1. Audiences Insight/Out, 30/05/2012, Rotterdam The non-attender: Who is (s)he ? And what is (s)he to you ? John Lievens

2. Topics covered  the Flemish lifestyle space  non-attenders: size  non-attenders: differentiation/segmentation  barriers to participation  perceptions of culture

3. Data  Participation survey 2009  computer assisted face-to-face interviews at respondent’s home  n = 3.144 (random sample from national register)  response rate: 68%  high-quality dataset, representative for the Flemish population aged 14-85  follow-up of a comparable survey in 2003-2004  sources:  Lievens, John & Hans Waege (eds.) (2011) Participatie in Vlaanderen. Basisgegevens van de participatiesurvey 2009. Leuven: Acco Academic.  Lievens, John & Hans Waege (eds.) (2011) Participatie in Vlaanderen. Eerste analyses van de participatiesurvey 2009. Leuven: Acco Academic.

4. Flemish lifestyle space  doctoral dissertation Maya Caen “On tastes, preferences and participation: a sociological analysis of the Flemish lifestyle space” (2009)  2003-2004 dataset  latent class analysis on 328 indicators in 8 sectors:  participation (outdoors and at home)  motives  preferences  barriers  results form the basis of the ‘Toolkit lifestyle profiles: view on culture’ (CultuurNet Vlaanderen)  presented today 14.30-15.45 (session 4) visual artsmusic amateur artperforming arts moviestv-watching travellingsports

5. Flemish lifestyle space the voracious 16% the connoisseur 10% the action seeker 24% the relaxation seeker 13% the home enjoyer 6% the homester 12% the tv-watcher 20% Engaged 26% Interested 54% Not interested 20%

6. Non-attenders: size Non- attendance Occasional attendance Frequent attendance N (100%) Classical concerts92.74.52.82836 Non-classical concerts90.45.24.42842 Theatre, dance, ballet70.920.48.62844 Shows, musicals, cabaret69.823.17.12844 Art museums, art galleries75.817.46.82838 History, science, technology museum83.112.44.42839 Cinema58.029.312.82842 Literary events (past 12 months)87.28.34.62841 % Non-attendance30.7 Occasional attendance33.6 Frequent attendance35.7

7. Non-attenders: differentiation / segmentation RecreationalEntertainmentTV groupCultural Estimated size30%29%25%16% Classical music0.080.270.170.74 Pop-rock-... music0.830.420.090.80 Pop. Flemish music0.640.990.130.90 Novels-poetry0.210.010.170.50 Sports game0.470.120.200.14 City, village feast0.480.180.140.18 Commercial channel 0.440.780.530.31 Cultural channel0.060.090.140.23

8. Barriers to participation: Reasons mentioned for not attending/visiting (%) concert theatremuseum

9. Perceptions of cultural events: Why?  Culture encompasses a wide variety of (social) meanings that goes further/deeper than only motives and barriers  Perceptions reveal:  how culture enters everyday life  how individuals position themselves in cultural settings  mental barriers, sensitivities, subjective interpretations  No significant differences between attenders and non-attenders were found for personal experience, knowledge, financial dimension  Focus here on the social dimension

10. Perceptions of cultural events: Non-attenders vs. participants CLASSICAL CONCERTS

11. Perceptions of cultural events: Non-attenders vs. participants POP & ROCKCONCERTS

12. Perceptions of cultural events: Non-attenders vs. participants ART MUSEUMS

13. Perceptions of cultural events: Non-attenders vs. participants THEATRE

14. Perceptions of cultural events: Explaining differences  multivariate analyses:  few differences for educational attainment higher educated: more positive perceptions  moderate differences for parental milieu (SES + cultural participation) higher: more positive perceptions  moderate differences for cultural capital (own + cultural education at school) higher: more positive perceptions  large differences for age: at younger ages and even more among the youngest (14-18): pronounced negative attitudes, especially for classical concerts, art museums and theatre effect of age or generation ? -> indications for both

15. Conclusions  non-attenders are many  non-attenders are differentiated/segmented: possibly demanding different strategies for cultural communication  the largest barrier by-far is no interest  non attenders especially differ from attenders in their more negative social perceptions of cultural events (it is not for someone like me, I would not fit there,...)  youngsters show pronounced negative perceptions of art events + indications of generation effect  given the demographic evolution in Western countries: large, more interested generations are replaced by smaller, less interested generations