US arts marketing study shows decline in attendances at reopened venues compared to pre-pandemic figures

A study of performing arts organisations in the USA during the final months of 2021 - when venues had begun to reopen - shows that overall ticket sales for were down by more than a quarter compared to the smae periods in 2018 and 2019.

The findings, reported in the survey New Study Trends in Audience Behavior: Reopening Sales Trends, produced by New York-based JCA Arts Marketing, a division of data technology and consulting firm JCA, found that overall ticket sales for the three month period from September to Noveber 2021 were down by 27% relative to the same period in 2018 and 2019.

It also found subscription ticket sales were down 34% for the same period.

As performing arts organisations reopened and performances resumed in late 2021, JCA Arts Marketing, which helps arts and cultural organisations leverage data-driven insights to grow audiences and revenue, sought to help arts and venue marketing decision-makers and executives in assessing how ticket sales trends would change relative to pre-pandemic sales.

Additional questions included how sales volume would change, what segments of the audience would return, when they would buy tickets, and at what price. As a result, JCA Arts Marketing set out to analyse sales trends of resumed performances to answer these questions and provide insight on what strategic choices organisations should make as a result of changing sales trends.

Using data from seven performing arts organisations across the USA, other findings included:

• Price sensitivity has not increased post-reopening. Average prices and yield remain similar to pre-pandemic sales and discount ticket sales have decreased.

• Audiences are booking closer to the performances. 45% of audiences booked within two weeks of the performances, compared to 36% pre-pandemic.

Commenting on the findings, Jamie Alexander, Director of JCA Arts Marketing and co-author of the study, advised "this is just the beginning of understanding how the pandemic has affected sales trends of performing arts organisations.

“Our hope is that this study provides a baseline of data for measuring ongoing change, and helps organisations make educated decisions for their programming and marketing efforts to reengage audiences in this new era.”

Click here to view the full study.