Sudbury, Ontario, is a small Canadian city, home to a vibrant though dwindling French-speaking population in a province where Anglo-Saxon language and culture largely prevail. In recent years, Sudbury's francophone arts audiences have endured three major upheavals that have since affected both their ability and intent to take part in artistic and cultural outings:

1) the covid-19 pandemic, characterized by temporary closures of public spaces and stringent public health restrictions;

2) the insolvency process of Laurentian University, which led to the closure of several local French-language and arts-related post-secondary programs as well as numerous layoffs; and

3) the long-awaited relocation of local francophone arts organisations to the newly-built La Place des Arts, a state-of-the-art cultural center in the city’s downtown core.

The purpose of this study has been to determine the extent to which these events have altered the behaviour of arts audiences, specifically of patrons of the local French-language theatre company (Théâtre du Nouvel-Ontario, [TNO]) and of the French-language performing arts presenter (La Slague du Carrefour francophone de Sudbury, [La Slague]), to identify possible avenues for audience development.

This presentation first provides a statistical portrait of the gap between pre-crisis audiences and current audiences at TNO and La Slague, based on ticket office data from 2018 to 2023. Then, with information gathered through interviews with targeted audience members, the second part of this presentation offers an analysis of their motivations and their hesitations about renewing their arts attendance routines.

Pre- and post-crises audiences

The Théâtre du Nouvel-Ontario (TNO) and the Carrefour francophone de Sudbury provided complete lists of ticket sales for this first phase of data collection. These lists correspond to all the plays and shows presented as part of the TNO and La Slague programming, apart from a few for which the lists were inaccessible or incomplete. In all, this analysis compiles data related to 33 theatrical productions presented by the TNO, 38 shows offered by La Slague and 2 co-productions produced over the past five years.

From these lists, we assembled three databases covering five years’ worth of data: one for TNO data, a second for La Slague and a third combining the first two to assess audience crossover between the two entities and to have an overview of Sudbury’s francophone audiences. The final database contains 2,757 names of individuals who attended at least one TNO or La Slague event between the 2018-2019 and 2022-2023 seasons.

To quantify the precise changes in audience behaviour pre- and post-crises, we developed the P-Index. The P-Index measures the difference between the attendance rate for events in the reference years (both the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 seasons) and the attendance rate for activities in the first year following the crises (2021-2022), for each of the two organizations. (The attendance rate is the number of events attended divided by the total number of shows presented that year). Thus, it is not used to measure the frequency of people's attendance, but to quantify the discrepancy between their habits before and after the crises. The value of the index is expressed in decimal notation, between "1" and "-1". A positive value indicates an increase in attendance, a negative value indicates a decline, and a value nearing zero indicates a similar rate of attendance between the two periods.

Quantitative analysis using the P-index has highlighted specific tendencies unique to patrons of each arts organization and has allowed for the segmentation of audience members according to the discrepancies in their arts consumption practices over time. Notably, individuals with negative values of the P-index – whose arts attendance rates show a significant decline in 2021-2022 compared to the pre-crises period – correspond to 23.0% of patrons of the TNO and 24.9% of La Slague. These patrons are the ones we targeted for the interviews in the second phase of this study.

Rationales for changes in behavior

Analysis of the ticketing data paints a quantitative picture of the city’s collectively vulnerable arts audiences. But, in reality, we recognise that audience members are individually affected in many ways by recent events. A qualitative approach is therefore needed to make sense of the information acquired. How do the arts patrons themselves explain the discrepancy in their arts event attendance? Our intent was to test the hypothesis that most of the patron losses were attributable to professors and students affected by Laurentian University's insolvency measures, as well as to an aging population in a precarious health context. Other hypotheses included people's hesitations about indoor gatherings and about the new location of the TNO and La Slague in the city’s increasingly questionable downtown neighbourhood. To verify these hypotheses, we conducted one-on-one interviews via phone call and videoconferencing with 16 individuals having among the lowest P-indices.

