Audience  Engagement  Project    

This  is  a  research  report  on  the  students  at  Sonoma  State  University  and  their  knowledge  of  the  Center  for  Performing  and  Visual  Arts.  This  report  also  shows  what  students  prefer  and  want  to  see  in  student  

performances  at  Sonoma  State  University.      

Research  done  by:  External  Public  Relations  Department    

At  Primitivo  PR    

                             

         

1.  Students  were  asked  what  they  like  to  do  on  your  free  time  on  the  weekend;  we  found  that  majority  of  the  students  who  completed  the  survey  do  many  things  with  their  free  time.  However,  the  results  in  total  did  show  a  consistency  of  four  different  activities  that  are  all  dominant  in  the  responder’s  free  time.  The  activity  that  stood  out  as  the  most  dominant  activity  people  do  on  their  free  time  or  on  the  weekends  is  hanging  out  with  friends.  This  option  ended  with  739  responses,  in  total  80.6%  of  students  stated  that  they  do  this  at  some  point  during  their  weekend.    The  activity  that  came  in  second  most  popular  with  580  responses  and  a  total  of  63.2%  was  staying  home  and  watching  Netflix.  The  activities  that  we  did  not  include  as  one  our  options  but  were  written  in  the  provided  text  area  were  studying  and  working.    

                 

         

2.  Students  were  asked  if  they  have  ever  attended  an  on-­‐campus  student  play,  music,  dance,  vocal  or  instrumental  performance  or  art  gallery  and  more  than  half  of  the  students  said  they  had.  There  are  still  35%  of  students  who  have  never  attended  any  kind  of  performances.      

                                   

         

3.  When  asked  what  specific  types  of  performances  they  have  gone  to  before  there  was  a  very  small  difference  between  plays  and  dance  performances;  an  average  of  47%  of  those  surveyed  have  attended  either  type  of  performance.  Following  behind  those  two  categories  students  have  attended  art  galleries  and  vocal  musical  performances  the  most.  Although  33%  of  students  have  gone  to  a  vocal  musical  performance  only  24%  have  gone  to  a  musical;  musicals  ranked  the  lowest  on  the  type  of  performances  students  have  attended.    

                           

         

 4.    This  question  asked  why  students  attended  the  performances  they  did.  57%  of  those  who  have  attended  performances  have  gone  for  fun/entertainment.  The  next  category  with  the  most  responses  was  for  extra  credit  in  their  class.  If  45%  of  students  have  attended  performances  because  they  get  extra  credit  it  can  be  assumed  that  if  more  teachers  offered  extra  credit  perhaps  there  would  be  a  higher  attendance  at  performances.  A  40%  of  students  have  also  attended  performances  because  their  friends  were  in  the  shows.  There  were  many  answers  from  students  that  said  they  have  gone  to  performances  because  they  have  been  required  to  for  one  their  classes.      

           

         

5.  A  combined  64.7%  of  students  answered  that  they  would  be  “very  likely”  or  likely  to  go  to  another  performance  after  having  attended  one  before.  This  means  that  there  are  a  high  number  of  people  that  are  becoming  satisfied  with  what  is  going  on  at  performances.  10%  of  students  said  it  would  be  “unlikely”  or  “very  unlikely”  to  go  to  another  performance  so  there  has  to  be  a  reason  for  why  they  did  not  like  the  performances.  In  conclusion  these  numbers  show  that  if  more  students  start  attending  performances  there  will  be  a  high  chance  that  they  would  go  back  for  more.    

                       

         

6.  According  to  the  survey  68%  of  students  would  like  to  see  more  modern  context  in  performances.  Another  big  category  was  food  before  events;  if  food  were  accessible  it  would  attract  more  people  as  well.  Many  students  network  outside  of  school  and  therefore  build  relationships  with  people  that  do  not  attend  the  university.  47%  of  students  answered  that  if  a  free  ticket  were  given  for  them  to  take  someone  that  does  not  go  to  the  university  it  would  attract  them  more  as  well.  Another  option  that  would  incentivize  36%  of  students  to  attend  more  performances  would  be  handing  out  tickets  to  students  on  campus.    

