Marketing Strategies for Performing Arts Audiences: Characteristics of Ticket Purchasers

ABSTRACT Symphony orchestras are finding it increasingly difficult to fill the seats in their halls. We use multiple regression to examine how characteristics of attendees, such as income, education, and age, affect subscription and single-tickets sales. Using recent data, we find that subscription ticket buyers are more sensitive to prices than single-ticket buyers, although demand for all ticket categories is inelastic. A population with higher incomes is more likely to purchase tickets, although the percentage increase in sales is relatively small. Those with a college education are more likely to attend concerts. In addition, we find that consumers ages 35 to 49 are less likely to attend concerts and those 50 years and above are more likely to attend. We use these results to discuss policies that management can implement to increase ticket sales.