09 Feb 2022
Central to the recently released Audience Atlas Aotearoa 2020 research is the goal of helping artists, arts and cultural organisations understand the needs, value and potential of the culture market.
The largest study of audiences in New Zealand, Audience Atlas Aotearoa provides a unique way of understanding the local arts and culture market. It provides detailed insights into New Zealanders’ relationship with arts and culture, which artists, arts practitioners and arts organisations can use to increase audience engagement and audience size.
Creative New Zealand has been working with strategic research consultancy Morris Hargreaves McIntyre since commissioning the first report in 2011. While Audience Atlas studies have taken place across the globe, New Zealand is the first country to invest in a regular series of studies, with Audience Atlas Aotearoa 2020 the fourth edition. This information can help the sector understand more about diversifying audiences, digital and fundraising, who’s currently engaging, who’s not, and who wants to but hasn’t yet been persuaded. It includes recommendations for audience strategies, programming and market development.
The report identifies five key areas of focus:
- Valuing the arts is key to market growth – so the focus needs to be on people who currently struggle to see the valuable role the arts can play in their lives.
- Digital engagement begs for a digital strategy – there’s a lot going on in the digital space and just being digital isn’t enough.
- Social experiences are the gateway to deeper reward – people are also looking for an intellectual, emotional or spiritual experience.
- Access pricing models to bridge the gap – cost remains a deterrent so new ideas are needed to ensure growth in audience numbers and diversity.
- Future-proofing subscription models – fresher and more flexible memberships and subscription offers are needed to reignite the market.
Audience Atlas Aotearoa 2020 is based on 6,743 responses collected nationally, representative of the population’s demographics of people aged 16 years and over, including those who identified as Deaf or Disabled. For this latest research, additional investment was made to increase the number of responses from those identifying as Māori, Pasifika and Asian, to ensure we can confidently reflect the views of these key groups.
Morris Hargreaves McIntyre is developing three summary reports, one on the main findings and a deep-dive into the findings for Māori and Pasifika audiences. The summary reports will also be the subject of three live, online Q&A sessions in March 2022.
Read about Three online opportunities to learn about New Zealand audiences
Read the full report and summary reports: Audience Atlas Aotearoa 2020
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