A new survey suggests that consumers consider live experiences an essential need. It found that despite consumers claiming inflation is causing them to tighten their purse strings, a majority of them plan to attend more events in 2023, not less.
This indicates that when the chips are down, humans get so much joy from shared live experiences that most are unwilling to cut back on them even when times get tougher financially.
An independent UK survey among 2,000 UK consumers, commissioned by ticketing and event platform, Eventbrite*, revealed that while 8 in 10 respondents (81%) say that they expect inflation to rise and they will tighten their purse strings, 52% told researchers they intend to go to more events in 2023, 37% claimed they’d go to the same amount, and only 8% replied they’d go to fewer.
When asked how much they would be prepared to spend on tickets, 67% said they’d spend the same (41%) or more (26%).
“It appears that the experience economy is alive and kicking, despite the looming recession”, says Eventbrite’s Sebastian Boppert. “I reckon the fact that we have only recently – and painfully – experienced just how boring a world without in-person live experiences can be is playing a big role here.”
Christmas: experiences trump physical presents
This renewed appreciation of live experiences is also expressed in what presents people appreciate: Asked about their preferences when it comes to presents, two out of three consumers (63%) said they would rather receive tickets to a live experience than a physical gift (37%).
Most popular event choices
Given a number of choices, consumers overwhelmingly said that their first choice would be an outdoor (61%), in-person (69%) event with friends (70%) that was close to home (69%) in a location known to them (56%). However, a large share of respondents is decidedly more adventurous: 30% of those questioned said they’d like to meet new people at events held at a place they hadn’t been to before (44%).
