John Armbrecht

Estimating Use and Non-use Values of a Music Festival

Impacts of a music festival may appear in many forms and research in the area of impact assessments is at present developing wider perspectives than being limited to economic impact assessments. Concepts like social, cultural and environmental impacts are now appropriate and traditional cost–benefit analysis is regaining momentum. The purpose of this study was first, to discuss how the value of a festival can be assessed and understood within a cost–benefit framework. Second, it was to evaluate a Scandinavian music festival in terms of Use and Non-use values by the contingent valuation method. The results illustrate the implications of a wider perspective regarding the impacts of a festival. Use value, representing the core experience, is the largest value (€7.4 million) but Non-use value is also important (€3 million). The latter includes the perceived value of externalities such as socio-cultural and environmental impacts which are highly relevant from a sustainability perspective. One conclusion is that Use and Non-use values within a cost–benefit framework can help managers and researchers understand value creation of festivals better.

Developing a scale for measuring the perceived value of cultural institutions

Previous research into the value of cultural institutions has emphasized a variety of benefits arising from cultural institutions such as social, educational and health-related impacts. An economic assessment of cultural institutions is usually made in monetary units. This one-dimensional assessment of value has been criticized for being elusive, disregarding the complex and multidimensional nature of cultural values. This article suggests scales for measuring the value of cultural institutions. Based on previous research, and an exploratory study on the perceived value of cultural institutions, this article describes the development of a scale using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Six factors comprise the scale: social, educational, health, image, identity and financial effects. The scale may be used to describe and compare the value of cultural institutions qualitatively. Conclusions about the perceived contribution of different institutions may be possible. From a policy perspective, the scale may allow an understanding of the contribution individuals with different socioeconomic backgrounds perceive the cultural institution as making.

Linking event quality to economic impact: A study of quality, satisfaction, use value and expenditure at a music festival

The aim of this study is to develop and test, in an event context, a model describing the relationships between perceived quality, satisfaction, use value and consumer expenditures. A model is proposed and tested using data from a Web and telephone survey of 326 visitors to a Swedish music festival. Findings from bivariate correlation, multiple regression and structural equation models show that links are significant and support a chain of dependencies. Better managed festivals seem to generate higher economic impact at the destination as well as in the festival area. Implications of this are that festival managers can influence the economic impact by careful design, planning and operation of the festival and that the DMO can positively influence the economic impact by monitoring the quality of publicly supported festivals and events. Quality standards and quality certification could provide means for such developments.

Use-Value of Music Event Experiences: A “Triple Ex” Model Explaining Direct and Indirect Use-Value of Events

Abstract To describe the value of event experiences remains a challenge for event research. Recently, use-value has been successfully applied to event valuation, drawing on extensive research and a validated methodology from environmental and culture economics. The objectives of this study are first to define direct and indirect use-value in an event context, second to suggest an explanatory model for direct and indirect use-value and third to test this model against data from 714 visitors to a three-day music festival. The results show that the concepts can be defined, measured and validated. The “Triple Ex” model gives a good fit to data and reveals significant influences from the three ex: experiences, extent of the visit and expenditure for the visit. Socio-economic variables are not significant. The model is suggested as a first step towards a better understanding of how use-value is created and more detailed studies of time and space dimensions of the three factors are proposed for further research.

Factors explaining the use-value of sport event experiences

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose and test a model explaining the value of event experiences. Design/methodology/approach – Three versions of the explanatory model are tested by regression analysis of data from a survey of 650 visitors to a sports event. Findings – The three model versions are significant and explain the value of event experiences with satisfactory R2 values (0.29, 0.46 and 0.68) using the concepts “Extent of visit”, “Experience intensity” and “Expenditure”. The measures of event experiences (Use-Value, Direct Use-Value as well as Indirect Use-Value) meet requirements for reliability and validity. Originality/value – The paper reveals that explanatory models are basic but novel in a sports event context and provide a basis for further research. Furthermore, the definition of Indirect Use-Value has been clarified and adapted for higher relevance to destination managers focusing on event tourism.

Subjects and objects of event impact analysis

Event impact research has been at the core of event studies since its beginnings (Ritchie, 1984; Ritchie &Beliveau, 1974). And it still is (Getz, 2012). One reason is that an event has an almost ideal methodological set-up for research: during a few days, the individuals, the community and the region are subject to the impact of a well-defined event. Thus both the cause and effect are comparatively easy to define, limit and measure in terms of space and time. Furthermore, event participants are often within a fenced-off area that can only be accessed through a small number of turn-stiles which provides a perfect situation to sample event visitors randomly. Does this mean that academics look for the lost key under the lamp post because that’s where you have the best conditions for research albeit not the best likelihood to find the key? The public interest in the results of event studies describing the impacts is however mostly overwhelming, particularly for economic impact studies, but also for other types of impact studies. This is a fact which strengthens the social relevance and contradicts the view of event impact studies as only an intrinsic academic exercise. Results are often discussed and referred to in newspapers’ sections on entertainment and culture where events and news have a symbiotic relation – both feeding on, and feeding, each other. Thus event studies are in the periphery of the entertainment industry and to some extent subject to temptations of simple conclusions and one-liners. This is often the case when consultancy firms with few scruples compete for the lime-light with academic researchers. Academic event researchers, as well as tourism researchers in general, therefore not seldom find themselves waging a two-front war both against academic peers looking contemptuously upon research results being given attention in daily newspapers (in the entertainment section!) and against a poor standard. Both in terms of the production of many nonacademic event studies and in terms of how the results are interpreted and used in public debates and decision making. Academic researchers need to get together and gather strength, to review the status and progress and to map out future endeavors in event impact research. Another good reason for event researchers to review and calibrate the bearings of the situation is the expanding field of studies and the growing demand of academic competence from different academic areas that generates a number of specialized schools of thought within event impact research. For a long time, the object of study has been strongly focused on the expenditure by event visitors and the economic impact, often limited to the direct economic impact but sometimes also including indirect impacts. There is however now a growing body of literature with a focus on the social impacts as the object of study and, following the strong trend of research about sustainability, environmental impacts of events are expected to become an object of study rapidly growing in importance. This large variety in terms of objects of study requires a wide spectrum of theoretical competence. Whereas a well-made economic impact study is based on knowledge of economic input–output analysis and general equilibrium theory, social impact studies require a psychological and/or a sociological academicbackground. Environmental impact studieswill need a thorough understanding of natural science and environmental economics.