Deepening how cultural capital structures consumption of the performing arts

Abstract

This paper deepens existing research that suggests cultural capital (CC), a status-laden resource linked to social class, associates with differences in consumption values, consumption portfolios (range of products consumed), and emic (consumers’ own) interpretations of performing arts. Our research context comprises attendance at the live and recorded performing arts in a large metropolitan city located in a Western country in which the dominant language is English. The research methods comprise long interviews with, and observations of, a sample of 36 performing arts patrons who had attended a classical music concert at least once: specifically, 18 low CC and 18 high CC. Analysis suggests several advances on previous research. Specific subsets of consumption values linked to CC in the prior literature, associate with LCC or HCC. These consumption values can be viewed as macro-values, which associate with numerous micro-values. Additional consumption values worthy of additional exploration emerged from data analysis. Consumption portfolios identified in prior research, are confirmed as associating with CC.