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Thursday, January 30, 2025
Where Would You Like To Sit?
Butts In the Seats: Bill Byrnes recently released a resource update to his textbook, Management and the Arts which included a research article about what factors influence what seating locations ticket purchasers prefer in a concert venue.
I find this article intriguing because I have wondered for the longest time what people consider to be the best seat in a venue, whether it is a movie theater, concert venue, or broadway theater. In the past I have never sat in the front, mostly because those tickets usually are pricier, but also because those seats do not have a good view of the entire venue. Reading about the options presented to the participants made me wish there had been a set of questions without the VIP variable, or where the VIP variable was the control variable to account for people who may choose a different section due to the VIP privileges included. There were too many things involved for a person to consider when purchasing the ticket, and if the researcher wanted to truly find out what the consensus on the best seats are, the section should be the only difference between the available options.
Discussion of ‘choosing the right seat’ is always an incredibly interesting question when it comes to theater. For large performance venues, there is much optimization to be had as the distance from the stage truly does affect one’s experience as there are no jumbotrons to aid in the experience of theater - purely just the stage. And as one gets farther (and higher up) from the stage, one begins to lose in on some of the experience as facial expressions and finer details become much harder to ascertain (one may even begin to lose the plot depending on the quality of the sound design). But, for smaller venues it seems to be the opposite where general admission becomes standard practice. Would there be good reason to have some kind of priced alternative if the performance were in thrust or in the round? Maybe an alternative here for those that are looking to optimize profits are to offer seat selection for a higher price even though it likely won’t drastically affect their experience. Ultimately, this optimization serves only to increase the profits of the theater depending on constructs about their venues that in some ways they artificially create, or at least use people’s preferences to the organization’s advantage.
I was intrigued by this, I wanted to know what factors people consider when buying tickets. There are certainly tickets that are more desirable than others, but what price difference are people willing to pay for it? It's also definitely helpful information to know what perks people are willing to pay for (ex. meet & greet vs backstage tour vs other perks). And you have to consider general admission versus reserved seats. Personally I prefer reserved seats because you don't have to worry about paying a ton of money for a concert and then having to arrive hours in advance just to get a decent seat. But I suppose if you're young and want to mosh pit anyways, you wouldn't mind a general admission ticket if it was cheaper. I feel like in general, the results from this survey were pretty expected and not necessarily the most helpful, but gathering data is usually helpful to some degree.
The psychology being seating preferences and packages is really interesting. I tend to like the higher up seats that aren't right in front of the performer, I like the better view that's unobstructed. It's weird to me that for performances people love the close up seats but for movies no one likes the front row. I don’t think VIP packages create an ‘unfairness’. I don’t buy them because they’re expensive and I don’t really feel like I get much out of them. I don't feel like I’m less of a fan than the people who do. The one time I did buy a VIP package was because it gave me access to a secluded seating area that was away from the majority of the crowd. I felt like that added to my concert experience. Stuff like a meet and greet and a backstage tour might be fun, but I don’t feel like not going takes away from my experience.
It is really cool that this article is researching what combinations and seats people prefer. It makes sense to me that people with children would pay a lot more attention to reserved seating, it would be very not fun to never find a place with enough space for the children when trying to find seats in non-reserved sections. There was not a lot of consistency in who would buy the VIP packages other than people did not want the package with the backstage tour and the early access sound check as much as they did the one with only an artist meet and greet. I wonder if the aspects of the package were to be broken down into just a backstage tour or just the early access sound check, if that would be picked more by fans, since I assume the prices would be closer to the 400$ for just admission and a meet and greet rather than 1000$ for all three in one.
This article really had me thinking about how people really decide what makes a concert experience worth the price they pay. VIP packages have always been weird to me just because why would I pay that much more money for 5 minutes of someone's time? Even if people are willing to pay that and it brings in more money, they can also change the way people feel about the event. It’s interesting that people are more willing to pay for VIP experiences than just better seats, but that artists have to be careful not to alienate their audience. For example, at the Kit Kat Club on Broadway, the tables down below are such a different experience than the balcony seats because it's just more immersive, and I wonder how others feel after paying a bunch of money to see the show in the balcony or the mezzanine if it's even worth it anymore because they didn't spend that extra 50 bucks to be in a better seat, and that's how they get you.
I thought this article was super interesting, especially because it strongly relates back to another class I'm taking about decision making! The class focuses on the science of analyzing human cognition and how that applies to decision making, and an example we often use in that class to demonstrate the way different factors in a situation will influence someone's decision is seating options for a concert. One of our recent homework's was to analyze the interaction between seat type and artist preference, and we found that they both will impact someone's decision to pay more or less for tickets, but they don't influence one another. I am very curious what artists the researchers used as examples in their study. They made it clear that Taylor swift was one example, but they also targeted the study towards other genres. I can imagine that asking someone what seat they would pick for their 'favorite artist' could possibly skew results towards being more indulgent than normal (people are more likely to spend more money for their favorite artist) but it could also give better insight into what seats people truly value. I wish the study focused on smaller seat sections though, rather than large seating block areas, so we could better visualize the nuances in seat preferences.
This is an interesting exploration into the ‘psychology’ of seats in live performance, and would have interesting implications into not only the structure, but to marketing. The study method was interesting in how they divided the ticket options A through D: the independent variables weren’t - as far as was evident to me - tested independently or in an iterative or recursive manner. This makes me interested as to why they tested it the way they did and how that might impact their results. Their results themselves are quite intriguing, with closer seating and meet and greets being valued over price and backstage tours or exclusive access. As someone interested in performance technology, I’d choose the backstage tour above other ‘VIP perks’ but to each their own. This ties into dynamic ticket prices - if someone is willing to pay more for a specific seat, I am sure that companies will use that fact to its fullest advantage.