           

 

         

7.  According  to  the  data  in  the  surveys  collected,  there  were  186  participants  that  said  yes  they  have  considered  attending  a  performance  before,  which  is  62%  of  the  student  body  pulled.  56  participants  said  that  they  have  never  considered  attending  a  show,  which  is  18.7%.  The  remainder  of  the  survey  results  said  that  that  they  were  indifferent  to  attending  a  show  or  not,  which  was  19.3%.  The  great  news  about  these  results  is  that  the  highest  percentage  of  the  student  body  participants  has  considered  attending  a  show  previously.  This  creates  a  great  opportunity  to  capitalize  on  future  shows  since  they  have  already  showed  interest  and  they  could  all  potentially  become  attendees  of  multiple  shows.  The  other  market  to  focus  on  would  be  the  indifferent  category.  They  have  not  considered  nor  not  considered  attending  a  show  and  if  you  have  a  show  that  is  of  interest  to  them  then  you  could  get  them  to  join  the  yes  category,  thus  creating  more  sales  and  revenue.  

 

       

 

         

8.  According  to  the  data  collected,  166  people  said  they  didn’t  know  about  the  shows/performances,  making  this  the  highest  category  response,  which  was  55.3%.  139  or  46.3%  of  people  surveyed  said  the  reason  for  not  making  a  show  was  that  they  couldn’t  make  the  date/and  or  time  the  show  was  scheduled  on.  The  third  reason  was  that  the  students  didn’t  know  that  the  shows  were  free,  making  up  34.3%  87  students  answered  that  they  are  simply  not  interested  making  up  29%.  47  students  responded  claiming  that  they  are  unaware  of  how  or  where  to  locate  tickets  making  up  15.7%  of  the  student  body  responses.  The  remainder  of  the  responses  chose  other  which  16  people  choose,  making  up  5.3%  of  the  responses.    The  reasons  noted:  do  not  have  time,  taking  care  young  children,  they  live  out  of  town,  that  they  just  transferred  to  SSU  and  are  unaware  of  the  performances  and  are  just  starting  to  find  their  way  around  campus;  no  one  to  go  with,  most  of  the  stuff  on  campus  is  low  budget/tossed  together  and  that  nobody  likes  plays  and  lastly  they  don’t  sound  interesting  or  appealing.    

 

 

         

9.  According  to  the  data,  the  incentive  that  would  get  students  to  start  attending  more  shows  is  marketing  and  advertising.59.2%  of  students  agreed  that  with  better  advertising/marketing  it  would  get  them  to  the  show.  The  second  highest  response  claimed  said  to  have  food  at  shows,  where  52.2%  agreed.  A  close  third  of  51.8%  said  having  more  modern  content  such  as  Wicked  or  the  musical  The  Jersey  Boys  would  incentivize  them  to  attend.  49.2%  of  the  answers  suggested  that  giving  a  free  ticket  would  peak  their  interest  in  going.  34.8%  suggests  that  if  there  were  more  accessibility  such  as  tickets  being  handed  out  on  campus  or  shuttles  to/from  the  dorms  it  would  be  more  enticing  for  them  to  attend.  Having  student’s  hand  out  tickets  to  other  students  is  a  great  inexpensive  way  to  get  the  students  to  attend  more  shows.  It’s  also  an  easy  way  to  track  if  it’s  working  or  not  because  you  can  simply  print  certain  tickets  with  barcodes  and  then  track  the  attendance  of  those  tickets.  16.7%  thought  that  if  you  had  better  talent  then  they  would  consider  attending.  Lastly,  3.7%  chose  other  stating  reasons  such  as:  A  newsletter  with  the  monthly  schedule  of  all  the  performances  on  campus,  relevant,  current  issues  people  care  about,  winning  prizes  and  gift  cards,  having  better  shows,  more  experienced  talent,  trailers  of  the  shows  and  local  bands.    

