Predicting opera attendance based on operetta attendance : some initial empirical results

This research project models the segments of consumers of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, from naive first-attendees through to expert and passionate "heavy users" of esoteric live opera, questioning the reality of the "progressive continuum" of opera involvement, and the mechanisms of transition through any continuum (in both directions). The particular research sub-project reported in this paper focused on recent consumers of operetta who had never been to an opera, and tried to identify the characteristics which distinguished best between those who said that they are likely to attend an opera and those who are less likely. Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing of 238 consumers of an operetta isolated 65 participants who had not been to the opera, 28 of whom were coded as being likely to go to an opera, while the remaining 37 participants were coded as unlikely to attend. The inability of the usual demographic and product usage variables to group participants, and the preponderance of simplistic, superficial responses to open-ended questioning, indicated that more sophisticated techniques are needed, both to elicit more meaningful and actionable data regarding motivation, and to test the likely influence of available marketing variables in inducing desired behaviour (both marketer-desired and consumer-beneficial behaviour).

Battlefield tourism in Turkey : an empirical analysis of British ex-colonial event attendance

This paper explores the influence of visitor satisfaction on intention to recommend event attendance. The Anzac Day commemoration at Gallipoli, Turkey, an event that has become increasingly popular in recent years and provides the backdrop for the current study. Some 20,000 people travel to attend this event. Data was collected from 331 attendees while they were in transit from Gallipoli to Istanbul on 25 April 2007. The analysis of this data was undertaken using factor analysis as a basis for identifying model constructs to be tested using structural equation modelling. Findings suggest that the constructs relating to the ceremonies held at Anzac Cove and Lone Pine and the experiential and emotional aspects of the event were significant predictors of event satisfaction and subsequent recommending behaviour. The implications of these findings for events in general and the success of the Anzac Day commemorations at Gallipoli are discussed.

But they won't come to lectures ... : the impact of recorded lectures on student experience and attendance

The move to provide increasingly flexible platforms for student learning and experience through provision of on-line lecture recordings, is often interpreted by students as meaning attendance at lectures is optional. The trend toward the use of such recordings is often met with resistance from some academic staff who cite anecdotal evidence that student attendance will reduce. This study aimed to explore students’ views of the use of on-line recorded lectures and to measure the impact of this technology on student attendance at lectures. A pre and post evaluation methodology was undertaken using a self-administered questionnaire that gathered both quantitative and qualitative data from students. Overall attendance was recorded at each lecture throughout the semester. Results indicated that attendance remained high throughout the semester and while only a minority of students used the recorded lectures, those who did found them to be helpful to their learning. Most students used the recordings to either supplement their learning or to make up a lecture that they had not been able to attend due to other circumstances. The study also provides evidence that contrary to popular belief, not all Generation Y students aspire to replace lectures with downloadable on-line versions. Many of the students in this study still valued the opportunity for interactive learning provided by face-to-face teaching. Finally, a model that outlines the attributes that contribute to quality teaching is used to describe how recording technology can contribute to positive student experiences and can enhance reflective teaching practices on the part of teachers.

Marketing cultural attractions : understanding non-attendance and visitation barriers

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to draw together the previous academic and industry research on non-attendance of cultural attractions, followed by qualitative in-depth interviews to identify commonalities or gaps in the previous research on barriers, constraints and inhibitors, as well as to propose linkages between these.

Design/methodology/approach – A multi-method approach is used – where barriers, constraints and inhibitors are identified by means of thematic content analysis of the literature. A set of probing questions is developed based on these themes and is then examined in in-depth interviews with individuals that had not visited cultural attractions in the past two years, in an attempt to triangulate data, as well as to identify connections between barriers.

Findings – From the literature, eight interconnected barriers to visitation are identified: physical access; personal access; cost; time and timing; product; personal interest and peer group; socialisation and understanding; and information. The in-depth interviews generally support these, although it is also identified that there are complex interrelationships between the issues.

Originality/value – This paper addresses the neglected question of why people do not attend cultural attractions by triangulating thematic findings from the content analysis of diverse literature with in-depth interview responses from one non-visitor segment. This results in an interconnected model of barriers that can be used to assist managers to develop strategies addressing low visitation rates within targeted segments.

Outpatient cardiac rehabilitation attendance in England

Abstract
PURPOSE:
Cardiac rehabilitation is an effective but underprovided treatment for patients recovering from acute cardiac events. The geographical spread of provision has not been investigated recently in any country. This study aimed to investigate the level of participation in cardiac rehabilitation programs of patients following myocardial infarction or revascularization (eligible patients) and the geographical equity of attendance.
METHODS:
Questionnaire data were collected from all cardiac rehabilitation centers in England for the year 2003/2004. The number of patients attending rehabilitation was compared with eligible patients across the 9 Government Office Regions of England as indicated by Hospital Episode Statistics.
RESULTS:
Nationally, 29% of eligible patients attended rehabilitation, while within various regions, the proportion of eligible patients participating in rehabilitation ranged between 14% (95% CI, 13.2-14.3) and 37% (95% CI, 36.6-37.6). Participation also differed significantly by primary cardiac event: myocardial infarction, 25%; percutaneous coronary intervention, 24%; and coronary artery bypass surgery, 66% (P < .001).
CONCLUSION:
The participation rate of eligible patients in cardiac rehabilitation was low in all regions. There were large differences between regions with widely varying incidence of attendance in different parts of the country.

