Abstract

Motives are the driving forces behind all human behaviors and act as internal factors that arouse, direct and integrate a person's activity. In the field of cultural consumption, the crucial role of motivation in people's behavior has not been yet examined thoroughly.

This paper examines research findings focusing on the scales used to identify the main motives for cultural consumption and explores the theories explaining cultural consumer motivations. 94 research articles published in English-speaking scholarly journals are reviewed. The measurements scales found as well as their theoretical backgrounds are compared and analyzed.

The conclusions of this paper can be used as a reference guide to current cultural motivation research. It is recommended to create a universal scale for measuring consumer motivation, by adopting quantitative as well as qualitative instruments. The limitations of this analysis are also discussed and recommendations for future research are suggested.