Understanding Culture Consumption

By Jacques Ewoudou

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Executive summary

In this research paper, we use data derived from the culture supplement of Statistics Canada’s 2005 General Social Survey to examine, from a multivariate perspective, cultural participation across socioeconomic and demographic attributes. We differ from past Canadian quantitative studies in two main ways. First, our analysis covers a wider array of culture activities, often enjoyed by Canadians of all age and income groups. Second, instead of focussing on whether a person participates or doesn’t participate in an activity (as past research often has), we based our study on the number of times a respondent participated in the respective culture activity. Using this key participation indicator, we do not understate either the importance of any demographic group at a given culture activity if that group participates an unusually high number of times nor do we overstate the effect of a demographic group in the event that the absolute frequency is unusually low.

Our multivariate analysis, in line with past empirical research, shows that household income, economic activity and educational qualification are all associated with greater participation in culture activities. Also, we provide evidence suggesting that differences in culture consumption are related to family background and the educational level of a conjugal partner. However, the impact of the latter exceeds that of the former, for all culture activities.

A socioeconomic profile of individuals participating in different cultural activities can provide useful insights to various stakeholders. It can give organizations concerned with the delivery and the commissioning of culture projects or programmes an understanding of those individuals who are most likely to attend their events and which groups are underrepresented and therefore possibly identify potential sources of market growth

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