Insight Into Adult Classic Theatre Audiences’ Perceptions and Behaviour

Many cultural institutions are experiencing challenges to implement different types of market-oriented behaviour in order to ensure their existence. Classic theatres are faced with many challenges related to their audience. One of the challenges is related to traditional audience that is declining and ageing. The aim of this research was to identify and analyse the key factors that contribute to understanding of attitudes and behaviour of 35+ theatre audiences in order to suggest appropriate marketing strategies for the classic theatre in Croatia. The research was conducted on altogether 438 participants. Statistical techniques of univariate analysis (frequency distribution, central tendency measures), bivariate (ANOVA and t-test) and multivariate analysis (reliability analysis, linear regression) were used. The results have identified attitudes and audience behaviour in relation to HNK Osijek. Three major factors were identified: theatre marketing profile, theatre people and stereotypes. This study seeks to provide a deeper understanding of classic theatre audiences’ perceptions and behaviour as a basis for theatre marketing strategy development.  Since no other research has tested the influence of stereotypes on theatre attendance, the major contribution of this paper is its proven negative influence on theatre attendance.