Phygital Consumption of Cultural Services: Segmenting Consumers by Purchase Channel Preferences

The article aims to identify and characterize consumer segments purchasing services from cultural insti-tutions based on their preferred purchase channel—physical, digital, or hybrid—taking into account demographic variables such as age, gender, place of residence, and level of education. The study was conducted on a nationwide sample of 1,844 respondents who had purchased services from cultural in-stitutions within the past 12 months. The research was carried out using an online survey, and the data were subjected to statistical analysis using segmentation analysis and intergroup comparisons. The analysis's results revealed five distinct consumer segments differing in their preferred method of purchasing cultural services. The largest group consisted of hybrid consumers who balanced the use of both physical and digital channels. Consumers with higher levels of education and residents of large or major cities were significantly more likely to use digital channels. In contrast, older individuals, rural residents, and those with lower levels of education demonstrated a stronger preference for physical access. The findings have important implications for managing cultural institutions, both at the opera-tional level (selection of distribution channels) and at the strategic level (designing customer experience and developing inclusive policies).