Audience Research And Analysis

What Audience Research And Analysis does

Audience Research & Analysis (ARA) is a privately held, New York-based professional services firm founded in 1996 by George A. Wachtel that delivers audience and visitor research, economic impact analysis, public opinion polling, and AI-assisted pedestrian counting to cultural institutions, government agencies, real estate companies, and non-profit organizations. The firm's primary service lines are audience/visitor studies (intercept and online surveys, focus groups, depth interviews), economic impact analysis built on the IMPLAN model, and the proprietary Intelligent Digital Counting (IDC) system — custom cameras paired with Exteros-powered computer-vision software that produces counts, demographics, dwell time, and customizable behavior attributes. A complementary multilingual survey application supports on-the-fly switching across 15+ languages and alphabets including Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Pashto, and Farsi, enabling Census-grade multilingual data collection.

ARA's go-to-market is sales-led and direct, anchored by the personal reputation and industry relationships of President George Wachtel and his 18-year tenure as Director of Research for The League of American Theatres and Producers. Demand generation leans on conference speaking (AAM, Council of Jewish Museums, National Arts Marketing Conference), academic guest lectures at Columbia, Cornell, NYU, and peer institutions, and long-form published research on the ARA Notes blog. Customers include MoMA, the Guggenheim Foundation and Museum, the Whitney Museum, Disney Theatrical Productions, Signature Theatre, NYC DOT, the Alliance for Downtown New York, New York Road Runners, the Tribeca Film Festival, Westfield World Trade Center, and Brookfield Place New York. Revenue is generated through project-based professional services fees with no public pricing disclosure; the firm operates with 1-10 employees from a single headquarters at 444 East 86th Street, New York, with no disclosed funding, subsidiaries, or parent company.

The business model is a traditional high-expertise boutique research firm whose competitive position rests on deep domain specialization in the NYC arts/cultural sector, two-plus decades of longitudinal datasets (notably annual Lower Manhattan tracking since 2012), and recurring research engagements with marquee institutions. Strategic risk centers on key-person dependency (Wachtel and Principal Aline Chatmajian), a small fixed-cost base that limits capacity to scale, and a single strategic technology partnership with Exteros for the AI components of the IDC product line.

Name

Audience Research And Analysis

Legal name

Audience Research & Analysis

Website

https://audienceresearch.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Audience Research & Analysis (ARA) is a New York-based professional services firm that provides audience studies, economic impact analysis, public opinion polling, and AI-assisted pedestrian counting to arts institutions, government agencies, real estate companies, and non-profits.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Market Research and Decision Research Services: ARA provides custom research services to cultural institutions, government agencies, real estate companies, and corporations. Services include audience and visitor studies, market research, economic impact analysis, pedestrian counting, and public opinion surveys. Revenue is generated through project-based consulting fees for these professional services.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

ARA delivers custom market research, audience and visitor studies, economic impact analysis, public opinion polling, and a proprietary AI-powered pedestrian counting system (Intelligent Digital Counting via Exteros) to arts institutions, cultural tourism organizations, government agencies, real estate operators, and major attractions. Engagements are sold as project-based professional services with multilingual survey capabilities spanning 15+ languages.

