Corporate Acquisitions of Fine Art: Measuring the Underlying Motivations

Corporate involvement in the acquisition and display of fine art has expanded from a relatively unknown practice undertaken by a few businesses, to a common activity involving hundreds of firms. This study presents the results of a survey of 450 corporations (with 130 respondents) aimed at measuring the motivations behind the creation of corporate collections. Such collections may be held to improve employee morale and retention, to enhance the public image of the corporation, or to bolster the bottom-line. In addition, a number of non-monetary reasons are frequently cited. Corporations may be hesitant to reveal their true motives for holding art, since such a revelation may undo the very reasons for acquiring such a collection (enlightenment becomes simple self-interest). Unlike previous studies of this kind, the questions are designed to determine the motivating factors behind these collections, without relying solely on the firms to reveal those motives. The results indicate that although a variety of motives, both pecuniary and non-pecuniary, underlie these acquisitions, the former tend to dominate.