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The purpose of this study is threefold. The first is to discuss the practice of corporate hospitality (CH) at special events used by Australian businesses as a relationship marketing technique to engage with their customers. The second aim is to investigate how marketing practitioners judge their CH programmes in a business-to-business (B2B) context. A third aim is to determine the key benefits and uncover contemporary issues faced by marketing practitioners in the operation of CH programmes.

A qualitative method was employed in this the first phase of a broader research programme. The research design sought to attain exploratory insights from marketing executives that employed CH at sports and cultural events as part of existing B2B marketing programmes. The intention of this qualitative study was to investigate and uncover key issues and establish themes that could be tested in future research. Fifteen in depth interviews including a pilot of two interviews were conducted with marketing practitioners who held managerial responsibility for CH programmes in four states of Australia. These interviews were electronically recorded and subsequently transcribed for coding purposes.

An analysis identified several key issues regarding the role and deployment of CH within marketing programmes. Key benefits of programmes included gaining market intelligence, improving channel communication and creating a competitive advantage through building existing relationships with a firm's customers. The research found that there were specific differences within both the application and management of CH among practitioners and highlighted several pressing issues regarding the practice. Events offering mass appeal to both genders such as tennis and horse racing were considered more appealing to a corporate audience and spectacular, big-ticket events were favoured. The research identified that no two organisations operate their programmes identically, some use the programmes to reward past loyalty and others leverage special events for face-to-face time with new clients. The lack of consistency in measurement included an inability to disengage CH programmes from other marketing elements operating simultaneously. It was evident that the lack of objective setting by many organisations coupled with often a short-term view of CH programmes impeded effective measurement of expected outcomes.

This exploratory study provides greater insights into the little researched topic of CH in the special events sector. Implications stemming from the study include the implementation of recommended changes to CH design and delivery including optimising special event selection to match intended guests and their preferences, setting micro and macro objectives for CH programmes and ensuring they are measurable. In addition, such objectives need to be made explicit to internal stakeholders in order to maximise return on investment for marketing practitioners. For CH to continue to grow as a major revenue stream for special event organisers, more certainty with regards to the outcomes of these programmes are required, along with ensuring the CH special event products offer corporate appeal.

The purpose of this paper is to describe experiences of high school graduates attending a significant annual celebratory event (Schoolies) on the Gold Coast, Australia.

An interpretive, qualitative paradigm informed by social construction ideologies was adopted. Data were collected via in-depth semi-structured interviews.

Key findings relate to attendees’ notion of excitement and perception of social identity, which was found to encompass both a rite of passage and event exclusivity. Attendees’ sense of identity developed from the unique nature of the event as well as the anticipation of excitement and the actual experience.

This study makes a novel contribution in that it takes an interdisciplinary approach, bringing together the sociological, social psychological, and marketing disciplines in an event management context.

A large-sample survey of general public consumers in Canada, France and the United States during the 2000 Olympic Games supports previous research on ambush marketing, provides evidence that purchase decisions are affected by ambush marketing reducing the value of sponsorship partnerships, and purports that the International Olympic Committee and its partners need to develop specific strategies to combat ambush marketing country by country

The purpose of this paper is two-fold. First, the authors compared tourists with local participants to determine if motivations to participate in a mid-scale marathon event varied based on participant type, and if they perceived the event differently. Second, Kaplanidou and Vogt suggested further testing and validation of their scale to measure meanings people attach to sport events was warranted, and the current investigation provides such evaluation.

Working with the event organizer, the authors distributed an online questionnaire to marathon participants in a mid-scale event. The questionnaire included the Sport Motivation Scale-II, Sport Event Evaluation Scale, and demographics.

Results indicated no differences between sport tourists and residents in motivation and meanings attached to the event; however, differences in perception did exist. Data further validated the Sport Event Evaluation Scale.

The study established self-determination theory (SDT) as a viable theoretical framework to understand sport event participants motivations. It demonstrated a possible link between the individuals’ motivations and the meanings they associate with the event.

The paper provides data to support marketing the healthy benefits of participating in a marathon event as well as the need to include the fun and entertaining components of the event as well.

The study is a unique application of SDT as well as applies a theoretical framework to an area of study that has largely focussed on categorizations. Additionally, the findings establish initial findings that local participants and sport tourists possess similar forms of motivation and attach similar meanings to event participation.

Rigid environments, those with exceptionally strong cultural and traditional barriers to change, present unique challenges for institutional entrepreneurs attempting to initiate change. We utilize such a setting to examine what support mechanisms, both individual and contextual, have been utilized when attempting change in rigid environments. We examine the case of successful and unsuccessful attempts to make golf more inclusive to women. Our research supports the claim that rigid environments require more complex combinations of support mechanisms than other settings, illustrating the importance of institutions in both enabling and constraining change in such settings.

