Maria M. Raciti

The Role of Consumer Self-Concept in Marketing Festivals

ABSTRACT Self-concept is an important yet underresearched aspect of the consumer behavior of the tourist/festivalgoer. Self-concept is explored via on-site focus groups at the Woodford Folk Festival in Queensland, Australia. Findings suggest that “festivalgoers” actively disassociate themselves from the “tourist” tag in reaction to its perception as a less authentic participation and potentially negative impact on social self-image. This qualitative study proposes that based on the findings, further research into self-concept and festivals is justified in terms of its potential to better focus on the provision of marketing messages that more closely align with festivalgoers ideal self-image and ideal social self-image.

The Blended festivalscape and its sustainability at nonurban festivals

This article identifies the major elements of festivalscapes at nonurban festivals and their implications for sustainable site management by event organizers. While research on the need to maintain and reinvigorate the servicescapes of retail precincts (e.g., shopping malls) and hotels is well documented, the same cannot be said of event venues and sites. There is a notable absence of research that explores how nonurban festival sites can maintain their unique natural environment attributes while sustaining consumer interest through incremental changes in the overall festivalscape. Two Australian festivals, Woodford Folk Festival (Woodford, Queensland) and the national Country Music Muster (Gympie, Queensland), are used in this article to illustrate the need for management intervention to create blended festivalscapes that achieve environmental, social, and economic goals—a Triple Bottom Line (TBL) measure of success.

Attitudinal, normative and demographic influences on female students' alcohol consumption

Purpose – Risky and high‐risk alcohol consumption is prevalent amongst young females and university students. Relatively little research in Australia has focused on these groups. This study aims to use social marketing and consumer behavior principles to examine the attitudinal, normative and demographic factors which influence alcohol consumption amongst 18‐24‐year‐old, female university students.Design/methodology/approach – A total of 230 female students in this age group were surveyed utilizing a personally administered, self‐report questionnaire. These participants were categorized as either low risk alcohol consumers (n=122) or high‐risk alcohol consumers (n=108).Findings – The findings from this research indicate that a mixture of attitudinal, normative and demographic factors influence alcohol consumption amongst young, female university students.Originality/value – This study aids in the development of targeted interventions to mitigate risky and high‐risk alcohol consumption amongst this cohort.

Risky Alcohol Consumption by Young, Female Australians: The Influence of Significant others

This research used consumer behavior and social marketing principles to examine alcohol consumption among young female university students in Australia. Due to the high prevalence of risky alcohol consumption among this cohort, this study sought to examine the factors that influence the behavior of these individuals (Dowdall and Wechsler 2002; Shim and Maggs 2005). To date, this area of research has remained relatively unexplored. This article reports on the behavior of consumers in this cohort with a particular focus on reference group influence, in an attempt to make a contribution to future social marketing campaigns aimed at changing high risk behavior in the context of alcohol. The article also provides some insights into the possible components of a successful social marketing intervention program.

Examining price promotions, venue and place of residence as predictors of alcohol consumption

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to understand the effect of price promotions, venue and place of residence on low‐risk, risky and high‐risk alcohol consumption behaviour of young women between 18 and 24 years of age who attend university in Australia, Wales and Germany.Design/methodology/approach – The quantitative, self‐administered questionnaire collected data from a convenience sample of three universities in three OECD countries with high alcohol consumption being: a regional Australian university (n=305), a city Welsh university (n=354) and a rural German university (n=325).Findings – First, the multinomial logistic regression results revealed that price promotions and venue influenced alcohol consumption in Wales alone while place of residence influenced alcohol consumption in Australia; however, price promotions, venue and place of residence had no effect on young women attending university in Germany. Second, the binomial logistic regression results for Wales reported a sensitivity to price...

The Influence of Residence on Young Adult Attitudes toward Healthy Eating

Like other Western countries, Australia too reports record numbers of overweight and obese individuals with young Australian adults in a particularly high-risk position. It is suspected that the transition from dependent living in the family home to independent living during young adulthood influences food choice. As such, this study sought to investigate if attitudes toward healthy eating varied by the place of residence (dependent or independent) of these young adults. Using a self-administered questionnaire, quantitative data from 310 Australians between the ages of 18 to 24 years found that young adults who lived independently displayed a significantly more positive attitude toward healthy eating than those who remained in the family home. Furthermore, we found that a significant, positive relationship between attitude toward healthy eating and the number of recommended serves consumed in both independent and dependent living arrangements. Being an unexplored area, these findings are novel and provide valuable insights for the implementation of an inducement process for planned social change as well as informing the education and motivation elements of intervention strategies.

