Measuring audience addiction to the arts: the case of an Italian theatre

Given the importance of addressing national and local public policies towards the creation of a sort of “habituation” or “addiction” to fine arts consumption, relatively few studies have encountered this phenomenon and, above all, few empirical research have been done in order to replicate repeated audience participation in the arts. This paper employs Markov’s theory to describe the audience of an Italian theatre in their path towards “habituation” to fine arts consumption. It also proposes a methodology that can be useful for policy analysts and administrators in evaluating arts institutions’ strategies and policies with respect to existing audiences.