Unfolding visitor experiences at music festivals through online reviews

Abstract

Music festivals represent one of the most dynamic tourism sectors of the last decades, their impact extending beyond the initial music-based nucleus. Festivals are subjectively interiorized by visitors through their own experiences which, in time, can influence the overall levels of satisfaction and loyalty. This paper uses the computed analysis of online visitor reviews in order to offer valuable insights into the main components of visitors’ subjective experiences. The overall results are in line with the classical models. However, new connections, dependencies, and even new components related to music festivals are emphasized through the analysis digital reviews of, such as ‘appraisal’ and ‘anticipation’, emerged. Furthermore, our results indicated that ‘authenticity’, a major concept in festival studies during the ‘90s, failed to emerge as significant thus supporting the idea of an ongoing trend focused on standardisation. The findings have both theoretical and direct managerial implications, underlining the core structure of visitor experiences, as well as providing a series of suggestions for festival organisers in order to enhance visitors’ satisfaction.