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Who visits cathedrals? The science of cathedral studies and psychographic segmentation


Leslie J. Francis
Simon Mansfield

Abstract

This study applied psychographic segmentation theory to explore the psychological type profile of 1082 visitors to four cathedrals (three in England and  one in Wales) and to set this profile alongside the published national normative data. Data provided by the Francis Psychological Type Scales  demonstrated that among cathedral visitors there were more introverts (60%), sensing types (72%) and judging types (80%), with a balance between  thinking types (49%) and feeling types (51%). Comparisons with the population norms demonstrated that extraverts and perceiving types were  significantly underrepresented among visitors to these four cathedrals. The implications of these findings are discussed for enhancing the visitor experience of those currently visiting and for attracting those psychological types currently less likely to visit.


Contribution: Situated within the science of  cathedral studies, this article demonstrates (by means of applying psychographic segmentation theory and gathering data from four cathedrals) that  extraverts and perceiving types were significantly under-represented among cathedral visitors. These data are important for understanding limitations  on the reach of cathedrals within the wider community.


Journal Identifiers


eISSN: 2072-8050
print ISSN: 0259-9422