Abstract
This chapter provides an overview of the current status of the cultural sector in Portugal and demonstrates how digital influencers can help this sector. It emphasizes the importance and potential of influencer marketing for companies in the cultural sector to reach and engage their target audience. The chapter provides an extensive literature review on the status quo of cultural marketing, relationship marketing, the cultural sector, the internet in the cultural sector, and digital influencers in the cultural sector. Finally, it highlights emerging trends and future prospects for influencer marketing in this sector.
TopIntroduction
This chapter aims to describe and demonstrate the numerous benefits of digital influencers in the cultural sector. To provide context, various perspectives on related topics are analysed, such as cultural marketing, marketing communication actions, marketing actions in cultural institutions and the cultural sector in Portugal. It then explores the theme of digital influencers in the cultural sector and the advantages they can bring to organisations in the sector. This chapter has academic implications, as there are not many scientific studies analysing digital influencers in the cultural sector in Portugal; and practical implications, as it serves as a guide for companies and entrepreneurs in the cultural sector who still have doubts about the effectiveness and efficiency of using digital influencers in their business.
Contextualising the Topic
Marketing is of significant importance to institutions in the cultural sector, not only to build loyalty among visitors who already visit the institution, but also to attract new visitors (Pais, 2016). In recent years, the socio-cultural context has been changing continuously, which is reflected in consumer practices (Bardhi & Eckhardt, 2017; Schmitt, 2019). Consequently, marketing research has started to consider an alternative approach as a possibility to investigate consumption as a cultural practice.
The Ministry of Culture is responsible for the cultural sector in Portugal, but there are also public and private initiatives (Santos, B., 2021). Culture is a factor of cohesion and national identity. Today, it is a generator of wealth, employment and quality of life and, at the same time, an instrument for Portugal's affirmation in the international community (Governo da República Portuguesa, n.d.).
According to the 'Survey of the Cultural Practices of the Portuguese 2020', coordinated by José Machado Pais, Pedro Magalhães and Miguel Lobo Antunes, in the 12 months prior to the pandemic only 28 per cent of those surveyed visited museums and 11 per cent art galleries. The survey involved a sample of 2,000 people randomly selected from the resident population in Portugal aged 15 or over. This shows that there is still little interest in cultural spaces among the Portuguese.
Some of the most common marketing actions designed for cultural spaces are publications on social networks, on the institution's own website, in newspapers and magazines. There are also other, more creative actions, such as establishing partnerships with schools and universities, developing QR codes with digital art distributed around the city in which the institution is located and organising competitions for the target audience (Santos, B., 2021).
It is important to analyse the adherence and derived behaviour of the Portuguese in order to understand what aspects can be improved in the cultural sector, so that they feel more encouraged to attend institutions in this sector. This topic is therefore relevant because it helps to understand how digital influencers can contribute to increasing adherence, frequency of visits and interest in cultural institutions, a gap that is still visible in the country.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Digital Natives: A digital native is a person who grew up with the presence of digital technology or in the information age. Having grown up in information technologies (IT) presence, digital natives are comfortable with and fluent in technology.
User-Generated Content: User-generated content (also known as UGC or consumer-generated content) is original, brand-specific content created by customers and published on social media or other channels. UGC comes in many forms, including images, videos, reviews, a testimonial, or even a podcast.
Digital Immigrants: A digital immigrant is a person born before the widespread adoption of computers and has had to adopt digital technology later in life. In other words, is a person who was born before it was common to use things such as personal computers and mobile phones.
Millennium Generation: The millennial generation is defined as anyone born between 1981 and 1996, which means anyone between the ages of 24 and 39 in 2020. This age range, like other generational cohorts, is chosen for statistical analysis of certain trends rather than being a strict identifier.
Traditional Media: Traditional media consists of all forms of communication used before the internet age, including radio, TV, newspaper, magazines, and billboards. This means it refers to various forms of mass media communication that existed before the internet.
Gross Value Added (GVA): It is defined as the value that producers have added to the goods and services they have bought. When they sell their wares, producers' income should be more than their costs, and the difference between the two is the value they have added.
Core Messages (Mission, Vision, and Values): Mission statements describe an organization's reason for existence, vision statements describe the ideal state that the organization wants to achieve, and values statements list the principles that guide and direct the organization and its culture.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM): This term was created to define an entire class of information systems or tools that automate customer contact functions.