct mail or
e-marketing would be appropriate to try and match this regular attendance
pattern. Conversely, the ‘Festival attender’ is likely to respond better to more
closely targeted mailings about visiting companies and events which are more
specific to a particular art form. Box office information of this kind allows
marketers to confirm the intuitive pictures they form about audience
motivations and experiment with their approaches accordingly. When merged
with external data it can add powerful insights to guide marketing activity.
Table 3.1 Useful data for customer records
In addition to basic customer information relating to names and home addresses
which are quite easily obtained (particularly from those who pay by credit card), arts
organizations may attempt to include the following data on their customer records:
_ title
_ gender
_ initials, first name and familiar name (if different)
_ qualification (as a suffix)
_ employment
_ posts in voluntary organizations
_ business address
_ temporary address (such as holiday homes)
_ telephone number(s)
_ date of birth/age
_ socio-economic group
_ ethnic origin
_ geodemographic classification (based on ACORN or other coding)
_ performance(s) attended
_ source(s) of information about the performance
_ other links with the organization (e.g. member, sponsor)
_ number and types of tickets bought
_ prices paid
_ payment methods
_ time of booking
In theory these data should be quite easy to obtain, but new procedures may have to
be set up and rehearsed by the box office staff who will be required to input this
accurately and consistently into the system.
Source: Tomlinson, 1993.
External sources
Published data are widely available for use by arts organizations, through
universities, libraries, through arts marketing agencies and through regional
and national arts funding bodies.
Published surveys
The Arts Council of England carries a database of surveys carried out both by
itself and by a wide range of arts organizations; and the journal Arts Research
Digest lists a wide range of published research reports and gives details of work
in progress. These can be of considerable help in the investigation of similar
problems in different organizations, or simply in planning a methodology for
the implementation of a piece of primary research. Care must be taken in their
use, though. It is important, for example, to check who the original client was
and their reasons for conducting the research. This will indicate whether a
particular slant has been taken in the interpretation of the findings. The nature
and size of the sample is also relevant. Findings should be treated with caution
if the number of respondents in any sub-group is small, particularly if
comparisons are made between different groups of people.
Geodemographic profiling systems
These are consumer classification systems which have been created by
combining geographic and demographic information gathered from a diverse
range of sources, including the census, the electoral roll and the Royal Mail
postal address file. The systems work on the assumption that people living in
similar neighbourhoods (defined by postcodes) are likely to have similar
interests, incomes and purchasing habits. Two of these systems, ACORN and
Mosaic, are commonly used by UK arts organizations to help them understand