This study provides novel insights into the way loyalty behaviour to the performing arts is formed. Research in this area has predominantly relied on either demographics or motives to understand audience behaviour and we have provided a theoretically robust explanation for the psychological processes that connect occupation, income and education (SES) to loyalty. Based on a sample of 196 concert attendees aged between 20 and 50, and using an adapted a model of motivation, we showed that basic psychological need (BPN) satisfaction plays a pivotal role in transferring the effects of SES to loyalty for this important demographic through utilitarian and hedonic attitudes. These findings highlight the importance and potential application of a universal needs concept for expanding and deepening consumer behaviour theory. The implications of the findings for research and practice are addressed throughout and the study concludes with recommendation for further research.

Introduction

Attendance at classical music concerts has been declining (Allday, 2012) for well over a decade. Intense competition from more popular entertainment forms, coupled with economic uncertainty have influenced demand trends (Anning, 2016) and increased production costs and reduced public subsidies have put pressure on supply. Moreover, audiences are getting older, with a recent study in the United Kingdom reporting that 37% of patrons in that country are aged over 61, 42% between 41 and 60 and only 7% aged under 31 (Bradley, 2017). Cleary, performing arts practitioners are facing challenging times and while retaining current audiences is important, strategic actions to energize younger audiences must be prioritized and central to this is understanding the factors that influence the next wave of classical music consumer behaviour. From a cultural sociological perspective (Bourdieu and Nice, 1984), preferences for the arts are posited to reflect and reinforce social class distinctions (Newman et al., 2013) and while the line between traditional highbrow/lowbrow positions has blurred (Peterson and Albert, 1992) a considerable amount of research supports an association between socioeconomic status (SES) and performing arts attendance patterns (Kraaykamp et al., 2010; NEA, 2015;Yaish and Katz-Gerro, 2012). Others however believe that socioeconomic factors alone do not adequately account for audience participation and suggest that researchers broaden the focus to consider ‘lifestyle’ variables (Seaman, 2005). Gofman et al. (2011) for example found that young people on lower incomes were attracted to museums for fun and social interaction reasons and Manolika et al. (2015) reported that the ability of education, occupation and income levels to predict performing arts attendance was significantly increased when intrapersonal motives were included in their model.