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Using multi-wave survey data, the authors quantified the financial impact of a sponsorship. The purpose of this paper is to predict the number of new buyers based upon changed brand attitudes, consistent with a hierarchy of effects model. The authors then established the financial return on the sponsorship spending by estimating the customer lifetime value (CLV) of these new buyers.

The authors collected the data around a major college football bowl game. Six phases of data collection were used to determine purchasing behavior and brand attitudes of attendees before and after the sponsored event, in comparison to television viewers of the event and the general public. The authors applied Lavidge and Elrick’s (1961) attitudinal constructs as the independent variables in a logistic regression to predict future purchase. The final data collection was used to validate the model’s prediction.

The findings show that the model accurately predicted the number of new customers after one buying cycle for the sponsor’s products. The authors also quantified the positive impact of the sponsorship on the CLV of existing customers within the same time frame.

The managerial implications of this study are significant. Sponsorships are highly risky, with fixed outlays up front, and unclear benefits to be realized in the future. The authors provide a methodology that not only allows sponsors to measure the effectiveness of the sponsorship, but to determine the return on their sponsorship investment. The authors have taken consumer behavior theory from marketing communications research and combined it with CLV tools, thus allowing marketers to determine the number of new customers that a sponsorship generates, as well as how it influences the buying patterns that drive CLV.

This paper aims to study how a social media influencer (SMI) endorsement affects followers’ event attitude and behavioral intentions. More importantly, it comparatively examines the role of followers’ gender in event SMI marketing effectiveness.

Based on the congruity theory of attitude change, the current study developed an integrated framework of SMI marketing. In total, 335 online surveys were collected. Partial least squares structural equation modeling and multi-group analysis were conducted to test the hypotheses.

Results show that a follower’s attitude and behavioral intentions toward the event are affected by his or her influencer attitude. The present study also finds that follower’s social media post attitude plays a mediating role. Moreover, female followers are impacted more directly by their influencer attitude, while male followers are affected more indirectly through their attitude toward the social media posts.

The current study not only extends the event literature on SMI marketing but also provides recommendations for event professionals on SMI selection.

This study examines SMI endorsement as a relatively new marketing tool in the event setting. It also is a pioneer study in testing the effect of social media followers’ gender differences.

The current research presents a case study on how COVID-19 has influenced event attendees' attitudes toward safety procedures, venue capacity, purchasing tickets in advance, type of events (e.g. theatre, music and art) and the mode of the event (i.e. live vs online).

In two timeframes (i.e. during and after COVID-19 lockdowns), data were collected via a self-completed online survey from a regional Western Australia (WA) town, Geraldton. In total, 94 event attendees were recruited in Wave 1 (during lockdowns), and 126 respondents were recruited in Wave 2 (after lockdowns). The naturalistic data collection examines how COVID-19 has influenced attendees' attitudes.

The findings suggest that attendees have adapted to the new normal of COVID-19. If safety procedures are followed, most respondents are comfortable attending an entertainment event during and after the lockdown (Wave 1 and Wave 2). Furthermore, respondents exhibited comfort following COVID-19 safety precautions at events even after COVID-19 lockdowns, except for mandatory mask-wearing. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted event attendees to prefer lower seating capacity at events, while the gradual easing of restrictions reduces their discomfort toward higher seat capacity.

Although some research has examined the financial and economic impact of COVID-19 on the event industry, there is limited research on consumers' or attendees' perceptions and attitudes toward events, particularly entertainment events and festivals, as the world emerges from the pandemic. Thus, the current case study is the first to examine event attendees' attitudes toward entertainment event management and operation during and after COVID-19 lockdowns. The finding provides significant theoretical and managerial implications surrounding the reaction of event attendees toward entertainment events (i.e. festivals) during health crises such as COVID-19.

This study aimed to assess whether sociodemographic variables explain significant differences in attitudes towards transforming academic conferences into more sustainable events.

