Exploring the Relationship Between Visitor Experiences and Short-Term Impact in Performing Arts

[PRE-RELEASED VERSION]

Pieter de Rooij, Adriaan van Liempt, Mathijs Mertens

Pieter de Rooij is a lecturer and researcher in marketing & CRM at the Academy for Leisure & Events, Breda University of Applied Sciences (BUas), Netherlands. His research focuses on visitor experiences, impact, and customer loyalty in arts and culture. He applies these insights within the professional field by offering learning trajectories on customer and impact centricity to arts organizations.
Adriaan van Liempt is a researcher and lecturer in sociology, methodology, and data science at the Academy for Leisure & Events, Breda University of Applied Sciences (BUas), Netherlands. His research focuses on consumer experience and impact in cultural industries, particularly museums and heritage tourism.
Mathijs Mertens holds a Master of Science degree in Leisure & Tourism Studies from Breda University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. He currently works as a senior market researcher at Ipsos I&O.

ABSTRACT
The attention for the impact of activities of cultural organizations is growing. Although several studies describe the visitor impact of performing arts, these studies often lack a theoretical framework and do not provide clear insights about the relationship between antecedents and impact. In this quantitative study, a dual nature perspective on experience is adopted which separates visitors’ perception of production elements from outcome-based experiences. An experience impact framework of Duerden et al. (2018) is applied which distinguishes three impact levels. The study explores the relationship between visitor experiences and short-term impact of two musical productions. A SEM analysis reveals that emotional connection and cognitive stimulation are the main contributors to impact. This highlights the importance of character and story development in performing arts productions and the need for pre- or post-show activities focusing on increasing cognitive insights.
KEYWORDS
Visitor experience; dual nature perspective; emotional connection; cognitive stimulation; impact levels; performing arts