Beyond Commodification: Reframing Cultural Marketing through Double Value Theory

The classical marketing management literature rests on the assumption that the marketing concept can be universally applied, with its extension celebrated as a landmark achievement in the discipline’s evolution. Yet the arts and theatre domain resists such an approach, with auteur (director-led) theatre in particular, rejecting the framing of performance as a product. This article identifies and systematizes three clusters of structural factors that impede the consolidation of cultural marketing as a distinct academic field in theatre practice. Drawing on empirical data, it further examines audience motivations to develop a comprehensive model of determinants influencing theatre attendance. The analysis ultimately culminates in a theoretical framework proposal that seeks to reconcile structural challenges with audience behaviour, thereby advancing cultural marketing research in the performing arts.