Focusing on the wrong thing

In a survey done around a couple of years back more then half of the people surveyed said that lack of time is a bigger problem then lack of money.

I still believe that thinking holds, even when people are more concerned about money then they are accustomed.

I mention this because I'm seeing a lot of arts organizations are cutting their ticket prices in the hopes that it will improve attendance.

If you already have relatively high ticket prices for your work, then cutting prices or offering discounts may be helpful to a point.

But mostly, you are just throwing money away by lowering prices.

This is because when people are considering attending your artistic event they are making time and effort decisions, not money decisions.

So if you can convince your target audience (through marketing and other efforts) that your work is worth getting off the couch, driving across town, etc. then you will be surprised what people are willing to pay for the experience.

Comments

[Ron Evans]

hallelujah! Instead of discounting prices to the ticket, how about offering a discount to a local restaurant? Doesn't cost the arts group a penny and creates value. To the other end of the spectrum, how about a romper room you can drop your kids off at next door to the theater? Partner with a local play place, or do it in house by having some intern actors play theatre games with them while you're at the performance for a needed break. Ticket price stays up, but the time and effort decision is influenced to the positive because you don't have to find a babysitter, etc. There are many things an arts group could do to influence time and effort decisions without lowering their ticket prices.