Attitudes of the cultural tourist: a latent segmentation approach

As a result of globalization, the widespread use of ICTs, and advances in transport infrastructure, tourism destinations have to confront an increasingly competitive setting. When to this one adds the saturation of some of the original markets, the consolidation of traditional coastal destinations, and changes in client preferences and habits, it is not surprising that cultural tourism is being seen as having considerable growth potential over the next few years. In this context, policy-makers have been striving to better understand the cultural tourism market by attempting to segment their clients so as to adapt their offer to the client’s needs and leave the client satisfied with the experience. Unfortunately, most studies on cultural tourism segmentation have been purely psychographic. While this can help to explain attitudes, it fails to identify, access, and quantify segments, and is of little use for implementing specific strategies. The aim of the present work was to study the influence of socioeconomic and demographic variables (age, academic level, expenditure on tourism, inter alia) on the predisposition to choose cultural tourism (the “culturophile tourist”). To this end, we have developed a novel methodological approach and applied it to the results of a survey conducted by Andalusia’s Middle Towns Initiative. The approach uses the latent variables resulting from a latent class analysis to estimate log-linear models.     

Measuring the relative efficiency of cultural-historical museums in Tehran: DEA approach

Heritage institutions, as one of the main aspects of culture, play an important role in economic prospect of culture by promoting tourism industry. Turning to the interpretation of culture in economic terms, the goal of this paper is to adopt a practical evaluation tool in order to assess the efficiency of heritage institutions. This study evaluates the technical efficiency of a regional system of museums in Tehran, the capital of Iran, using Data Envelopment Analysis approach. The findings may prove useful for management of these institutions in economic point of view, as well as for those responsible for public resource allocation policies in the area of cultural heritage.     

Evaluating the efficiency of public procurement contracts for cultural heritage conservation works in Italy

Almost everywhere public intervention in cultural heritage (CH) conservation is widespread. Using Italy as a case study, the paper analyses public capital expenditure for CH conservation and investigates whether the high degree of specialization of contracting authorities affects the efficiency of CH conservation works. A two-stage analysis is carried out. At a first stage, a nonparametric approach (Data Envelopment Analysis—DEA) investigates the relative efficiency scored by each single work; at a second stage, the determinant factors of the scores variability are investigated. The empirical analysis shows that, ceteris paribus, the expertise affects the efficiency of CH works.     

On the role of critics in the culture industry

Despite a substantial literature on the economics of the arts, there has been virtually no analysis of the role of criticism in the market for the arts. This paper discusses a number of problems which emerge in attempting such an analysis.     

Trees as natural barriers against heavy metal pollution and their role in the protection of cultural heritage

Leaves of common deciduous trees: the horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) and linden (Tilia spp.) from the park, near one of the most important cultural institutions, the National Library of Serbia, were studied as bioaccumulators of heavy metal (Cr, Fe, Ni, Zn, Pb, Cu, V, As and Cd) air pollution. The leaf samples were collected from the urban park exposed to the exhaust of heavy traffic. The May–September heavy metal accumulation in the leaves, and their temporal trends, were assayed in a multi-year period (2002–2006). Comparing the obtained concentration of the investigated elements from the beginning to the end of growing seasons, a significant rate of accumulation was determined for a majority of measured elements, and it was concluded that these tree species (horse chestnut and linden) can be used as bioaccumulators of the investigated heavy metals. The SEM-EDAX analysis of individual particles deposited on the leaves showed that the 50–60% belong to a class of fine particles (D < 2 μm), mainly of anthropogenic origin. Thus, the investigated tree species could be grown as a natural barrier against urban air pollution in the vicinity of libraries, museums and other buildings for cultural heritage storage.     

Knows no weekend: the psychological contract of cultural work in precarious times

ABSTRACT

This article explores the expanded and transformed nature of the psychological work contract for forms of cultural and artistic labour in precarious conditions. The forms of passionate work found within cultural production are argued to form a new model for governing our subjective involvement in and attachment to work. This more expansive and demanding relationship with work has become generalized beyond the specific area of cultural production into employment relationships more generally. In doing so the expanded psychological contract of work comes to operate as a form of logistical media and infrastructural governance, connecting the micropolitics of governing labour with larger structural conditions of precarity and instability. Thus, while work today is less stable in what it offers, it demands even greater psychological investment despite increased uncertainty.     

Cultural intermediaries in the making of branded music events: digital cultural capital in tension

ABSTRACT

Previous studies have overlooked how intermediaries and their digital cultural capital enhance the relationship between brand values and consumer identities; their specific uses of digital technologies; and how those uses are displayed in activities where intermediaries create consumer experiences. This paper thus explores the role that cultural intermediaries (music bloggers and an advertising agency) and their digital cultural capital play in making and communicating a branded music event. Briefly, intermediaries used a set of digital technologies (social media, guest lists, blogs, and websites) to create and orchestrate an authentic and exclusive experience between brands and consumers. We draw on empirical material from interviews and ethnographic work conducted in Santiago, Chile. Our study identifies digital technologies used by cultural intermediaries in communicating branded music events, including as: promotional tools; advertising campaign efficacy evaluation mechanisms; and relational objects that connect advertising agencies, music bloggers, brands, and consumers. By exploring the tensions and conflicts that arise among bloggers and advertising executives, we shed light on the uses and exchanges of digital cultural capital for commercial purposes, resulting from the connections between intermediaries that come from different fields of cultural production.     