Product overview

Audience Research & Analysis (ARA) provides market and economic research services primarily for arts, cultural tourism, education, and government organizations in New York City and surrounding areas. The company's core offerings include Intelligent Digital Counting (IDC) — a proprietary AI-powered pedestrian counting system using computer vision technology powered by Exteros — and traditional market research services encompassing audience/visitor studies, economic impact analysis, public opinion research, and decision research. The IDC system operates at fixed locations using custom-built cameras to produce real-time pedestrian counts, demographics, dwell time, and behavioral metrics. Supporting capabilities include a multilingual survey application supporting 15+ languages for conducting onsite interviews. The company was founded in 1996 and serves clients including museums, performing arts institutions, real estate companies, government agencies, and major attractions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Intelligent Digital Counting (IDC) Proprietary AI-powered pedestrian counting system using custom-built cameras with various lenses providing full visual coverage of spaces; Exteros-powered software uses computer vision and AI to produce counts, demographics, dwell time, and other behavior metrics, with the AI customizable to learn new attributes such as detection of specific branded shopping bags. Deployed for retail and urban analytics clients including Westfield World Trade Center and Brookfield Place New York.
• Market Research Services Online, in-person, and smart device-based surveys providing insights into potential audiences, market size estimation, and challenges for realizing market potential; includes qualitative research through focus groups, one-on-one depth interviews, and post-performance intercepts for arts institutions, cultural tourism advocates, attractions, and non-profit organizations.
• Audience and Visitor Studies Onsite audience surveys and visitor intercepts profiling visitor geography, demographics, sources of information, media habits, and motivations for visiting, achieving near census-level response rates through active collection methods and careful sampling for museums, performing arts organizations, parks, and attractions.
• Economic Impact Analysis Analysis of local economic impacts from visitor spending, job generation, and tax revenues using the IMPLAN economic model combined with survey data to calculate direct, indirect, and induced effects for arts organizations, museums, film festivals, and tourist destinations.
• Public Opinion Research Public opinion surveys conducted by phone, online, and in-person interviews to evaluate success of ongoing initiatives and test reaction to proposed policies; can target registered voters in multiple languages including Spanish, Chinese, and Korean.
• Decision Research Comprehensive research services for arts, cultural tourism, hi-end retail, attractions, and non-profit organizations to understand current and potential audiences, helping advance decisions on new projects, major expansions, or facility relocations.

Quantifiable outcome

• $934 million in incremental NYC economic impact measured for NYRR races in FY25, a 58% increase since FY20
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers18 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability4 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• ExteroscoreTechnology or IntegrationExteros provides the AI and computer vision technology powering ARA's Intelligent Digital Counting (IDC) system. The proprietary software interprets visual data from cameras to produce pedestrian counts, demographics, dwell time, and behavioral analytics. This technology partnership enables ARA to offer advanced foot traffic analytics to retail and urban planning clients.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• National Research Group (NRG): Large-scale market research firm serving entertainment, media, and cultural clients — broader incumbent with deeper resources but comparable audience profiling and decision research offerings.
• Colliers International (Research & Consulting): Large commercial real estate services firm with substantial pedestrian analytics and foot traffic research for retail and mixed-use properties — broader incumbent overlapping ARA's IDC-driven retail/real estate work.

Direct peers

• Tourism Economics: Tourism-focused economic research and consulting firm with overlap in economic impact analysis and tourism market studies — comparable in methodology for cultural tourism and events.
• IMPACTS Economic Consulting: Research firm producing economic impact analyses for cultural organizations, tourism, and events — directly overlapping with ARA's economic impact service line and methodology.
• WolfBrown: Consulting firm specializing in research and strategic planning for the performing arts and broader cultural sector — comparable in audience studies, attendance research, and pricing/patron analytics.
• Slover Linett Audience Research (a Wolfe company): Boutique audience research firm focused on arts, culture, and nonprofit sectors — directly comparable as a small, research-led competitor serving museums, performing arts, and cultural institutions with audience and visitor studies.
• TRG Arts: Arts-sector research and consulting firm serving performing arts centers, museums, and cultural organizations with audience research and economic impact analysis — overlapping service mix and client base.
• Longwoods International: Market research firm specializing in travel, tourism, and cultural attractions — overlapping visitor studies, economic impact analysis, and tourism tracking for destinations and attractions.
• LaPlaca Cohen: Marketing and strategy firm dedicated to the cultural sector, including audience research and brand strategy for museums, performing arts, and universities — peers on audience profiling and decision research.
• Randi Korn & Associates: Evaluation and audience research consultancy specializing in museums, zoos, and informal learning environments — directly comparable visitor studies and evaluation work for cultural institutions.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Audience Research And Analysis