Experience Seekers Attitudes

Culture is at the heart of this group's social life and motivates them to seek out frequent new experiences with friends, and look for discounts to support diverse interests.

Priorities

This group places high value on new experiences to support and drive their social lives.

• Social opportunities are this group's driving force, so a focus on the whole experience is essential – meeting spaces, food, drink, services, facilities and, above all, a vibrant atmosphere in which to enjoy time with friends.
• Site-specific work in unusual venues, experiential or immersive offers from outdoor to pop-up may all engage if they offer new experiences and opportunities to socialise.
• Willing to take risks, be spontaneous and lead, they are able to consider a range of options and are looking to be well-informed as key influencers among their peers.
• Ethically and environmentally minded, they will seek out organisations and activities that align with their principles.

Spending

An adventurous attitude means that they are always on the lookout for an offer or discount to broaden their scope, though loyalty schemes are usually less attractive.

• However, an annual pass to a gallery or museum with changing exhibitions which can be engaged with more casually may be appealing, though they are less likely to renew on an annual basis.
• Value and price are key to this group – they will pay a premium for a guaranteed ‘experience’ – but are price sensitive and will seek out ticket and food/drink offers and discounts.
• Their high-frequency arts attendance will also have an influence on what they are willing to pay, and they may not respond to packages or multi-buy as it could be too much of a commitment to one place and limit their opportunities to engage elsewhere.
• Some have also bought original artworks.

Philanthropy

This group donates when they can, although not in large amounts, usually to museums, galleries and heritage.

• This group greatly values the cultural offer in their areas, has a positive attitude towards giving to the arts, and is more likely than average to do so.
• They are dependable donors to heritage, museums and galleries: 18% donated to museums and galleries, 16% to heritage and 9% to the arts.
• That said, if they do give it is usually at a low level – up to £50 to the arts and up to £20 to museums, galleries and heritage – so it is worth encouraging one-off site donations.
• Low level one-off or annual memberships may appeal to Experience Seekers’ sense of supporting culture – whether arts, museums, galleries or heritage.

Cost-of-living concerns

Although their cultural attendance is almost back up to pre-Covid-19 levels, Experience Seekers are among the most likely segments to be put off by cost-of-living concerns, so their potential absence may contribute to a renewed downturn.

This group is more likely to be worried by cost of living factors than the other highly engaged groups. When asked about inflation, energy costs and interest rates, 30% strongly agreed that inflation would affect their culture and leisure spending, but they were less worried than the others about interest rates.