To summarise, patrons’ rationales for their decrease in arts attendance include both personal and collective concerns. Among the personal concerns, we find those related to aging (significant health issues, the death or illness of a loved one, a greater awareness of one's own vulnerability and a general feeling of “being old”), those related to occupation (loss of employment, new job, retirement, change of program of study, changes in volunteering and relocation), those related to their social networks (changes in groups of friends and colleagues, the departure of many acquaintances and their families, abandoned social activities, and the barriers and interpersonal tensions created by health measures), anxiety-related factors (impaired mental health, the lingering psychological effect of confinement, the 'forgetting' of social skills, fear of COVID, and persistent fatigue and lack of energy), factors related to finances (job insecurity and inflation), and factors related to family responsibilities (having young children, adult children moving away and care of an ageing relative).

As for the collective concerns, the pandemic has clearly had astounding and varied effects on people’s comfort level and appreciation of arts events. The collective trauma triggered by the university’s insolvency has strained and put an end to relationships, but has also strengthened the resolve of local Francophones in their campaign for French-language programs, services and institutions. La Place des Arts, the new state-of-the-art performing arts center, is a great source of pride and sense of achievement for the community, but the unfamiliarity of the building and location and a number of unexpected annoyances impede the public’s full appreciation and use of the space.

Clearly, an individual's behaviour – or changes in behaviour – cannot be attributed to a single factor, but rather to a combination of them. In the following table, we can cross-reference the main factors mentioned above with their precise effects on Sudbury’s Francophone arts audiences.

The left-hand column of this table shows the main factors identified as influencing patrons’ behaviour: the pandemic, ageing, the Laurentian insolvency and the move to the new La Place des arts. In themselves, these factors do not directly change behaviour. It's not because someone has lost their job that they will attend events at La Slague and TNO more or less frequently, for example; but if the loss of a job leads to a change in status accompanied by new budgetary concerns, these will have an effect on their choice of cultural outings. Hence, each of these factors have effects which, in turn, give rise to changing attitudes, motivations and behaviours towards the arts, for better or worse.

These effects are categorized according to the elements listed in the top row of the table. (The larger circles indicate where the factors identified generate significant effects; as for the smaller circles, the effects are less explicit but still present.)

- Weakened social ties: This category of effects covers everything to do with the changing nature of the relationships between audience members and the quality of the social ties that bind them.

- Ritual disruption: This refers to changes in the experience surrounding the artistic event – how we get there, how we behave on site, the quality of the service received, the prevailing atmosphere and the entourage found there.

- Health concerns: This covers both individual and public health concerns, both physical and mental.

- Change of status: This last category of effects relates specifically to social mobility and the changes in socio-economic conditions that go with it – relocation, financial insecurity, and so on.

Practical considerations

Why is this breakdown of factors and their effects useful? Simply put, if we want to take action to further engage and develop audiences, we can't prevent ageing or a pandemic. We can’t change what happened at the university nor the relocation of arts organisations to La Place des Arts. But we can certainly act to re-establish and consolidate relationships, to alleviate health concerns, to be more sensitive to the socio-economic conditions of our audiences, and to generate enthusiasm towards new rituals in new cultural spaces.

