Beyond the ‘substitution effect’: the impact of digital experience quality on future cultural participation

Leguina, Adrian, Manninen, Kadja ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7672-8311 and Misek, Richard (2023) Beyond the ‘substitution effect’: the impact of digital experience quality on future cultural participation. Cultural Trends. ISSN 0954-8963

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Abstract

The ‘digital pivot’, experienced by many arts and culture organisations during the Covid-19 pandemic, revealed a complex nexus of effects that includes significant accessibility improvements, for example, for D/deaf and disabled audiences, but also a replication of many pre-existing exclusions. We argue that understanding the experiences of online audiences can help inform arts and culture organisations’ decisions when adapting to the current period of uncertainty, particularly with the cost-of-living crisis reducing leisure spending. Drawing on data from the Digital Experience survey carried out in the UK by Indigo Ltd. (2020-21), this article explores how diverse online audiences evaluated online theatre experiences, and how these experiences can impact their future behaviour. By analysing the respondents’ quality of experience in parallel with data on participants’ demographics and chosen access devices, we provide evidence demonstrating that online participation, particularly if the experience is of high quality, has the potential to increase future in-person participation.