 

   

         

10. According  to  the  data  gathered,  25.1%(217  people)  answered  yes  that  they  were  aware  the  fee  included  the  shows.  This  left  the  remaining  74.9%  (647  students)  not  knowing  that  the  IRA  fee  included  performances.    

                   

         

11.  This  survey  question  gave  participants  seven  options.  538  students,  62.3%,  would  be  persuaded  to  go  to  a  performance  or  gallery  by  a,  peer  or  friend  recommendation.  This  proves  that  students  are  more  likely  to  go  if  another  student  is  interested  in  it.  Students  in  the  performance  or  in  the  department  should  try  and  tell  as  many  people  as  people  possible  to  circulate  information  on  the  performance.  The  second  most  popular  response  with  500  students,  57.9%,  was  posters  around  campus  flyers.  This  form  of  physical  and  visual  advertisements  seems  to  be  what  the  performing  arts  department  has  done  for  many  years  and  proves  by  this  survey  to  still  be  successful.  A  handful  of  students  responded  in  the  “other”  option  with  social  media  like  Facebook.  Social  media  is  huge  medium  that  the  performing  arts  department  should  take  advantage  of  in  order  to  reach  our  University  audience.      

             

         

12.  After  yielding  the  results,  we  determined  that  students  are  most  likely  to  discover  new  music  on  the  Internet  at  sights  such  as  Pandora,  Spotify,  and  online  radio  and  the  second  highest  result  was  through  the  AM/FM  radio.  Quantifiably  speaking,  our  results  yielded  almost  82%  (711/920)  of  those  who  took  the  survey  discovered  music  on  Pandora,  Spotify,  and  online  radio  while  47.2%  (410/920)  discovered  music  on  AM/FM  radio.  Other  top  notable  results  include  social  media  networks  and  blogs  (45.2%  of  those  surveyed)  as  well  as  music  festivals  (25.5%  of  those  surveyed).  When  looking  at  the  “other”  response  section,  most  of  the  responses  were  online  sites  or  places  electronically  accessed;  such  as  YouTube,  Soundcloud,  8tracks.com,  and  iTunes.    When  analyzing  the  data,  we  believe  the  majority  of  the  answers  were  online  content  because  the  majority  of  the  students  surveyed  are  part  of  the  generation  that  is  constantly  online  (ages  18-­‐23).  Only  25.5%  of  people  discovered  music  at  Music  Festivals,  and  of  the  8%  of  “other”  answers,  the  only  off-­‐line  answers  were  “word  of  mouth”  and  “through  a  friend”.  Because  they  are  constantly  online,  it  is  much  easier  for  them  to  find  music  on  sites  they  frequent  everyday.  

         

13. After  yielding  the  results,  we  determined  that  62.7%  (546  of  920)  of  the  people  surveyed  had  listened  to  classical  music  to  study  and/or  relax  and  37.3%  (325  of  920)  had  not  used  classical  music  to  study  or  relax.  This  could  be  because  classical  music  is  known  to  not  use  much  voice  as  well  as  have  softer  relaxing  tones.    

         

 14.  When  the  survey  participants  were  asked  what  type  of  dance  show  they  would  like  to  see  more  of  at  SSU,  a  multitude  of  responses  were  received  in  regards  to  specific  forms  of  dance.    According  to  the  report,  students  would  like  to  see  more  contemporary,  hip-­‐hop,  and  group  dances.  Based  upon  our  findings,  students  are  more  likely  to  go  to  dance  shows  that  are  more  connected  to  as  well  as  those  that  have  more  of  a  modernized  twist  to  them.      

