Illustrative engagement. A representative scenario showing how we approach this kind of work in culture & heritage. It does not describe a specific client; outcomes are described qualitatively.
Industry overview
What is shaping culture & heritage
Museums, festivals and heritage sites need to understand visitors, build new audiences and show the value of their work to funders and communities.
- Funders expect evidence of impact
- New audiences need different programming
- Heritage tourism depends on visitor experience
Client background
A cultural festival organiser, working in Goa. This is an illustrative engagement: a representative scenario showing how we approach this kind of work, not a named client project.
- Organisation
- A cultural festival organiser
- Sector
- Culture & heritage
- Team engaged
- Market Research
- Services
- Quantitative research, Offline data collection (CAPI), Online surveys
Client challenge
Sponsors asked for audience profiles, and the organiser wanted to know what made visitors return.
Research objectives
- Deliver on the brief: profiling audiences at a music and arts festival.
- Understand the views, needs and behaviour of attendees.
- Produce results that can be compared across groups and locations.
- Give the client evidence it can act on within 4 weeks.
Target audience
The work focused on 2,000 attendees.
- attendees2,000
Audiences we typically reach in culture & heritage
VisitorsNon-visitors and new audiencesLocal communitiesArtists and performersFunders and partners
Geographic coverage
Coverage: Goa. Market: India.
- India
Research methodology
A structured quantitative design, so results could be compared across groups, locations and time.
- 1Brief
- 2On-site intercepts
- 3Post-event online survey
- 4Insight
We interviewed attendees on site with tablets and followed with an online survey covering spending, travel and satisfaction.
Quantitative researchOffline data collection (CAPI)Online surveys
Sampling strategy
- attendees
- 2,000
- Respondents were selected across Goa using quotas set in advance for each location and respondent type, so no single area or group dominated.
- Online respondents were drawn from verified panel members who matched the screening criteria, with quotas on key profile attributes.
Data collection
- Trained local-language interviewers conducted interviews in person on tablets (CAPI), with time and location recorded for every interview.
- The online survey was mobile-friendly and offered in respondents' languages.
Data quality & validation
- Back-checks on a share of completed interviews
- Time and location checks on field interviews
- Supervisor accompaniment in the field
- Digital fingerprinting and duplicate checks
- Attention, speed and straight-lining checks
- Review of open-ended answers
- Logic and range checks on the final data
- Work carried out under our ISO 20252 quality procedures
Data analysis
- Cross-tabulation by key groups and locations
- Significance testing on the differences that mattered
Key findings
- Audiences were younger and travelled further than sponsors assumed.
Audience evidence turns festivals into sponsorship opportunities.
Recommendations
- Build on the core insight: audience evidence turns festivals into sponsorship opportunities.
- Focus effort where the evidence was strongest: audiences were younger and travelled further than sponsors assumed.
- Re-measure after the changes to confirm the effect.
Business impact
- The organiser used the profile to attract new sponsors.
What changed in the business as a result of the work. Impact is described qualitatively.
Deliverables & next steps
- Insight report and management presentation
- Cleaned data file and data tables
- Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
- A natural follow-on question: how can heritage tourism grow?