Eighteenth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities

Abstract

The societal impact of the arts is well established and researched, but the focus tends to be on macro-observations of society. However, our modern, global, and technological society has been able to adapt its response to the world market in seemingly individualistic ways. The traditional marketing mix of Product, Price, Place, and Promotion (the four Ps) was structured as an understanding of business behavior in society, but that mix no longer works for the arts, specifically because we are capable of individually tailoring our social needs as they pertain to the arts. This appears to be having an impact on the fine and performing arts specifically. This paper posits a new paradigm for the arts, and includes discussion of the notion of the Engagement Equation, a way to consider the arts not from a marketing mix perspective, but from an engagement perspective, with the balance not of the four Ps, but of the concepts of Experience, Ease and Exchange, Environment, and Education.