An analytical model of participants' attitudes towards sustainable conferences based on literature review as well as the theories of reasoned action and planned behaviour was developed and applied to a sample of 532 surveyed individuals from 68 countries who regularly attended academic conferences in the last five years prior to 2020. The results were refined using statistical and computational techniques to achieve more empirically robust conclusions.

Results reveal that sociodemographic variables such as attendees' gender and age explain differences in attitudes. Women and older adults have stronger pro-environmental attitudes regarding event sustainability. On the other hand, attitudes towards more sustainable academic conferences are quite strong and positive overall. More sustainable events' venues, catering, conference materials and accommodations strongly influence attendees' attitudes towards more sustainable conferences. The strength of attitudes was weaker towards transportation.

First, the analyses focused on only aspects related to the attendees' attitudes. Assessing their real behaviour would complete this research. The geographical areas defined by the U.N. and used in this study have the limitation of combining highly developed countries and developing countries in the same geographical area, for example, the Americas and Asia and the Pacific.

Specific socio-demographic variables' effects on attitudes towards sustainable academic conferences can indicate how organisers can best promote these events according to attendees' characteristics and develop differentiated marketing campaigns. For women and older adults, event sustainability should be emphasised as a competitive strategy to promote events and attract these audiences. Marketing strategies for younger attendees (under 30 years old) could focus on technology, networking or attractive social programmes. Sustainable venues, catering, conference materials and accommodations are easier to promote. Event organisers should encourage participants to make more environmentally friendly decisions regarding more sustainable event transport.

A strategy based on promoting the event as contributing to sustainable development could educate attendees and put them on the path to developing stronger positive attitudes regarding sustainability and more sustainable behaviours. Sustainable academic conferences can educate students, organisers, service providers and delegates through their involvement in sustainable practices.

To our best knowledge, this research is the first to assess whether sociodemographic variables explain significant differences in attitudes towards the sustainable transformation of academic conferences.

The purpose of this paper is threefold: developing an effectiveness communication model for a city rotary event. Empirical validation of the new effectiveness model based on a city cultural festival event to explore the similarity and difference of perception change on event attendance. Providing a structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis of communication model for both professional event organizers and PCO guidelines when determining an event’s marketing strategy priorities.

The authors use SEM to verify the relationship between variables, and path coefficient comparison analysis which was adapted for model verification and hypothesis testing. Analytical methods included reliability analysis, descriptive statistical analysis, Hotelling T ²-test, SEM analysis.

This result demonstrates that attendee increased their emotion, attitude, city brand image as result of the event activities, and positive event emotions have the highest influence toward to a positive city’s brand emotion. A positive city brand emotion especially has the second highest influence on attendee next event retentions. A positive city brand emotion will lead to a positive city brand attitude, but city brand attitudes will not have a positive impact on retentions.

The contribution and value of this study is that the authors established a new effectiveness communication model which introduce the city branding concept into the research. The study provides empirical evidence of the effectiveness illustrations of the application in the communication model. The research meets the objective in this effectiveness communication model. It illustrates the directions for how an event should be designed in order to create a positive city brand attitude for retention.

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between self-congruence and attendee engagement in explaining emotional attachment in the context of cultural events.

Structural equation modelling with partial least squares analysis has been applied. Data were collected from 421 respondents through an onsite survey during the Yi Peng and Loy Krathong festive week in Thailand.

The findings revealed that self-congruence (i.e. actual self-congruence and ideal self-congruence) has a positive influence on attendee engagement. When attendees' actual self and ideal self-match with the event image, they are more likely to actively engage in the event activities.

The findings offer insights into one type of events, the cultural event, which is a common event in Thailand. This study is also one among a handful works that investigates the moderating role of perceived crowding on the relationship between attendees' actual and ideal self-congruence and engagement with the event. Although the findings do not suggest a significant moderating effect, this study provides preliminary insight into how perceived crowding shapes the perception of tourists in a cultural event context.

One of the most significant shifts in contemporary business thinking in the tourism and event industry is co-creation and the framework for adopting this collaborative approach is integral for achieving the fundamental goal of value creation. The purpose of this paper is to enhance the understanding of sustainable events by analysing value co-creation processes from the attendees’ perspective.

