{"id":81,"date":"2021-10-15T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-15T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rowx\/?p=81"},"modified":"2021-10-15T10:51:01","modified_gmt":"2021-10-15T15:51:01","slug":"but-how-is-it-audience-confidence-covid-and-after","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rowx\/2021\/10\/15\/but-how-is-it-audience-confidence-covid-and-after\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cBut how is it?\u201d Audience Confidence, COVID and After"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Row X blog by Hannah Grannemann<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHas anyone been to a show at the Tanger center yet? I know masks are required, but how is it? I have two Littles at home, and my mask has a filter, I just want to be comfortable and safe <\/strong>going there. Please do not turn this into anything political or negative comments, I\u2019m just looking for reassurance\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 70 responses followed this question about the new performing arts center on my neighborhood\u2019s Nextdoor page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey require masks and also have hospital grade air purification system! It is state of the art!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSaw Wicked and at least 6 people sitting near me DID NOT wear there [sic] masks once the show started. Face masks were required but as stated above there were noncompliant attendees.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026I didn\u2019t see anyone noncompliance [sic]. I heard no complaints from anyone, the staff were awesome, and the show was FABULOUS. I got so wrapped up in the show, that I didn\u2019t even notice the mask.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

She wanted to go; she was seeking confidence. While the COVID pandemic is a much more extreme case, audience willingness to participate in the arts has always been about confidence<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Insights Alliance<\/a>, a research consortium in the UK, the staff at the new Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts<\/a> here in Greensboro should be thrilled with this exchange on Nextdoor. Insight Alliance\u2019s research of UK arts and cultural audiences in the first month of reopening this year showed that audiences felt confident when they chose to attend performances, and their confidence was even stronger after the performance. The audience\u2019s willingness to recommend attending to others also increased after attending themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further, Insights Alliance would say that every cultural organization in Greensboro should be happy in this response to the Tanger Center because \u201ctrust appears interconnected<\/a>\u201d (discussed at around 29:00 in this webinar), meaning that confidence in attending one venue spills over to confidence in attending other venues.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the U.S., Wolf Brown\u2019s research<\/a> also shows high confidence level of arts attendees right now, even those attending indoor events. Overall, there\u2019s high satisfaction with the safety protocols in place when people visit a venue, with 70+% saying they were comfortable \u201cin terms of their health safety\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inspiring the confidence to attend is key, and it\u2019s not entirely in the control of the arts organization. Wolf Brown\u2019s data from last month show that 42% of survey respondents feel vulnerable to severe illness from COVID. About one-third are ready to attend now and about one-third say they are waiting until January 2022. Those are good numbers to know to manage expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alan Brown says, \u201cPeople are making subtle distinctions. People are maybe open to going out; it\u2019s not a black and white proposition. They\u2019re looking at the conditions very carefully, and making decisions on a case by case, venue by venue basis. And that some of the people who say \u2018I\u2019m not ready to go out\u2019 actually might go out, – this is kind of hopeful – if you can offer the right conditions.\u201d (Check out their data in detail \u2013 they are capturing regional variations in their studies.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What are those conditions? Audiences in these surveys are telling us that protocols have to be more than just masks in order for most audience members to have the confidence to go<\/strong>. Surveys from Insights Alliance and Wolf Brown show that majorities want multiple safety protocols<\/strong> in place, some combination of masking, social distancing, and vaccine\/testing requirements. Large percentages of people want all<\/em> those measures \u2013 yes, even social distancing<\/strong>, which is so hard for organizations to make work, financially. A common response from the dissatisfied respondents (a third or less of all respondents) in the Wolf Brown survey was that they wished for more social distancing. The Insights Alliance researchers also recommended keeping or restoring social distancing, at least for some performances. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(A bright spot: arts audiences have high vaccination rates. Vaccination rates in both Wolf Brown and Insights alliance were in the 87-98% range.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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A tweet from Joseph Allen congratulating American Repertory Theater on their reopening by sharing a picture of a sticker given to audience members when they’re cleared to enter the theater after showing proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

