LADDERING AS A METHOD TO MEASURE CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR IN THE ARTS

This research is a study into the laddering technique as a method to measure consumer behaviour in the arts. Laddering is a method stemming from psychology and is aimed at uncovering values of people and how they relate to their behaviour, in this case consumer behaviour. It is a method used in marketing and management, but not in the field of cultural economics. By setting laddering off against more common methods to measure consumer behaviour and the results they gained in the arts, the relevance of laddering is shown from a theoretical perspective. To also provide practical knowledge about the method, a test-case is performed, using laddering to study the consumer of a performing arts venue and their values relating to customer loyalty. The case shows how laddering leads to core values, clear communication paths able to be used by marketing and a new categorization of the audience. Even though there are limitations to laddering, for example that it is time consuming and requires skill from the researcher, it is still a way to gain more understanding about consumers than most common methods offer and therefore valuable for the arts.