8 comments:
I find this article intriguing because I have wondered for the longest time what people consider to be the best seat in a venue, whether it is a movie theater, concert venue, or broadway theater. In the past I have never sat in the front, mostly because those tickets usually are pricier, but also because those seats do not have a good view of the entire venue. Reading about the options presented to the participants made me wish there had been a set of questions without the VIP variable, or where the VIP variable was the control variable to account for people who may choose a different section due to the VIP privileges included. There were too many things involved for a person to consider when purchasing the ticket, and if the researcher wanted to truly find out what the consensus on the best seats are, the section should be the only difference between the available options.
Discussion of ‘choosing the right seat’ is always an incredibly interesting question when it comes to theater. For large performance venues, there is much optimization to be had as the distance from the stage truly does affect one’s experience as there are no jumbotrons to aid in the experience of theater - purely just the stage. And as one gets farther (and higher up) from the stage, one begins to lose in on some of the experience as facial expressions and finer details become much harder to ascertain (one may even begin to lose the plot depending on the quality of the sound design). But, for smaller venues it seems to be the opposite where general admission becomes standard practice. Would there be good reason to have some kind of priced alternative if the performance were in thrust or in the round? Maybe an alternative here for those that are looking to optimize profits are to offer seat selection for a higher price even though it likely won’t drastically affect their experience. Ultimately, this optimization serves only to increase the profits of the theater depending on constructs about their venues that in some ways they artificially create, or at least use people’s preferences to the organization’s advantage.
I was intrigued by this, I wanted to know what factors people consider when buying tickets. There are certainly tickets that are more desirable than others, but what price difference are people willing to pay for it? It's also definitely helpful information to know what perks people are willing to pay for (ex. meet & greet vs backstage tour vs other perks). And you have to consider general admission versus reserved seats. Personally I prefer reserved seats because you don't have to worry about paying a ton of money for a concert and then having to arrive hours in advance just to get a decent seat. But I suppose if you're young and want to mosh pit anyways, you wouldn't mind a general admission ticket if it was cheaper. I feel like in general, the results from this survey were pretty expected and not necessarily the most helpful, but gathering data is usually helpful to some degree.
The psychology being seating preferences and packages is really interesting. I tend to like the higher up seats that aren't right in front of the performer, I like the better view that's unobstructed. It's weird to me that for performances people love the close up seats but for movies no one likes the front row. I don’t think VIP packages create an ‘unfairness’. I don’t buy them because they’re expensive and I don’t really feel like I get much out of them. I don't feel like I’m less of a fan than the people who do. The one time I did buy a VIP package was because it gave me access to a secluded seating area that was away from the majority of the crowd. I felt like that added to my concert experience. Stuff like a meet and greet and a backstage tour might be fun, but I don’t feel like not going takes away from my experience.
It is really cool that this article is researching what combinations and seats people prefer. It makes sense to me that people with children would pay a lot more attention to reserved seating, it would be very not fun to never find a place with enough space for the children when trying to find seats in non-reserved sections. There was not a lot of consistency in who would buy the VIP packages other than people did not want the package with the backstage tour and the early access sound check as much as they did the one with only an artist meet and greet. I wonder if the aspects of the package were to be broken down into just a backstage tour or just the early access sound check, if that would be picked more by fans, since I assume the prices would be closer to the 400$ for just admission and a meet and greet rather than 1000$ for all three in one.
This article really had me thinking about how people really decide what makes a concert experience worth the price they pay. VIP packages have always been weird to me just because why would I pay that much more money for 5 minutes of someone's time? Even if people are willing to pay that and it brings in more money, they can also change the way people feel about the event. It’s interesting that people are more willing to pay for VIP experiences than just better seats, but that artists have to be careful not to alienate their audience. For example, at the Kit Kat Club on Broadway, the tables down below are such a different experience than the balcony seats because it's just more immersive, and I wonder how others feel after paying a bunch of money to see the show in the balcony or the mezzanine if it's even worth it anymore because they didn't spend that extra 50 bucks to be in a better seat, and that's how they get you.
I thought this article was super interesting, especially because it strongly relates back to another class I'm taking about decision making! The class focuses on the science of analyzing human cognition and how that applies to decision making, and an example we often use in that class to demonstrate the way different factors in a situation will influence someone's decision is seating options for a concert. One of our recent homework's was to analyze the interaction between seat type and artist preference, and we found that they both will impact someone's decision to pay more or less for tickets, but they don't influence one another. I am very curious what artists the researchers used as examples in their study. They made it clear that Taylor swift was one example, but they also targeted the study towards other genres. I can imagine that asking someone what seat they would pick for their 'favorite artist' could possibly skew results towards being more indulgent than normal (people are more likely to spend more money for their favorite artist) but it could also give better insight into what seats people truly value. I wish the study focused on smaller seat sections though, rather than large seating block areas, so we could better visualize the nuances in seat preferences.
This is an interesting exploration into the ‘psychology’ of seats in live performance, and would have interesting implications into not only the structure, but to marketing. The study method was interesting in how they divided the ticket options A through D: the independent variables weren’t - as far as was evident to me - tested independently or in an iterative or recursive manner. This makes me interested as to why they tested it the way they did and how that might impact their results. Their results themselves are quite intriguing, with closer seating and meet and greets being valued over price and backstage tours or exclusive access. As someone interested in performance technology, I’d choose the backstage tour above other ‘VIP perks’ but to each their own. This ties into dynamic ticket prices - if someone is willing to pay more for a specific seat, I am sure that companies will use that fact to its fullest advantage.
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