A Discrete Choice Model of Consumption of Cultural Goods in Italy: the Case of Music

In this paper we present an empirical analysis of the 'patterns of cultural choice' in the musical domain in Italy. By employing micro data from the Italian Survey on Households. Citizens and Leisure, we investigate the way in which musical tastes appear to be differentiated in the Italian society. The main goal of the paper is to verify whether musical tastes could be characterised by the traditionally accepted dichotomy between an elite of 'cultural snobs' and a mass of consumers of 'lowbrow' genres or whether they are diversified, with the presence of a new group of "cultural omnivores". By applying the discrete choice analysis, we implement a multivariate logit model in which each equation represents the choice of one of the mutually exclusive alternatives. Our dependent variable is constructed in a way to exactly identify the set of the alternatives and to include all possible individual choices. Our estimates point to the existence of different 'degrees of omnivorouness' and capture the differences between individuals listening to (or attending concerts of) only one musical genre, more than one genre or all genres.