Abstract
Live theatre historically targeted affluent adult audiences, but due to changing demographics and declining attendance among younger audiences, the approach has shifted. In South Africa, diverse platforms such as formal art theatres, arts festivals, and community-based theatre are employed to engage both new and existing audiences. Community-based theatre has become a popular theatre offering specifically aimed at child audiences. These productions are unique compared to other theatre offerings, such as those offered at formal theatres or arts festivals, due to a more informal theatre experience. Community-based theatre productions are mainly offered in churches or school halls and use amateur or community members as part of the cast. What is even more prominent about community-based theatre is that interaction between the cast and audience during a production is encouraged, and formal theatre etiquette, as expected by formal theatres, is less critical, but rather theatre exposure and availability for all income groups and audiences from different backgrounds is a priority.
Research has shown that exposure to the theatre from a young age provides various developmental advantages to children and encourages the development of a love for the theatre. This, in turn, creates the opportunity for a lifelong commitment to the theatre, a key aspect for ensuring the sustainability of the arts. Due to this, various tourism consumer behaviour studies have been undertaken to determine the key aspects contributing to the purchase of live theatre tickets. However, various research studies pertaining to live theatre ticket purchases have been conducted among adult theatre productions, with very few focusing on children’s theatre. Therefore, the results of these studies cannot be generalised to theatre ticket purchase motivations for productions aimed at child audiences; rather, they can guide further exploration of this specific topic. Furthermore, many of these studies were conducted internationally, and within the South African academic context, there is still a gap relating to this specific research topic. Hence, this study aims to expand on existing findings relating to this topic in the context of community-based children’s theatre productions to test the importance and present a more in-depth understanding of individual aspects that influence South African parents to purchase tickets and expose their children to community-based children’s theatre productions.
From literature five prominent factors that influence live theatre ticket purchases were identified, namely value, production credentials, supporting the arts, marketing and media, and parent-child activity. Each of these factors is evident within international and South African literature pertaining to arts purchase behaviour and this confirms the validity of using these specific factors for further investigation. To ensure that the goal of this study was reached, the study adopted an exploratory, phenomenological research design within a descriptive paradigm, employing a qualitative research method to delve deeply into respondents’ experiences and perceptions without researcher bias. This approach was chosen for its human-centred nature, allowing for detailed exploration of existing factors influencing live theatre ticket purchases.
A semi-structured interview guide was developed for this study. The interview guide consisted of two sections: respondent profile questions and influential factors in the purchase of community-based children’s theatre tickets (value, production credentials, supporting the arts, marketing and media, and parent-child activity). Each factor was presented as a discussion theme, allowing the respondents to elaborate on their answers. A purposive sampling technique was used and seventeen (17) participants participated in this study. The respondents were parents who bought tickets for themselves and their children to attend a community-based theatre production at a primary school in the northern suburbs of Cape Town. After purchasing their tickets, each parent was given the opportunity to form part of the research study by signing an agreement form allowing the researchers to contact them. The researchers contacted each respondent who indicated their willingness to participate in the study to arrange a date and time suitable for all parties involved. The researchers collected the data using telephonic interviews due to COVID-19 restrictions, while an external moderator oversaw each interview. The data was then analysed using a deductive thematic analysis, and answers in each theme were grouped using keywords derived from the responses.
The results show that of the five factors, only four were rated important contributors. Parent-child activity is the most important contributor to ticket purchases, followed by value, production credentials, and marketing and media. Supporting the arts was not rated as an important contributor among respondents. Within the most important factor, productions that create excitement among all family members, offer the opportunity for parents to spend time with friends and family who also have children, and offer the opportunity for grandparents to spend time with their grandchildren are important contributing aspects. Value rated as the second most important contributing factor; however, from the results, the complexity of this particular factor is evident. From the responses, it became clear that value is divided into three subcategories: value for money, educational value and value through accessibility. Respondents indicated that a ticket price between R130 and R150 is considered value for money, while loyalty programmes and group discounts also contribute to purchase intentions. Productions that teach children unique life lessons while allowing them to gain new knowledge and develop social and emotional skills are important educational value contributors. At the same time, a production hosted at an easily accessible venue (within 30 kilometres from their residential address) also contributes towards a valuable offering and increases purchase motivation. In relation to production credentials, respondents indicated that an appropriate theme for children contributes to purchasing production tickets. Inappropriate and discouraging themes include animal deaths, bullying and drug use. The results show that well-known children’s characters such as Lollos and Lettie or Liewe Heksie, interaction opportunities between the children and the cast, and productions in the child’s home language highly contribute to ticket purchases. Within the marketing and media factor three subcategories are also evident: digital marketing, traditional marketing and word of mouth. The results explicitly mention that word of mouth from the child’s teacher is an important contributor to ticket purchases. In contrast to previous studies, supporting the arts is not rated as an important contributor to ticket purchases. This prompted the researchers to identify three subcategories, namely childhood exposure, exposure intent, and obligation towards sustaining the arts, all of which were identified from previous studies where this specific factor was rated as a highly contributing purchasing factor. From the results, very few respondents were exposed to theatre from a young age, and while they are exposing their children to live theatre to develop social manners, this is not the only family activity they engage in, and they do not feel a moral obligation to ensure that the arts stay alive through their continued support of the theatre.
Overall, the study’s results contribute to the academic literature pertaining to live theatre and, more specifically, community-based children’s theatre offerings. Not only does this study contribute to academic literature, but through these results, valuable recommendations are made to live theatre producers, marketers, as well as festival organisers who want to offer community-based children’s productions as part of their festival programmes. The research also provides guidance for future research opportunities, including encouraging theatre attendance as a primary entertainment option for all family members and investigating the willingness to pay for international productions.
Keywords: children’s theatre; community-based theatre; Generation Z; preadolescent market; purchasing behaviour
- This article’s featured image was created by brunapazini0 and obtained from Pixabay.