ABSTRACT
A deep understanding of the consumer is also of the utmost importance for anyone involved in running an organization—whether it operates in arts and culture or another sector—because ultimately it is the consumer who decides the fate of the organization’s strategies. Consumers engage in the activities and processes because they seek to satisfy their needs and desires. These needs and desires generally relate to the cultural product concerned, but they may also relate to other elements of the consumer situation. Researchers in the field of cultural consumption, and in the social sciences, normally strive to explain any observed consumer activities in a manner that lets them develop knowledge and conclusions which can be generalized. In a great many situations, the behaviour of consumers will, unquestionably, be influenced by the people who move within their social circle, the people they admire or compare themselves to, or the people they want to dissociate from.
