Evolution, extinction, or status quo? Canadian performing arts audiences in the 1990s

This paper contributes to the 'culture of consumption' [Poetics 28 (2000) 207] research stream. Specifically, we examine hypotheses laid out by Peterson [Poetics 21 (1992) 243] using Canadian musical concert audience data from the 1990s. Results show that while the number of those who attend only classical music concerts ('snobs') is in decline, those who attend both classical and other types of music concert ('omnivores') is up sharply. Overall, the classical music concert attendance is unchanged for the period. Multivariate regression analysis is used to identify sources of the changes in the incidence of snobs and omnivores. We find that shifts in individual behaviour, as opposed to demographic changes in the population, are primarily responsible for the decrease in snobs. In addition, snobs are increasingly more likely to be drawn from older age groups. Omnivores are younger and more likely to live in urban areas than snobs. Despite their more varied choices, omnivores display the same level of attendance frequency as snobs at classical music events and a greater attendance frequency than snobs at theatre and dance performances. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.