Unobserved heterogeneity in music festivalgoers' experience processing

Abstract

Special events, including festivals, play an essential role in increasing destination attractiveness. Therefore, destination managers who understand festivalgoers' unique needs and priorities can increase the competitive advantages of their destinations in the contemporary experience economy. Accordingly, this study establishes a theoretical model explaining the relationships among festival-experiencescape elements and memorable festival experiences. Additionally, it adopts advanced segmentation approaches to delineate different types of music festivalgoers, to facilitate the development of more precise marketing and management strategies. Specifically, a finite mixture partial least squares technique, multi-group analysis, and importance-performance map analysis were performed with a representative sample of 384 Taiwanese festivalgoers. Combining the findings obtained from three above-mentioned types of analyses yielded two unique types of festivalgoers: ‘experiencescape-oriented’ and ‘seriously involved’. Each type has a distinctive way of assessing festival experiencescapes and creating memorable experiences within them. Managerial implications tailored to these two segments are also provided.