Subjective well-being in cultural advocacy: a politics of research between the market and the academy

This paper responds to a trend of contracting out subjective well-being econometrics to demonstrate social return on investment (SROI) for evidence-based policy-making. We discuss an evolving ecology of ‘external’ research taking place ‘between’ the academy and commercial consultancy. We then contextualise this as waves of research methodologies and consultancy for the cultural sector. The new model of ‘external between’ consultancy research for policy is not only placed between the University and the market, but also facilitates discourse between policy sectors, government, the media and the academy. Specifically, it enables seductive but selective arguments for advocacy that claim authority through academic affiliation, yet are not evaluated for robustness. To critically engage with an emergent form of what Stone calls ‘causal stories’, we replicate a publicly funded externally commissioned SROI model that argues for the value of cultural activities to well-being. We find that the author’s operationalisation of participation and well-being are crucial, yet their representation of the relationship problematic, and their estimates questionable. This case study ‘re-performs’ econometric modelling national-level survey data for the cultural sector to reveal practices that create norms of expertise for policy-making that are not rigorous. We conclude that fluid claims to authority allow experimental econometric models and measures to perform across the cultural economy as if ratified. This new model of advocacy research requires closer academic consideration given the changing research funding structures and recent attention to expertise and the contracting out of public services.     

The effects of cultural and historical information and contribution threshold on public contributions: an experimental study on the conservation of heritage houses in Penang,Malaysia

Budget constraints at the local government level towards the provision of public goods have fuelled interest in the voluntary contribution and provision point mechanisms. However, due to their public nature, these mechanisms are not without problems. The literature shows the presence of free riding and socially inefficient contribution levels. This paper experimentally tests the effect of cultural and historical information pertaining to heritage houses in Penang, Malaysia, on public contributions for their conservation. This paper considers a standard linear one-shot four-person public good game and the decision of the subjects being to contribute either to a private or to a public account. We devise 4 treatments: a Control treatment, a treatment where subjects are provided with cultural and historical information pertaining to the heritage houses, a treatment that includes a contribution threshold, and finally a treatment that combines the use of cultural and historical information with the contribution threshold. The main finding shows that 60–75 % of the subjects contributed more than what they believed others in the same group would contribute when they were provided with the pertinent cultural and historical information. Most of the subjects contributed less than their belief, while 75–77 % cooperated ‘selfishly’ in treatments without the information. These findings are in agreement with the literature, namely that contributions are higher in treatments with a contribution threshold. Moreover, the combination of a contribution threshold and cultural information could encourage more pro-social behaviours.     

The drowned and the saved: the determinants of success in the Italian temporary art and cultural exhibitions market

This paper develops an empirical analysis of the determinants of the length of temporary art and cultural exhibitions. Using a sample of 659 exhibitions that took place in Italy in the period 2001–2010, a generalized linear model with a logit link and the binomial family was estimated. We also focus on the subsample of prolonged exhibitions, using a logistic accelerated failure time model. The empirical evidence supports the relevance of the subject, location and timing of the exhibition on duration; however, differences in the estimated impact of explanatory variables seem to suggest alternative marketing strategies for prolonged exhibitions.     

Access to and participation in the arts: The case of those with low incomes/educational attainment

This paper looks at the issue of access to the arts in terms of the very unequal attendance at and audiences for the high arts by educational grouping. The meaning of equal access is analysed, recent data for two countries, namely the United States and Ireland, are examined and new evidence is proffered. The constraints/barriers to, and the rationale for, more equal attendance/audiences are examined. The paper concludes by outlining a number of possible responses to this continuing problem.This paper was presented at the 9th international conference of the Association for Cultural Economics, held in Boston, May 8–11, 1996.     

European cultural statistics in a comparative perspective: index of economic and social condition of culture for the EU countries

In the article, we present the construction of an index of economic and social condition of culture using datasets of Eurostat’s Cultural Statistics Pocketbooks from 2007 and 2011 and Eurostat’s COFOG data. The datasets allow us a broad perspective over a set of more than 200 variables in 12 domains for the EU-27 member states. Using high-dimensionally adjusted factor analysis (Metropolis–Hastings Robbins–Monro algorithm), we construct an index and determine a set of its several dimensions (as seen from the cultural statistics viewpoint). Using cluster analysis, we determine the general similarities and differences among the analysed countries and show several broadly different groupings that roughly, but not exclusively follow the divide speculated in some previous studies. The analysis therefore brings a novel and statistically developed tool to empirically follow the changes in the economic and social condition of culture from the viewpoint of cultural statistics, while the clustering of models has important consequences for empirical cultural policy and has to be verified in future studies.     

