IMPACT Survey report

The IMPACT survey is the first of its kind to evidence the impact of attendance at arts organisations and spaces across Northern Ireland. It offers us fascinating insights into:

• The impact of arts attendance on NI audiences
• How different demographics engage with arts and culture
• Their behaviours and motivations
• How the cost of living has affected their spend around arts attendance

Some of our key findings include:

58% of people surveyed report that the cost of living crisis is having a detrimental impact on their arts and culture engagement. The impact is felt more acutely by disabled and LGBTQ+ audiences. Both of these groups also show lower rates of satisfaction after attending.

94% of NI audiences we surveyed said that they plan on returning to the venue and felt positive about their experience.

39% of audiences surveyed earn less than the NI median wage.

You can now download and read the full report for 2023-24. Please contact eve@wewillthrive.co.uk if you have any queries about the report.

Earlier findings and snapshots

Cost of Living

29% of responders said they are going less often as a result of the crisis.

Download our IMPACT Survey snapshot about the cost of living

(Data from September 2023 to January 2024)

Decision making

Last-minute booking is an emerging trend in audience behaviour, but 74% of NI audiences we surveyed decided to go to an event as soon as they heard about it. Despite this, only 33% book their ticket more than 7 weeks before the event.

Download our IMPACT Survey snapshot about advanced booking

(Data from September 2023 to January 2024)

Geography

Audiences for regional venues are hyper-local, with 58% of them traveling less than half an hour. Regional venues’ attenders are also late decision-makers, with 28% who said they decided to visit at the last minute or fairly recently.

Download our IMPACT Survey snapshot about geography

(Data from September 2023 to January 2024)

Disabled audiences

Disabled audiences are less likely than the Northern Ireland average to rate their overall experience as very good.

Download our IMPACT Survey snapshot about disability

(Data from September 2023 to January 2024)

Why we made the IMPACT survey

This post-visit audience survey helps us learn more about who audiences are, how they behave, why they attend and how they feel after attending a variety of artforms. We’ve named it the IMPACT Survey - Impact Measurement of People Attending Culture Today.

There is a large amount of research on the impact of cultural participation (including alleviating loneliness, promoting positive aging and inclusion), however, very little research has been done on the impact of cultural attendance. What does going to an art gallery give people, versus attending a concert or seeing a dance performance? How do various factors (like art form, age, or frequency of attendance) affect how people feel after attending something? And what other outside factors are making a difference, like the rising cost of living?

How can you take part in IMPACT?

• Organisations can sign up to the project by completing this form.
• We will meet with you to discuss the easiest ways you can collect data from your audiences. This can be via newsletter, post-visit email, social media, paper surveys, or signs in your venue. We’ll provide recommended copy and can even create the signs for you.
• We ask that you send out the survey continuously to recent visitors throughout the year.
• You can find out more about our IMPACT survey by reading our FAQs.