How God and King Affect our Music Tastes: Religiosity and Political Interest as Predictors of Omnivorousness

This article examines how specific habitus (i.e., past cultural practices, individuals' political interests and religious beliefs) affects propensity towards omnivorous tastes in music, either in voraciousness or eclecticism. The authors develop and test hypotheses on the music preferences of an Italian opera audience. They show that religiosity and political interest influence omnivorous taste patterns in cultural consumption. Voracious omnivores have stronger political convictions than eclectic omnivores, who are characterized by a religiosity that might result in greater tolerance of diversity. This partially contradicts the results of previous studies associating political commitment with freedom to cross boundaries and religion with traditional boundaries limiting self-expression. This study refines the "univore/omnivore" thesis, focusing on practices that foster the development of an omnivore aesthetic disposition by the upper social classes. Unveiling the distinctive traits of voracious and eclectic performing arts audiences may enable marketing managers to differentiate their loyalty-building policies according to attendees' characteristics.