Advertising and Intangibles of Italian Visual Arts and Landscape

Abstract

Advertising expense and intangible assets are the accounting lines that give evidence of the promotion efforts of any entrepreneur. At hard times cultural entrepreneurs have to maximize their promotion efforts, which are addressed to private stakeholders and audiences, in order to survive in a very competitive arena, where the State and public administrations cannot confirm their past times’ grant-making. Using a recent microeconomic database we empirically estimate the relation between advertising expenses, intangibles, net assets and profitability (gain or loss/total assets) for Italian Visual Arts and Landscape. This sample is defined referring to the latest legislative definition of Italian Arts. Italian Arts traditionally include performing and visual arts. In our investigation, performing arts are excluded but we include the «landscape» according to the national Code of Cultural Heritage and Activities the Italian Parliament approved in 2004. The landscape is the human landscape of villas, castles, archeological sites, etc. and the natural landscape of parks and other environment where the anthropological impact is less important than in the human landscape. The sample includes the Event Managers too: these ones are innovative entrepreneurs who do not directly perform cultural events but they support, manage, advertise and promote them. The research gives evidence that Italian Visual Arts and Landscape are profitable despite of the financial crisis, when advertising expenses are one fourth of program service expenses and intangibles are minimized.