Digital hybridity: a deep dive from our Covid-19 participation monitor
Digital hybridity: a deep dive from our Covid-19 participation monitor
How are different types of audiences responding to the new ways of engaging with culture that have emerged over the last 18 months? And what does the future of digital or ‘hybrid’ engagement look like?
As the sector begins to cautiously reopen, questions remain around audience appetite for continued digital engagement, as well as how digital can enhance in-person experiences, and who is willing to pay for such experiences?
Following our initial findings from the third wave of The Audience Agency’s Cultural Participation Monitor that we published recently, we now have a deep dive into audience responses to digital forms of engagement. The research also shows who is more likely to have participated online, and which audiences are interested in digitally enhanced in-person experiences.
This report from The Audience Agency shares findings from a nationwide survey, the Cultural Participation Monitor. It is part of a wider national research programme that is building a robust and in-depth picture of the impacts of Covid-19 on the UK’s cultural sector.
This report dives deeper into findings relating to digital participation from the third wave of the nationwide Covid-19 Cultural Participation Monitor, with fieldwork taking place online from 4 to 10 June 2021. It presents evidence to support the following:
- As of July 2021, there is an appetite for continued digital engagement as well as digitally enhanced in-person experiences, especially among younger audiences.
- Lower engaged audiences expressed about as much interest as higher engaged audiences in digital offerings, which may prove to be an attractive draw.
- Among audiences that have expressed an interest in digitally enhanced in-person events, half say they are willing to pay more for them.
- Where audiences had no plans to participate in future digital events, this was due to a lack of interest rather than difficulty gaining access.
Read the full report for more detail on the above findings.
The Covid-19 Cultural Participation Monitor is a research survey that samples thousands of people from all UK regions and walks of life, adding insight about the wider public's changing views on participating in creative and cultural activities through the pandemic.
It will take place in several waves so that changes in attitudes, behaviours and intentions can to be plotted accurately as the crisis evolves. This report is based on data from the third wave of the Cultural Participation Monitor (June 2021).
This report is part of a wider research programme led by the Centre for Cultural Value in collaboration with the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre and The Audience Agency. This project is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) through UK Research and Innovation’s COVID-19 rapid rolling call.
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Audience research Audiences Covid 19 Digital Digital content Digital engagement Engagement Online audience engagement Research