Resident Valuation of Planned Events: An Event Portfolio Pilot Study

Residents of the Sunshine Coast region in Queensland, Australia, were surveyed on the subject of planned events in their region with the main aim of determining how and why they value events. It was revealed that residents gained considerable use value from events that they attended as audience or otherwise participated in, expressed strong support for a range of events (with a preference for community festivals), and overall did not believe that problems or costs were serious. Residents also indicated strong nonuse values (being existence, option, and bequest values) for events in general. Our findings are positioned within the body of literature concerning impact assessment (specifically, resident perceptions and attitudes towards events), valuation (i.e., the worth of events), and policy and strategy concerning community events and event tourism.

Back to nature: Festivalgoer environmental beliefs and camping experience at non-urban festivals

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore festivalgoer/camper perceptions of and responses to the non-urban festival service environment (blended festivalscape). Design/methodology/approach – For this exploratory study a quantitative approach was adopted. A self-administered online survey was administered to recipient members of an Australian non-urban festival e-newsletter database resulting in 398 usable responses from festival campers. Findings – Environmental beliefs held by festival campers’ influenced their perceptions of naturescape, socialscape and overall satisfaction. Festival campers’ who attended more than once were found to have stronger pro-environmental beliefs than those who attended once. Festival camper perception of naturescape has a positive moderating influence leading to greater overall satisfaction and the likelihood of repeat attendance and positive word-of-mouth. Research limitations/implications – It is very important to know how festivalgoers perceive and relate to their festival service environment. Critical to the appeal and success of the non-urban festival is the alignment of festivalgoer environmental beliefs to the natural setting in which they are held. Limitations include use of a single case study context. Originality/value – This paper responds to lack of research on non-urban festivals when compared to urban festivals and the surprisingly little interest shown in the central role of natural settings and the camping experience. A closer understanding of the environmental beliefs of campers at non-urban festivals has the potential to provide beneficial outcomes for people, profit and planet.

Event portfolios: asset value, risk and returns

Purpose The research question addressed is whether an event portfolio analysis rooted in financial portfolio theory can yield meaningful insights to complement two approaches to event portfolios. The first approach is extrinsic and rooted in economic impact analysis where events need to demonstrate a financial return on investment. In the second approach events are valued ally, with every event having inherent value and the entire portfolio being valued for its synergistic effects and contribution to social and cultural goals. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach Data from visitors to four events in the Sunshine Coast region of Australia are analyzed to illustrate key points, including the notion of “efficient frontier.” Findings Conceptual development includes an examination of extrinsic and intrinsic perspectives on portfolios, ways to define and measure value, returns, risk, and portfolio management strategies. In the conclusions a number of research questions are raised, and it is argued that the two approaches to value event portfolios can be combined. Research limitations/implications Only four events were studied, in one Australian local authority. The sample of residents who responded to a questionnaire was biased in terms of age, education and gender. Social implications Authorities funding events and developing event portfolios for multiple reasons can benefit from more rigorous analysis of the value created. Originality/value This analysis and conceptual development advances the discourse on portfolio theory applied to event management and event tourism.

Beyond brand exposure: measuring the sponsorship halo effect

Purpose Global spending on sponsorship continues to rise and many companies now establish portfolios containing a range of sponsorships across sport, arts and cause-related activities. Yet a lack of practical methodologies for the measurement and comparison of sponsorship performance within a portfolio context remains a challenge. Sponsors often rely solely on proxy measures for brand exposure drawn from advertising. These do not capture the higher-level outcomes of sponsorship awareness and goodwill transfer, often attributed to sponsorship as a ‘halo effect’. This paper aims to present a matrix tool that combines consumer awareness of and goodwill for a sponsorship so the halo effects of sponsorships within a portfolio can be quantified and compared. Design/methodology/approach This archival analysis study is based on six years of brand tracking data (comprising some 15,500 consumer surveys) supplied by a large Australian company. A sponsorship portfolio matrix is developed to measure the halo effect. Findings This study demonstrates that a sponsorship’s halo effect can be measured and comparisons can be drawn across sponsorship types within a portfolio. The study shows that despite the significantly higher levels of brand awareness achieved by commercially oriented professional sports sponsorship types, community relations oriented sponsorship types achieve a greater halo effect because of their more positive impact on the sponsor’s brand attributes. Originality/value The matrix provides a valuable tool by which sponsorships can be compared, evaluated and managed to meet the longer-term brand and marketing objectives of a company.