Readiness to Receive

In a given audience, some people have a lot of knowledge about what they are about to see, while others may be attending for the first time.  Arts and cultural groups can use this information to gauge their success at attracting first-timers, and to assess the need for educational work and interpretive assistance.  There are three constructs of Readiness to Receive:

Context:  The overall level of preparedness an audience member has for the experience, including prior knowledge of the art form and familiarity with the specific work(s) to be presented.

Example:  Before the performance, how familiar were you with the specific piece(s) or repertoire?

Relevance:  The extent to which the arts activity in question is relevant to the participant; primarily to identify individuals who do not normally attend the arts (not investigated in this study, but included here for definitional purposes)

Example:  How much do you agree with the statement “The people I normally socialize with go to the theatre.”

Anticipation:  An audience member’s psychological state prior to the experience, especially the degree to which they are looking forward to the event.

Example: How excited were you about attending?