Presenter: Taylor Jones
Mentor: Patricia Lambert, Arts and Administration
Poster: 32
Major: Public Relations and Art ManagementÂ
This research seeks to understand how arts managers have adapted to changes in consumer behavior in order to maintain youth audiences. Both quantitative and qualitative research provide insight on the demographic and psychographic backgrounds of Generation Y, which is categorized as people born between 1980-2000 and are popularly known as Millennials. Through citing multiple case studies, this paper evaluates positive and negative trends in modern consumer behavior and its impact on the performing arts industry. Key findings of this research were the social and technological trends that influence Generation Y, the impact of arts education on consumers, and how performing arts organizations have responded to changes in consumer behavior. These topics all relate to arts administrators’ effective use of marketing tools to better define and engage audiences. To understand consumer behavior of Generation Y is to understand the trends of performing arts attendees for decades to come.