Cultural consumption and participation. Creating value for the performing arts: the role of audience

The participation of audience in artistic experience, as one of the most powerful motivations to consume cultural products, needs to be studied in depth. The central position of audience, the role of public in contemporary performances, along with the spreading of social media, call for thinking about the empirical definition and measurement of this subject. The research project aims to investigate the role of audience in performing arts consumption. By identifying the most important variables involved in the measurement of participation, this research helps to improve the measurement models of motives behind performing arts consumption. This objective will be achieved by means of primary data collection on selected and meaningful performances in Veneto region. The knowledge of motives lying behind performing arts consumption will bring about a set of managerial implications for cultural organizations.