An Evaluation of University Students as a Model Population in Predicting Performing Arts Attendance

Abstract

In the present study, attitudinal and behavioral variables were found using university students as subjects which predicted attendance for ballet, interpretative dance, theater, art museums, and symphonies. The equations developed were tested for predictive accuracy on patrons of the ballet. The equations were found to predict even greater amounts of the variance in the ballet sample than for the student sample with the exception of the theater. The extent of the variance predicted, in the areas previously studied, i.e., symphony and theater, increased vis-a-vis these studies. Overall, prediction of variance ranged from a low of 44 percent to a high of 57 percent based on the performing arts group studied.