 

         

15.  When  the  participants  were  asked  what  types  of  plays  they  would  like  to  see  more  of  at  SSU,  the  top  answer  was  Popular  Broadway  plays.  With  many  responses  in  the  other  categories  as  well  a  majority  of  students  are  interested  in  plays  as  a  whole  as  long  as  it  has  something  interesting  to  keep  interest  throughout  the  performance.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

         

16.  According  to  the  survey  students  want  to  see  more  popular  Broadway  musicals  preformed  at  SSU.  Many  of  the  shows  that  have  been  done  at  SSU  in  the  past  are  shows  that  many  students  have  not  heard  of.  Shows  such  as  Wicked,  Hairspray,  Legally  Blond,  and  more  are  shows  that  are  more  known  to  the  public  and  will  draw  more  student  interest.    Also  in  the  other  box  option  students  wrote  musicals  that  are  also  Disney  movies.      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

         

17.  When  asked  questions  about  preferences  in  the  type  of  art  they  would  like  to  see  in  art  galleries  students  prefer  to  see  more  displays  that  mainly  consist  of  paintings,  as  well  as  sculptures.  These  particular  forms  of  art  tend  to  be  more  analytical  and  up  to  interpretation.    In  the  “other”  bow  option  students  wrote  that  they  want  to  see  fun  and  creative  pieces  specifically  photography  and  digital  art.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

         

18.    When  asked  if  they  would  attend  a  spoken  word,  or  slam  poetry  event,  the  responses  were  very  close  in  percentage,  but  the  majority  concluded  that  they  would  not  attend  an  event  like  this.      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

         

19.  According  to  the  survey  the  types  of  musical  performances  that  students  would  like  to  see  more  of  at  SSU,  participants  responded  with  the  genres  of  modern  and  hip-­‐hop  music.  It  is  clear  that  the  students  the  students  at  SSU  are  requesting  to  see  more  modern  performances  at  SSU,  which  are  more  relatable  to  them  and  their  generation.  In  the  “other,”  box  option  the  genres  of  rock  and  alternative  were  mentioned  often.      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

         

20.  Due  to  the  fact  that  most  students  have  class  during  the  day,  it  is  no  surprise  that  the  majority  of  responses  dictate  that  evening  time  is  the  peak  of  interest  to  see  an  on-­‐campus  student  performance.    58.1%  of  students  who  took  the  survey  feel  that  early  evening  (5pm-­‐6pm)  is  the  best  time  for  them  to  see  a  show,  while  77.4%  of  the  participants  said  even  later  in  the  evening  would  be  best  (7pm-­‐10pm).    From  these  statistics,  the  students  indicated  that  they  are  most  likely  to  see  a  performance  on  campus  if  it  is  later  in  the  evening  because  they  have  more  availability  around  that  time  since  classes  are  usually  out  by  then.      

 

 

 

 

 

 

         

21.  An  overwhelming  71.9%  of  students  who  took  the  survey  feel  that  a  Friday  night  would  be  the  night  of  the  week  when  they  would  be  most  likely  to  see  an  on-­‐campus  student  performance.    Not  far  behind,  56.7%  of  these  students  felt  that  a  Saturday  night  would  be  best.    The  Center  for  Performing  Arts  should  be  sure  to  schedule  events  on  weekends  more  than  week  days,  because  students  have  more  free  time  on  these  days.    With  school  and  sometimes  work,  these  days  tend  to  work  out  best  for  students  who  typically  don't  have  class  or  work  on  weekends.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

22.  In  regards  to  the  length  of  time  students  would  sit  and  watch  on  on-­‐campus  

         

performance,  most  students  (71.3%)  said  they  would  stay  for  1-­‐2  hours,  depending  on  the  performance.    Most  students  would  not  stay  for  less  than  30  minutes,  or  for  more  than  2  hours.    For  the  free  response  portion  of  the  question,  almost  every  response  stated  that  the  length  of  time  they  would  stay  depends  entirely  on  what  type  of  performance  it  was  and  their  interest  in  this  type  of  performance.    Furthermore,  students  commented  that  they  would  be  comfortable  to  sit  through  a  2-­‐hour  performance,  as  long  as  there  was  an  intermission  incorporated  into  the  schedule.