aceUVi

Like Brown and Novak-Leonard and NEF, Bakhshi and Throsby note that the
reported audience experiences must be interpreted in conjunction with the overall
goals of the cultural offerings. Thus, for instance, the researchers explain the low
levels of feeling ‘transported’ reported by both online and in-gallery visitors to
the Tate with reference to the fact that ‘by intention this show was more academic
than “spiritual” in its impact’ (Bakhshi and Throsby 2010, 50). Moreover, they
note that ‘45 per cent of online respondents said that the two modes of seeing the
exhibition were too different to make a comparison’, which again emphasises the
difficulty of comparisons (50). This latter finding highlights one of the difficulties
of measuring cultural value that Throsby identified in 2001, when he noted that
it may not be possible to express some aspects of aesthetic judgment in terms of
preference, but merely as difference (Throsby 2001, 32).
Regarding audiences’ ‘absorption’ Bakhshi et al’s findings seem to contradict
those of Brown and Novak-Leonard. In their analysis of the relationship between
cultural and economic value reported by audience members, Bakhshi et al
observe that
the elements of cultural value most clearly associated with consumers’ economic
valuation of their experiences … are the aesthetic/symbolic value indicated
by their emotional response, and the social value of the group experience.
Interestingly, the aesthetic value indicated by the respondents’ absorption in the
show exerts only a weak influence on willingness to pay. (Bakhshi et al 2010, 38)
While the authors are speaking of the economic value that audiences attribute
to their experiences (which is distinct from their cultural value in Throsby’s
framework), their finding that absorption is of little consequence stands in stark
opposition to Brown et al’s results for ‘captivation’, which they refer to as the
‘lynchpin of impact’ (Brown and Novak-Leonard 2007, 11). While it may not be
possible to explain the contradictory findings regarding the role of captivation, a
closer examination of the issue brings a further-reaching problem in the interpretation
of audience’s self-reported experiences to the fore.
Measuring Individual Impact: Post-Event Surveying 69
UNDERSTANDING the value and impacts of cultural experiences