Vigilant pleasure as autoethnography : the life of the tea mind as critical history

I examine tea as cultural practice by exploring how it is implicated in the formation of individual subjectivities and national identity. While using the experience of learning and consuming tea lore as a foreigner as my explicit point of entry, I analyse how tea transmission practices are represented in Japanese films. My readings of these films are supported by a survey of the historical applications of tea as part of a project of national invention. Against tea's self-representation as purely cultural, I draw attention to this ideological silencing of its economic and political effects by claiming that institutionalised tea pedagogy has been a major player in a nationally distinctive discourse of transience. My thesis argues that autoethnography can be used to bring into view the ideological foundations of various social practices organised around tea sites and texts. Once ideology is visible autoethnography may mediate the effects of dominant discourses by making a modest form of private resistance possible. As a performance of critical and effective history, I explore the limits of consciously resisting institutionalised power by reflecting on how discourses of tea and social theory intersect in my autoethnographic account of tea experiences. I begin by locating my subjectivity in tea. After outlining how tea is useful to me in psychological, domestic and professional contexts, I survey autoethnographic writing and critical forms of textual analysis. Given that traditions of textual analysis set limits to what can be comprehended, I note that considerations of the role of subjectivity are sometimes absent from several modes of textual analysis. I contend that more delicate forms of textual analysis are possible when multiple forms of subjectivity are explicitly addressed. Subjectivity is emphasised as I move between performances of being a cultural insider of tea subculture and an ethnic and linguistic outsider of daily life in Japan when I examine the connections linking tea anecdotes, film narratives, individual tales and national myths. From the position of tea culture insider and consumer of social theory I examine the relationship between national culture and individual subjectivity. I identify internal contradictions in tea transmission practices and consider how tea pedagogy and its cult of personality are addressed in tea films. The thesis concludes by considering the utility of identities in a global economy and comment on recent theories addressing the ethical self and social practices. It is on this basis that I claim the readings advanced in the earlier chapters map the pleasures and limits of employing autoethnography as a form of private resistance against the dominant discourses of tea, nation, and leisure.

A model of predictors of attendance at major sporting events

Sports events represent a major category of event revenue contributing economic benefits to cities and regions. Attendance at sports events is recognised as an important activity (Shamir and Ruskin 1984), but over the past 20 years sports event attendance expenditure has declined (Ross 2006). Consequently, understanding the factors that influence sports event attendance is crucial to the sustainability of these events. This study identifies the antecedents of sports event attendance among 460 respondents who were surveyed in Melbourne, Australia. Structural Equation Modelling was used to test an empirical model of attendance motivations. The model identifies constructs relating to emotional responses and facilities, as the predictors of event attendance.

Attendance and pricing at sporting events : empirical results from Granger Causality Tests for the Melbourne Cup

This study applies Granger causality tests to examine the relationship between attendance, admission prices and real income at the Melbourne Cup, which is Australia's premier horseracing event and one of the world's leading handicap races. The motivation for the paper is that while market demand suggests that causation should run from admission price to attendance, it is equally plausible that sporting authorities could alter admission prices in response to a change in demand reflected in attendance. The main findings are that in the short-run there is unidirectional Granger causality running from income to attendance, attendance to admission price and income to admission price, while in the long run both admission price and income Granger cause attendance.

Experimental evidence for the influence of food availability on incubation attendance and hatching asynchrony in the Australian reed warbler Acrocephalus australis

The amount of time a bird allocates to incubation is likely to be limited by energetic constraints. If food is abundant, energetic constraints may be reduced and the time spent incubating (incubation attendance) may increase. Moreover, the onset of incubation in relation to clutch completion may be advanced, resulting in a higher degree of hatching asynchrony. We measured the effect of experimentally increased food availability on incubation attendance and an estimate of hatching asynchrony in the Australian reed warbler Acrocephalus australis. Supplementary food was provided every other day, from a few days before the start of egg laying until just prior to hatching. Incubation attendance was measured with temperature loggers at nests receiving supplementary food and control nests. Hatching asynchrony was inferred from mass and size differences between siblings shortly after hatching. We found that 1) food supplementation resulted in an increase in incubation attendance, when comparing both nests receiving supplementary food to control nests as well as feeding to non-feeding days in nests receiving supplementary food, and 2) food supplementation resulted in a greater hatching asynchrony, without affecting clutch size, average egg volume or the likelihood of eggs hatching. This suggests that food availability acts in a proximate way to modify the extent of incubation attendance and hatching asynchrony. We discuss the adaptive significance of increased incubation attendance and a shift in the degree of hatching asynchrony in relation to food availability.

Theory of planned behaviour and implementation intentions in dental attendance

The thesis used a model of health behaviour to examine the predictors of dental attendance. Older respondents who had strong intentions, low perceived vulnerability, stable plans to attend, and were influenced by significant others were more likely to have attended the dentist for preventive care in the last 12 months. The portfolio concludes that attachment theory is a useful conceptual framework for enhancing our understanding of the antecedents and consequences of childhood sexual abuse.

Measuring the intrinsic benefits of arts attendance

There is an emerging dissatisfaction with the current evaluative regimes for the quality and effectiveness of funded arts organizations. Far too much evaluation rests on audience satisfaction surveys and quantitative measures of audience attendance numbers, production numbers and revenue sources. The intrinsic benefits of the arts to audiences and to society are recognized to be of major importance, but the means to measure these in an acceptable and on-going manner has not been found. This article changes that. It shows, through almost three years of data collection on arts audiences, that a newly developed and tested Arts Audience Experience Index can be used and embedded by companies and government funding agencies to measure the audience experience of quality, alongside other acquittal tools.