How do we keep them coming back? A look at individual factors impacting attendee satisfaction and intention to return to festivals

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the factors that influence the level of satisfaction or festival attendees and how that influences their intention to return. The impact of other factors such as past attendance and distance traveled to the festival were also examined. Design/methodology/approach The data for this study were collected using an online survey from attendees at a LaughFest™, a comedy festival hosted as a fund and awareness raiser for a non-profit organization (NPO) in a medium-sized Midwestern city. The data related to reasons for level of satisfaction and intention to return were coded into dichotomous variables, and along with income, gender and distance traveled to the event were analyzed using logistic regression. Findings Of the factors that impacted satisfaction, performers, venue, and ticket prices were found to have the largest impact on intention to return, with negative experiences having a greater impact than positive. Previous attendance was also significant with regard to intention to return. Practical implications This information will allow this festival’s managers to target specific areas for improvement to increase the rate of repeat attendance. Originality/value This paper aims to contribute to the literature addressing specific factors influencing level of satisfaction and how those factors impact intention to return by examining them in a comedy festival that is also a fund and awareness raiser for a local NPO. There are few studies examining this aspect in regard to this particular type of festival.

Music festival supervisor leadership style and organizational citizenship behavior: the effects of employee and volunteer relationships and dependence on their leader

“…The Envision Festival supervisors and employees/volunteers expressed a positive commitment to working at the festival and most indicated they would return in the future. Congruent with previous research by Pope et al (2017), positive experiences generally have a greater likelihood of repeat attendance, suggesting an increased chance to volunteer or work during the festival (Kristoffersen and Singh, 2004; Swanson and Davis, 2006). Music festival event planners and organizations could capitalize on this loyalty by continuously offering a platform for volunteers, employees and supervisors with plenty of community engagement and leadership training, on-the-job training, and shadowing opportunities to engage in OCB initiatives positively.…”

Defining the Field of Events

“…The focus changed from a logistical, operational, or categorical purview to being considered from a “social constructed staged experience” in every phase of an event (Orefice, 2018, p. 20). The participant experience has become central in event discussions and must be considered throughout every facet of events (Breiter & Milman, 2006; Jung & Tanford, 2017; Larson et al, 2015; Liu et al, 2017; Mackellar, 2006; Mair, 2010; Pope et al, 2017; Rittichainuwat & Mair, 2012). Ong and Goh (2018) suggested that the value of events rest in the ability to build community beyond just the value of economic or corporate agendas.…”

Agricultural shows: visitor motivation, experience and behavioural intention

“…Crompton and Mackay's (1997) seven domains offers one of the original perspectives, while subsequent research has augmented this area of study. Increasingly, the research considers satisfaction, emotions, togetherness, a state of need, novelty, nostalgia and escapism as key variables (Scott, 1996;Nicholson and Pearce, 2001;Lee at al., 2004;Duran and Hamarat, 2014;Pope et al, 2017). There has been a growth in studies in the area of experience design (Schmitt 1999;Poulsson and Kale, 2004;Smilansky 2009;Zomerdijk, 2010) but particularly in the sphere of event design (Monroe, 2006;Berridge, 2007;Kale et al, 2010;;Bjorner and Berg, 2012) demonstrating how events and the physical spaces within events can be purposefully choreographed to create the right conditions for memorable experiences to be derived (Pine and Gilmore, 2000;Getz, 2012).…”

“…Crompton and McKay' (1997) seven domains offers one of the original perspectives, while subsequent research has augmented this area of study. Increasingly, the research considers satisfaction, emotions, togetherness, a state of need, novelty, nostalgia and escapism as key variables (Scott, 1996;Nicholson and Pearce, 2001;Lee et al, 2004;Duran and Hamarat, 2014;Pope et al, 2017).…”