FROM THE CLIENT
THE RESEARCH BRIEF
How do you attract a wider, younger, and more diverse audience to a heritage arts and culture venue, and secure longer term brand loyalty?
Identify and develop a deep understanding of the motivators that make young, non-conforming individuals with a passion for the arts want to attend and experience in-venue events and create lasting engagement with a brand.
THE METHODOLOGY
An ambitious, longitudinal study, with a 12-participant sample, over a 12-month period.
7 blocks of 4-week-long activity, interspersed with 3-week-long breaks.
During active blocks, participants collected primary and secondary multimedia collateral of the things they had experienced, consumed, or observed within the realms of arts and culture. These were shared 2-3 times per activity week, via WhatsApp, with the research moderator with participant insights sparking deeper, in-app 1-2-1 discussions.
A 45-minute online depth interview would conclude each 4-week activity block exploring the content in more detail with a focus on ‘Think, Feel, Do’.
Participants were –
Spread of genders including non-binary/gender non-conforming
Range of sexualities including LGBTQIA+ identifying individuals
Enthusiastically engaged with arts and culture with a primary interest in fashion, art, music, gaming and other visual arts
Aged between 12 and 18
Geographically spread across the UK
National representation of ethnicity
Diversity of socio-economic and household/family situations
‘BEAM found fantastic respondents that made a complex project into a year of exciting and rewarding research.’
DELIVERED BY BEAM
THE CHALLENGES
Seeking individuals who satisfied multi-quota diversity within a small sample size posed the most significant recruitment challenge.
Additional layers of procedural complexity included –
Parental consent – required for all participants aged under 18, the consent process added multiple layers of communication, age-appropriate briefing, and additional research materials.
Dual screening – independent and unbiased parental and child screening, response consideration, and validity checks to remove parental misrepresentation of their child’s suitability and ability to participate .
Natural communicators – off-screener conversations with all participants were essential. These discussions were used to ensure that all participants could express, elaborate, summarise and conclude their thoughts and opinions effectively in both verbal and written form.
Long-term commitment – ensuring that both the young person and parental lead were able and capable of committing time and energy across a 12-month period was critical to project success.
A real passion for the arts – understanding each participant’s individual and genuine interest in the arts and their chosen specialist area of interest, was essential for great insights and reassurance of commitment to the study.
Gender, sexuality and ethnicity – rules of engagement limit direct communication with people aged under 16 years old, meaning recruitment of child participants begins with parents, responsible adults, and older relatives. Whilst some recruitment prerequisites were obvious and easy to qualify, navigating questions around gender, sexuality, and ethnicity with acceptable and age-appropriate terminology was challenging. Gaining trust and providing confidentiality and anonymity reassurances to children who were open, unsure, or closed (even to parents) about how they identified was key to meeting these quota requirements.
Neurodiversity – Consideration, respect, and sensitivity were fundamental for engaging with and understanding suitability for research participation. Discussions with both child and parent were undertaken to ensure a full understanding of their needs to ensure flexibility in the research methodology where necessary. Consideration was given to any additional allowances and support required, to ensure fair participation, successful research experience and quality output.
BEAM DELIVERED
A project manager, with previous experience of recruitment and long-term management of vulnerable audiences and young people, was appointed as the primary and consistent point of contact from recruitment to project completion.
A multi-phased recruitment process over an extended number of weeks. This allowed adequate preparation and time to understand and consider participant commitment and suitability.
BEAM used this time to evaluate the multiple conversations with participants ensuring independent answers, revisiting answers that needed more detail and to qualify and evidence the young person’s true passion for the arts and for their specialism.
Communication channel preferences were identified for each participant and used exclusively. Specific interaction methods were utilised to suit each participant.
Introductions between participant and research moderator were made ahead of the research start date, with the BEAM PM present and facilitating the initial meet.
Written consent from the responsible adult was a core part of the onboarding process. Payment of incentives for this project was also largely done via the participant’s responsible adult due to the young age of many of those taking part in the research.
THE CONCLUSION
Though an incredibly challenging recruit, with patience and precision, this project was joyful to deliver. Speaking with young people about their passions proved not only to be rewarding but also ensured that the recruitment was fulfilled using best-fit participants who would remain committed throughout. The specificity of the participants required was initially daunting, however, full recruitment was made through active Give Opinions panel members, meaning quality was never compromised.
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