Factors influencing the intention to revisit a cultural attraction: The case study of the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rovereto

This paper analyses the different factors influencing the intention to revisit a cultural attraction with an application to the Museum for Modern and Contemporary Art (MART) in Rovereto, Italy. The empirical data were obtained from a survey undertaken in 2009 and a zero-truncated count data model is estimated. The findings reveal that sociodemographic characteristics positively influence the probability to return to the museum. Also, as reported in other studies, the temporary exhibitions offered by the museum have a significant impact with an incidence rate ratio almost twice as high. No matter how much visitors spend on accommodation, they are less likely to revisit if they travel in groups, by train or on foot, are far from their town of origin and have spent a long time visiting the museum.     

Landscape quality of farm buildings: The evolution of the design approach in Italy

Rural buildings have undergone deep changes with the historical transition from traditional agriculture to industrial society. This paper discusses these trends in Italy, focusing on major changes in agriculture, design approach, and land-use planning, referring to some regional cases and relative building typologies. The analysis of the main historical treatises on the subject of farm building design allowed us to evaluate how the evolution of the technical approach influenced the architectural quality of rural buildings. This latter was traditionally based on a close relation between aesthetic values, functionality, and simplicity, broadly acknowledged only recently, as shown by the loss of landscape integration of farm buildings constructed in the last decades. By analysing the processes of reuse of historical buildings and construction of new farm buildings, we have found out different and time-evolving ways of referring to rural heritage and identity. In some cases, they have been considered important references, even through typological evolution aimed at combining traditional values with new needs and available techniques. In other cases, old farm buildings have been considered unsuitable things of the past, or rather have inspired new constructions based on an idealized and mystified concept of rurality. Since landscape integration of rural buildings plays a crucial role in the EU concept of agriculture, the choice of architectural quality postulates to be adopted for the design of new rural buildings is a key theme. Both consistency with pre-industrial tradition and typological discontinuity must necessarily consider consciously the relationships with historical buildings, whose important values have increasingly come to the fore over the last years. Once consistency with historical farm buildings is assumed as a design postulate, contemporary interpretation of traditional typologies through modern building techniques is a very challenging and topical field of study. Various degrees of consistency with traditional typologies are possible. Therefore, this approach calls for the development of analytic and metadesign methods aimed at decomposing rural building typologies into their essential physiognomical features, allowing designers to modulate them to meet ever-changing requirements.     

Measuring the efficiency of heritage institutions: A case study of a regional system of museums in Spain

Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is a widely applied tool in efficiency evaluation for public administration, yet has scarcely been put to use in the case of heritage institutions. The goal of the current paper is to evaluate the technical efficiency of a regional system of museums, the hypothesis being that these bodies represent one organization of productive resources (employment, equipment, art collections, and so on), aimed at providing various goods and services linked to their basic functions: conservation, exhibiting, research and dissemination of cultural heritage. Yet, given the diverse nature of this kind of institution, previous sorting and classification is required in order to obtain homogeneous clusters for the various elements. This research therefore merges multivariate statistical techniques to synthesise the initial information and DEA for efficiency evaluation. These findings may prove useful for management of these institutions, as well as for those responsible for public resource allocation policies in the area of cultural heritage. We apply this to a regional system of museums in Spain, which includes both rural and urban museums.     

Using heritage risk maps as an approach to estimating the threat to materials of traditional buildings in Tainan (Taiwan)

Academic studies concerning how climate influences Asian heritage are rare. The object of this study was to utilize the concept of heritage climatology together with a spatial analysis approach that includes respective climate parameter risks to cultural heritage sites. The study area, Tainan City, Taiwan, is in a subtropical zone south of the Tropic of Cancer. Tainan has nearly 300 hundred years of rich history and a multicultural background. This study used maps to gain information about potential climactic threats to Tainan's cultural-historical legacy. There are four kinds of map that use ArcGIS to analyse and demarcate regions not only by climate parameters but also by risk to heritage. These four types of map are climate maps, heritage climate maps, heritage maps and heritage risk maps. Climate maps give the short- to medium-term general status of the climate in Tainan City and thus served as the foundation of the other maps used in this study. Heritage climate maps give data concerning index factors that influence wood and stone materials. Heritage maps show locations of cultural heritage sites on an administrative map and categorize them according to their historic value. Heritage risk maps use accumulated calculations to superimpose the heritage climate map onto the heritage map in order to evaluate the risks to heritage sites in certain areas and categorize the levels of risk. Heritage sites in mountainous areas generally need to be protected from heavy rain, whereas downtown city environments, due to the urban heat island effect, require better protection against heat and cracking. By comparison of our field study results and climate risk maps, we found that in urban areas wooden materials have a higher risk of structural cracking, colour fading and bio-degradation, while coastal areas have a higher risk of weathering of stone materials.