Opera streaming: perceived value as an explanatory factor for loyalty and intention to attend an opera in an opera house

We tested our hypotheses with a questionnaire. This questionnaire was administered electronically, in three languages (French, English and German), to viewers of two major opera streaming platforms: Staatsoperlive.comFootnote2 and Operavision.Footnote3 Staatsoperlive.com was the paid streaming service offered by the Vienna State Opera, launched in 2013. It broadcasted 50 live operas in HD every season, which made it the virtual opera house with the largest repertoire in the world. The platform also offered a video library of some 30 operas and its content was reviewed every month. The number of viewers for a live streamed performance was equivalent to a capacity audience at the Vienna State Opera. Viewers could access the service through a subscription or packages. They could also buy single live performances or videos on demand. Operavision is the digital platform of the European opera association, Opera Europa. It is the major stakeholder of free opera streaming. It broadcasts operas – mostly live – from its more than 25 partner opera houses, on its website and on YouTube. More than 40 operas per season are available for replay for several weeks or months. During a live broadcast, Operavision viewers can interact by taking part in a chat available on YouTube.

The links to the questionnaires were sent in the newsletters of both institutions. 213 responses were collected (153 for Staatsoperlive.com and 60 for Operavision). 60% of the surveyed people are men. The respondents are usually older and predominantly highly educated, as it is the case of the 'in-situ' opera audience (Agid & Tarondeau, Citation2010). 62% are over 60 years of age and 58% of them hold at least a bachelor's degree, while only 8% did not complete secondary education. Besides, more than half of the sample (56%) have taken music or singing lessons. On another level, a substantial majority of the respondents, three quarters of which watched the streamed performance alone, enjoy opera frequently; like the spectators of Live HD operas in cinemas as Villanueva Benito and Lacasa-Mas (Citation2017) detected and analysed. In all of the channels we considered, almost three quarters of respondents (73%) enjoy watching at least one opera per month and half of them enjoy more than 20 operas per year. The surveyed viewers are regular streamed opera patrons, since 60% of them watch an opera at least every two months. They are also mostly opera houses customers (92%): more than half of the sample (54%) attends more than 5 operas in a theatre each year