Introduction
Studies on attitudes and beliefs about sexual diversity, specifically LGBTI people, have proliferated recently. Among them, some have focused on variables predicting such attitudes and others have considered ways to change them. Most of these studies have been developed from a social standpoint in the fields of education, health, sports and media.
However, sexual diversity or topics alike have been scarcely analyzed in relation to consumption. In this regard, Fischer & Arnold (1994) identified differences between sex, gender identity and gender role attitudes in shopping behaviors. Specifically, within the cultural sector, only few papers have dealt with sexual orientation as a sociodemographic determinant of such consumption (Lewis & Seaman, 2004; Cuadrado-García & Montoro-Pons, 2022). In the media context, it is noteworthy to mention those studies on the European Song Contest (ESC) as an international platform for queer visibility, helping in the construction of a broader approach to gender and sexuality (Baker 2017; Halliwell 2018). More recently, Palma-Martos et al. (2023) show how this mega-event can influence attitudes and perceptions about the LGBT community.
However, and to the best of our knowledge, there are no studies considering attitudes and beliefs about sexual diversity as a predictor of customer experience in the creative sector, in spite of the extensive literature on different determinants of arts and cultural participation.
To fill this knowledge gap, this paper aims at analyzing the role of attitudes towards sexual diversity on experience and, specifically, on customer experience in the leisure digital realm.
Experience in the digital context
The Internet has allowed a diverse range of interactions between organizations and customers, including social networking or leisure pursuits (Rose et al., 2011). This has led to explore the concept of experience in the online context, among others, as a consequence of the need for firms to have a comprehensive view of the customer experience over time and place (Bolton et al. 2018), fundamental for a company´s success (Jaziri, 2019). Online customer experience (OCE) was reviewed by Rose et al. (2011) to inform understanding of its antecedents and consequences in the purchase context. Their conceptual framework shows a high number of antecedents regarding information, perception (use, usefulness, benefits, control, risk), trust and enjoyment, while two main consequences: customer satisfaction and re-purchase intention.
In addition, previous authors stated the need to move away from current understanding. Literature on OCE has been prolific since then, as for instance, Koronaki et al. (2023) have recently attempted to critically review and synthesize the huge existing body of knowledge on it but in relation to websites in order to provide directions for future studies and practice.
All in all, measuring such a concept is essential, as suggested by Rose et al. (2011) indicating a move towards a deeper level of understanding on the components of OCE by conducting research into this construct. The framework suggested by Gentile et al. (2007) was supported as they considered emotional, cognitive, sensory, pragmatic, lifestyle and relational components, similar to those of traditional consumer experience. This is in line with Bleier et al. (2019) who support that online experiences are conceptually like offline ones. A consideration that can be followed in the leisure/cultural context we are focused on.
Empirical Research
To do so, we have conducted discussion on customer experience not only in its relation to attitudes and beliefs on sexual diversity but also its effects on satisfaction and recommendation, formulating the following hypothesis and specifying a theoretical model:
H1: Attitudes and beliefs on sexual diversity influence the leisure customer experience
H2: Customer experience has a positive effect on satisfaction leisure
H3: Satisfaction has a positive effect on customer word of mouth
In addition to the aim of testing the relationship between attitudes and beliefs on sexual diversity, customer experience, satisfaction and word of mouth, we also look for analyzing if both attitudes and beliefs and experience differ depending on people´s socio-demographics (sex, sexual orientation and level of studies). In other words, we look for answering the following list of research questions:
1. Do attitudes and beliefs about sexual diversity change depending on sex, sexual orientation and level of studies?
2. Does the web show customer experience differ depending on gender, sexual orientation and level of studies?
3. Do satisfaction and recommendation vary depending on gender, sexual orientation and level of studies?
In order to test the stated hypothesis and answer the previous research questions, exploratory research was undertaken through an electronic survey among viewers of a web show on sexual diversity, which was especially produced for this research as part of a wider academic project.
The structured questionnaire designed was divided in three parts: a) customer experience; b) attitudes and beliefs about sexual diversity, satisfaction and WOM and c) sociodemographic variables. Different scales of measurement were conveniently adapted to the situation at hand. Their items were measured with five categories representing agreement-disagreement (five-point Likert scales).
Results
After conducting descriptive research (univariate and multivariate analysis), results show a general positive attitude towards LGBTI individuals by those watching the show. The experience of watching the show proved to be extremely positive as all the items of the scale used were higher than the mid-point. Specifically, sensory and intellectual dimensions were graded to a greater extent. Satisfaction and word of mouth in relation to the web show were also calculated. Thus, all the satisfaction items got scores higher than 4 except one. Recommendation was also relevant for sample elements, as the five items of the scale scored higher than 3 out of 5, especially the ones about recommending the show and speaking well about it.
Then, a study of the nomological relationships between the constructs of the proposed second-order reflective theoretical model was performed throughout Structural Equation Model (SEM). Specifically, Partial Least Squares (PLS) variance analysis was considered mainly due to its superior power of prediction (Wang et al., 2004) and the size of the sample (Crisci, 2012). Thus, the PLS technique was undertaken using SmartPLS4 software.
Specifically, hypothesis testing in the structural model was performed, following Hair et al. (2017), through size and significance of path coefficients, R2 determination coefficients and Q2 predictive relevance. In this regard, the three hypotheses were confirmed, showing the first one lower convergence.
These results are relevant both academically and practically. In this regard, the study has overcome an existing gap in the literature, not only analyzing customer experience in the leisure and digital context but also studying the attitudes and beliefs as an antecedent of consumption and experience. In addition, results might be appropriate for leisure media managers and those content-generated creators to include sexual diversity topics in their webs, profiles or so targeting new niches. Although not confirmed in our study, this visibility could also help society be more tolerant, specifically some segments.