The methodical framework comprises two steps. First, the study analyses the literature related to festivals and value co-creation, with a focus on sustainable festivals. Second, data rooted research based on grounded theory is conducted, using 12 semi-structured interviews with music festival attendees.

Three distinct festival attendee categories were identified: the sustainable co-creation type, the calculating type and the experience type. Within each category, attendees have different attitudes, personal values and experiences as well as individual assessments of what exactly constitutes value and value creation. These three categories are regarded as key factors in describing different kinds of value co-creation processes in the festival context.

Considering these three types and addressing their personal values, beliefs and value perceptions will allow festival organisers to better manage the development of sustainable festivals and their role as value co-creators.

This paper addresses the need to better understand how value is created in a festival context. The application of grounded theory also considers scholarly calls for a deeper search into the meaning and essence of value for festival attendees.

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether factors that may affect potential attendees' convention participation decision change over time. In today's competitive environment, marketers of associations and destinations make considerable efforts to increase the number of attendees for the conventions they host. Optimizing attendance relies on a clear understanding of the dynamic decision‐making process of prospective attendees.

The study panel was selected from a pool of hospitality and tourism association members, and they were surveyed with an identical questionnaire on two separate occasions. The 107 paired sets were used for data analysis.

The study showed that there were significant changes in the effects of the following factors on the convention participation decision: networking opportunities, safety and health situation, and travelability.

The generalizability of the research is limited by its time scope and sample size. A three‐month split between the two sampling periods may not be sufficient to assess the temporal changes. The empirical results of the study can serve as a base to reveal how potential attendees' convention participation decision may change over time. Using the measurement scale, industry practitioners can evaluate the impact of their marketing strategies and assist in changing potential attendees' convention participation decision into one for convention attendance.

The study is the first attempt to assess the dynamic aspects of the convention participation decision‐making process.

The present study aims to investigate resident attendees' perceptions and attitudes towards a traditional cultural festival. It further clusters the attendees and identifies the profiles of each cluster based on its demographic, attitudinal and behavioral variables.

The Drunken Dragon Festival, a traditional cultural festival in Macao SAR, which has been embedded in the local community for about a century, is used as a case. Data collected from 378 residents on the day of the festival were factor analyzed and then grouped by using cluster analysis.

A two-cluster solution revealed that the two groups, overall, had distinct demographic characteristics and had somewhat different perceptions and attitudes towards the festival.

The results not only show the overall perceptions of the Drunken Dragon Festival among the resident attendees, but they also imply that the government and the organizers need to communicate with and involve the two resident attendee clusters differently.

This study is one of the first attempts to investigate the residents' attitudes towards the transformational development of a traditional cultural festival as an effort to ensure the viability of intangible cultural heritage and to utilize it as a tourism resource.

Paragliding festivals have become significant events in the global tourism space, attracting tourists to local and international destinations. The purpose of this study was to assess environmental attitudes and rate the performance of the paragliding festival of the Kwahu traditional area in Ghana, from the perspectives of four stakeholder groups.

This study was grounded on the salient stakeholder theory. A quantitative cross-sectional study, with a convenience sampling approach, collected 372 useable questionnaires from four major stakeholders/participants (i.e. Kwahu residents, Kwahu returnees, non-Kwahu Ghanaian tourists and foreigners). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyse the data.

The findings of the Games-Howell post-hoc test show no significant differences among the four stakeholder groups in the festival performance assessment. However, there is a significant statistical difference between the Kwahu residents and foreign tourists regarding environmental attitudes towards the paragliding festival.

Visitors' perceptions and experiences of the environmental performance could inform the planning and execution of festive events that have a direct impact on the natural environment. Policymakers at the community levels must enact environmental protocols that uphold the value propositions of the stakeholders and that of the community at large.

The study expands the application of the salience stakeholder model within festival tourism by highlighting under-represented stakeholder voices in a single study on paragliding festivals in a developing country context.