This paper aims to explore the nature of the marketing of concerts 1672–1749 examining innovations in the promotion and commodification of music, which are witness to the early development of music as a business.

The study takes as its basis 4,356 advertisements for concerts in newspapers published in London between 1672 and 1749.

Musicians instigated a range of marketing strategies in an effort to attract a concert audience, which foreground those found in more recent and current arts marketing practice. They promoted regular concerts with a clear sense of programme planning to appeal to their audience, held a variety of different types of concerts and made use of a variety of pricing strategies. Concerts were held at an increasing number and range of venues with complementary ticket-selling locations.

Whilst there is some literature investigating concert-giving in this period from a musicological perspective (James, 1987; Johnstone, 1997; McVeigh, 2001; Weber, 2001; 2004b; 2004c; Wollenberg, 1981–1982; 2001; Wollenberg and McVeigh, 2004), what research there is that uses marketing as a window onto the musical culture of concert-giving in this period lacks detail (McGuinness, 1988; 2004a; 2004b; McGuinness and Diack Johnstone, 1990; Ogden et al., 2011). This paper illustrates how the development of public commercial concerts made of music a commodity offered to and demanded by a new breed of cultural consumers. Music, thus, participated in the commercialisation of leisure in late 17th- and 18th-century England and laid the foundations of its own development as a business.

Recent developments in the UK corporate hospitality industry are outlined. The progressively more favourable media attention paid to corporate hospitality is assessed and the dangers involved in such developments are discussed.

By celebrating tourism destinations through cruise collections, luxury brands open to new influences. They may develop deeper connections with certain geographical areas, but may also challenge the quintessentially national dimension of luxury brand culture. The best example of synergies between a luxury fashion brand and tourism destinations are the Christian Dior cruise collections with Maria Grazia Chiuri at the helm. This chapter is to understand how cruise collections may enhance luxury fashion houses' brand culture through the connections they develop with tourism destinations. Further, the chapter assesses the extent to which destinations can benefit from the exposure provided by luxury fashion brands' cruise collections.

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are gaining popularity as investments and personal indulgences, prompting brands to integrate them into marketing campaigns. Thus, understanding consumer personality traits toward NFTs is essential for success. This study presents a model that explores how social comparison orientation (SCO) influences perceived exclusivity and financial benefits of NFT marketing, subsequently impacting experiential evaluations, willingness to purchase NFTs and brand loyalty.

We conducted two experiments to test our model. Study 1 used a quasi-experiment with 1,053 participants and tested the model using partial least squares–based structural equation modeling. In Study 2, we aimed to investigate the causal influence of SCO on NFT marketing effectiveness. We employed a one-factor experiment (social comparison prime: high SCO vs. control) with 123 participants.

NFT users frequently engage in social comparisons and prefer branded NFTs that offer exclusivity (social value) and financial benefits (economic value). Social and financial superiority derived from NFTs enhances branded NFT experiences, leading to a stronger willingness to purchase NFTs and building brand loyalty. Perceived exclusivity, financial benefits and experiential evaluation mediate the effects of SCO on willingness to purchase NFTs and brand loyalty.

This study explores the effectiveness of NFT marketing through the lens of social comparison theory. In doing so, we examined the relationship between SCO and NFT marketing outcomes, revealed the causal influence of SCO on perceived exclusivity and perceived benefits in NFT marketing and shed light on the serial mediation of value- and experience-related constructs.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to our understanding of the underlying rationale for why companies participate in mega‐events in general, and in mega‐events in emerging economies – such as the 2010 Shanghai Expo – in particular. Of particular interest are the ways that companies use an event to advance their own purposes, and how experiences are created that use aspects of an event setting such as Expo 2010.

The study is based on a participatory, ethnographic and longitudinal field study focusing on the VIP section of the Swedish Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo, using additional data from other national pavilions and respondents with insight into Expo 2010 and its organization.

The study indicates that even though companies operationally used the World Expo and the VIP section in many different ways, an underlying element appears to be to use the event for the “practice of communification”.

The study provides practitioners with a conceptual framework and tools to manage the co‐creation process of experiences at events. This is done by supplying an empirical example from World Expo 2010 and the VIP area of the Swedish pavilion. This is a needed addition to the current knowledge on how customers engage in co‐creation of experiences and how companies manage the co‐creation process.

The “communification” concept is used to denote the simultaneous building of community while communicating business‐related issues to strengthen and build relationships with customers over time, with exclusivity and co‐creation of experiences as important components.