What actions by arts organizations can promote confidence of arts audiences to attend in-person?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Keep safety protocols<\/strong> to attract current audiences back \u2013 and enforce them. Insights Alliance shared that their survey respondents say they trust the venue, but worry about their fellow audience members actually following the rules (as you can see from the Nextdoor comments). \u201cIt\u2019s not a given that confidence will rise based on the most loyal people coming back. We will need to be vigilant for some time to come,\u201d said Katy Raines from Indigo, Ltd, a member of the Insights Alliance group.<\/li>
  2. Communicate effectively about what the audience needs to do<\/strong>, so their expectation matches their experience. Consumer behavior expert Dr. Stacy Wood[1]<\/a> (@DrStacyWood<\/a>) says consumers are fine with learning curves; they just want the company to be honest about what they have to do. If it\u2019s complicated, say so. But backlash will come if you say it\u2019s easy, and then they find it hard.<\/li>
  3. Encourage people to share their (good) experiences<\/strong>. Try to inspire what Insights Alliance calls \u201csocial reassurance<\/a>\u201d that attending is enjoyable, safe, and feels<\/em> safe. American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) is giving taking inspiration from \u201cI voted\u201d stickers and vaccine selfies to give out stickers to their audience members, who all must prove they\u2019re vaccinated or have a recent negative test. Spontaneous sharing, recommendations and expressions of confidence will be the most impactful. (Colleen Dilenschneider\u2019s research shows that word of mouth not <\/em>from the cultural institution is almost 13 times<\/a> more effective than messages organizations put out themselves.)<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    (I am curious to see if venues will share good news about events NOT being sources of spreading COVID cases, or if they\u2019ll just stay quiet, even if they don\u2019t have cases stemming from gatherings.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Back on Nextdoor, my neighbor writes another post, seemingly from the Tanger Center: \u201cThings are fine. All around us in masks. Staying in seats.\u201d That\u2019s great, she felt comfortable and safe, as she wanted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Confidence is not only required during COVID. It\u2019s always a precondition for arts participation. Confidence that the staff and your fellow audience members will treat you warmly and respectfully. Confidence that there\u2019s a gender-neutral bathroom, or a ramp. Confidence that the description of the show was accurate and your expectations will be met, more or less. There\u2019s a new set of concerns with COVID, and hopefully the conditions of the pandemic will change so the concerns can subside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The question, \u201cBut how is it?\u201d will remain.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Get new posts from Row X straight to your email inbox with the free ArtsJournal Daily or Weekly newsletter. Sign up here<\/a>.<\/em> Or, level up to the Premium Newsletter <\/a>or become a ArtsJournal Patreon Fan<\/a>. <\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n\n\n\n

    [1]<\/a> Wood, S. (2018). How can you influence change and innovation? In R. Hill, C. Lamberton, & J. Swartz (Eds.), Mapping Out Marketing: Navigation Lessons from the Ivory Trenches<\/em> (pp. 141\u2013143). Routledge. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4324\/9781315112602<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    What will it take for audiences to feel confident to attend in person at this stage of the COVID pandemic?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":82,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,1],"tags":[22,29,30,27,26,24,20,32,21,25,28,23,31,19],"class_list":{"0":"post-81","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-covid","8":"category-uncategorized","9":"tag-alan-brown","10":"tag-american-repertory-theatre","11":"tag-cdc","12":"tag-colleen-dilenschneider","13":"tag-confidence","14":"tag-greensboro","15":"tag-insights-alliance","16":"tag-joseph-allen","17":"tag-katy-raines","18":"tag-nextdoor","19":"tag-stacy-wood","20":"tag-steven-tanger-center-for-the-performing-arts","21":"tag-stickers","22":"tag-wolf-brown","23":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/rowx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Covid-ART-Voting-Stickers-Image.png?fit=578%2C198&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pdmYVE-1j","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rowx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rowx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rowx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rowx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rowx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rowx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":298,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rowx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81\/revisions\/298"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rowx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rowx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rowx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/rowx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}