Event Engagement: Using Event Experiences to Build Brands

Abstract

Companies invest considerably in event experiences; however, many are criticised for hosting events without understanding the full extent of their impact, or how to optimise their design. To benefit from event experiences, it is critical to consider not only how customers engage with the event, but also how event engagement transfers to engagement with the host brand to ultimately drive brand loyalty. This paper empirically explores the role of customer event engagement in facilitating brand engagement, within the context of branded marketing event experiences. Surveying attendees of such branded event experiences, six Australian wine brands, running 10 diverse events, agreed to collaborate in the research, yielding a total response of 274 participants. Results indicate that, for emotional, sensorial, pragmatic and relational experiences, event engagement fully mediates the relationship with customer brand engagement. Furthermore, it is the engagement with the host brand, rather than engagement with the event, that facilitates the effect on behavioural intentions of loyalty. These findings suggest that viewing engagement with a single focus (i.e., only event or only brand engagement) provides limited insight and does not uncover the true impact of event experiences; it is only through exploring the interrelationships between the engagement foci that we can truly understand how event experiences impact behavioural brand loyalty. This offers important managerial implications to facilitate engagement transfer (i.e., between event and brand), while drawing on associative network theory to explain how customer engagement spills over from the event to the brand and better account for the interdependence across engagement objects.

Análisis de dimensiones y elementos de la fidelidad del cliente en un evento musical sergipano

“…No contexto dos eventos, Altschwager et al (2022) afirmaram que analisar fidelidade tornouse algo extremamente estratégica para que as empresas consigam aumentar seus lucros e obter maior aderência do público, convergindo assim com Sharma e Joshi (2024). Assim, criar estratégias pensando no aumento da fidelidade tendem a elevar possibilidade de maiores lucros por meio do conhecimento daquilo que os clientes almejam, mantendo linearidade entre o que é esperado por ele e ofertado pelo evento (Ho et al, 2022).…”

“…Que, de modo geral, está pautada em criar momentos memoráveis para participantes e fundamentada na estética do evento e no escapismo que ele proporciona aos participantes, ou seja, fuga da realidade e cotidiano do dia a dia (Sisson & Alcorn, 2022). Ao entregar experiências emocionais, sensoriais, comportamentais e cognitivas, os participantes dse deligam das preocupações do dia a dia e se entregam à experiência proporcionada pelo evento, sendo este envolvimento um fator-chave para seu retorno (Altschwager et al, 2022). Esse aspecto corrobora com Kotler e Keller (2006) quando sugerem que clientes encantados permanecem fiéis e falam positivamente sobre uma empresa.…”

“…Dito, isto, a gestão do evento busca conhecer quais os elementos que mais contribuem na fidelidade de seu público, ponto até então desconhecido por ela. Sendo algo corroborado pela literatura, pois como afirmam Altschwager et al (2022), é crucial ao sucesso contínuo dos eventos culturais conhecer aquilo que fomenta interesse em seu público e necessário para entregar melhores experiências sempre.…”

The Influence of Personal Branding, Influencer Endorsement, and Customer Engagement on Brand Affinity in the Cosmetics Industry in Indonesia

“…Customer engagement is a crucial factor in fostering brand loyalty by enabling significant interactions and experiences between consumers and brands. Brands that actively engage with customers through various touchpoints, such as social media, personalized communications, and experiential initiatives, can establish profound emotional connections and nurture lasting brand affinity [15]- [19]. Research highlights that emotional branding strategies, including appealing to customers' emotions and building strong brand ties, are instrumental in enhancing brand loyalty.…”