Segmentation of music festival visitors by values of hedonia, life satisfaction and eudaimonia

Abstract

PurposeWith the growing interest in eudaimonia in the past years and the need to better understand festival visitors' motivation in the context of music festivals, this study aims to propose visitor segmentation based on the values of hedonia, life satisfaction and eudaimonia.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis in this study employs a case research method that follows the abductive paradigm. The authors begin their conceptual foundation with a review of the literature on hedonia, life satisfaction and eudaimonia. The authors then use the preliminary conceptual foundation as the basis of rival analysis through a focus group and interviews with senior executives, government officials, communities and other related stakeholders. The authors also carry out an exploratory factor analysis to determine the building blocks of eudaimonic festival experiences. Last, using cluster analysis, the authors support their conceptual proposition from the initial qualitative inquiries.FindingsFrom the three studies that the authors performed, their findings suggest that, based on hedonia and eudaimonia, festival attendees can be divided into three distinct segments: (1) pleasure seekers (i.e. visitors who look for personal pleasure, enjoyment and affection), (2) playful learners (i.e. visitors who not only seek pleasure, but also consider the urgency to think about the need to grow as a person) and (3) transcendentalists (i.e. visitors who seek a balance of pleasure, escapism, self-reflection, personal meaning and impact through attending festival activities).Research limitations/implicationsThis study argues that the ideas of hedonia and eudaimonia are present in the context of the music festival. Theoretically, this paper suggests that festival-goers can be divided into three clusters based on the values of hedonia and eudaimonia: pleasure seekers, playful learners and transcendentalists. Practically, this study suggests that festival organisers should consider developing music concert events by taking into account the eudaimonic and hedonistic desires, intrinsically possessed by the festival-goers, which is expected to add value to the produced musical event.Originality/valueThis study is the first to present visitor segmentation in a music festival setting based on the values of eudaimonia, life satisfaction and hedonia.

The role of literary festival attendance in generating attendees' health and well-being

“…Findings show that people were laughing and having fun while engaging in different activities. The feeling of being well and happy during the festival recalls Aristotle's hedonic well-being and hedonia (Baselmans and Bartels, 2018; Saragih and Amelia, 2020). Moreover, results show that people were relaxed.…”

“…For instance, Heldt (2014) measured how music festival participation impacts subjective well-being and happiness. Similarly, Saragih and Amelia (2020) used the concept of hedonia to conceptualise hedonic well-being at music festivals.…”

A cannabis festival in urban space: visitors' motivation and travel activity

“…Understanding why people attend festivals is crucial as the information can be used to attract sponsors (Grunwell and Ha, 2008) and to enhance operational efficiency (Lee and Kyle, 2014;Saragih and Amelia, 2020;Wilson et al, 2017). This study's respondents were evenly categorized as multi-purpose seekers, festival seekers and cannabis seekers based on their motivation, showing distinctive push and pull motivation factors among each group.…”

“…Festival tourism and festival motivation Festivals are one of the fastest growing segments in the tourism industry as an important cultural experience, which are mainly driven by economic contributions to destinations (Rouba, 2012;Saragih and Amelia, 2020). The variety of festival themes, scales, purposes and unique contexts have also propelled the popularity of festival research in the past decades (Rouba, 2012).…”

Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on music festival attendees

“…The general well-being effect of music festival attendance is noted in several festival studies (Kinnunen and Haahti 2015; Webster and McKay 2016), but detailed investigations of its dimensions and how it is produced are somewhat scarcer (Kitchen and Filep 2019). However, the tendency to handle different well-being dimensions has moved from traditional festival motivational studies towards more specific well-being studies (for instance, Saragih and Amelia 2020).…”