Measuring the Effects of Event Sponsorship: Theoretical Frameworks and Image Transfer Models

The use of event sponsorship or other types of sponsorship as a means to establish, enhance, or change brand image is a fairly common practice for a variety of organizations. This objective has been identified as one of the two most common goals for organizations to engage in sponsorship programs. The rationale behind the popularity of sponsorship as a marketing tool to achieve image goals is the general assumption that, by linking a brand to an event, the image of the event can be transferred to the image of the sponsor.

Despite the increasing sophistication of event sponsorship and rising academic interest in understanding sponsorship practice, there is still a lack of in-depth understanding of how sponsorship processes work, in particular in what concerns its brand outcomes. The article addresses this issue by documenting, examining, and critically assessing the existing literature. The main explanations of brand image transfer, including theoretical frameworks and models, are presented; empirical research, divided into effectiveness of brand image transfer and the factors affecting such process, is analyzed; and two main issues found in the more recent articles—direction of brand image transfer and multiple sponsorships—are discussed. Finally, existing gaps are identified and research propositions are presented to guide future research.     

Interpreting suboptimal business outcomes in light of the Coase Theorem: Lessons from Sidmouth International Festival

The management team of the world-famous Sidmouth Festival resigned in 2004, after failing to secure bad-weather underwriting worth £200,000, and amidst widespread fears that the Festival was doomed. While claims of a local economic impact of £5 million are seriously flawed, it is highly likely that the local economy did benefit by at least several times the amount of the required insurance. Failure to capture these net positive benefits is linked to ill-defined property rights, rising transaction costs, incomplete information from unreliable sources, and actual or feared free riding. These conditions prevented the type of efficient bargaining solution in the face of externalities envisioned by the Coase Theorem. Practically all of the problems preventing the ideal Coasean solution could have been addressed by granting key stakeholders' individual ownership rights. Hence, while the Coase solution was not applicable, the Theorem's predictions (or its corollary's predictions) were confirmed.     

Estimating the Economic Impact of Event Tourism

Abstract

Tourism has become an important economic sector in many parts of the world, and many regions, states, and local areas have identified expenditures by visitors as a potential source of economic growth. Because visitor spending can contribute to the local economy, many communities seek to enhance tourism and visitor-oriented activities. As a result, estimates of the economic impact of event tourism are of interest to a wide variety of interested parties. Economic impact analyses of sports facilities and other entertainment events have come under increasing criticism in recent years. At the same time, visitors to sports events, festivals, and other visitor-oriented and event related activities can produce very substantial economic impacts for host communities. This article examines key considerations and issues that affect and are critical to reliable estimates of the economic impacts of events and event tourism.     

Multidimensional scaling of spectators’ motivations to attend a film festival

The purpose of the article is to examine spectators’ motivations to attend a film festival in the context of demographic characteristics. For this purpose, data were collected utilizing a self-administered questionnaire from the 742 audience members who attended the film screenings during the 18th International Eskisehir Film Festival. A structured survey instrument was used for the data collection utilizing multidimensional scaling and correspondence analysis to examine the differences and similarities of the demographic variables in terms of motivations. Findings suggested that International Eskisehir Film Festival participants were mostly young, single, high school graduates and visited the festival with their friends. Motivational factors were grouped under four dimensions, namely novelty, socialization, escape, and togetherness. While motivations of young female participants were found to be high, relatively older, and married people only showed a high motivation for togetherness. The results provide useful information to those responsible for cultural policies and the management of similar events.     

Clustering attendees at the Philharmonic Orchestra’s Summer Festival

There has been an increase in the number of arts and music festivals held annually in South Africa. These festivals range from wide all-encompassing arts festivals, such as the National Arts Festival, to specific festivals that cater for very specific audiences, such as the Jazz Festival and the Philharmonic Orchestra Festival. It may therefore be expected that the attendees of the various types of festivals would differ quite substantially. While much research has been conducted to understand visitor behaviour at general arts festivals and the economic contributions of these festivals, attendees of these more specialised events have been neglected. However, understanding who the attendees are and their behaviour is paramount to the sustainability of these festivals. Therefore, this paper aims to address this void and set the following objectives: (1) to compile a profile of attendees at the Philharmonic Orchestra Festival; (2) to cluster attendees of the Festival into distinct groups; and (3) to compare the various clusters with one another. Data were obtained by administrating 500 visitor questionnaires during January 2010. Using cluster analysis, visitors are grouped based on various characteristics and the differences between the clusters are explored using factor analysis and analysis of variance. Main results indicate that most visitors are mature in age and well educated, from which three clusters were identified with differences evident between the clusters.     

Conventions,Festivals, and Tourism

Abstract

The link between conventions and tourism has often been assumed, and to some extent has been researched, and yet little research has been undertaken to study the relationships between organizations staging an event. The aim of this paper is to highlight the links between convention, festival, and tourism organizations using a case study in Lismore, Australia. The Lismore Chamber of Commerce has used an agricultural convention in conjunction with a community festival to share resources and attract wider audiences. This paper demonstrates the outcomes of this relationship in terms of innovation, cooperation, and regional development. Where previous attempts to coordinate the herb industry had failed, the case shows how coordinated events can serve an important purpose. The case also demonstrates the use of a network analysis methodology as a potential tool for researchers and managers in identifying and understanding industry relationships. The results demonstrate the success of this event and highlight the importance of developing and maintaining network relations.     

大众参与旅游节庆的影响因素研究

旅游节庆是一种新型的、特殊的旅游产品,对举办地的旅游和经济的发展具有多种功能。本研究针对大多数旅游节庆举办一两届后,就出现难以为继的尴尬局面,提出提高旅游节庆的大众参与度是成功举办旅游节庆的关键。根据前人的研究成果、专家的意见以及因子分析的结果,本文得到旅游节庆主题因素、旅游节庆文化因素、游客的现场感知因素、举办者的因素和外围环境因素五方面共19项影响大众参与度的因素。层次分析法给出了此19项因素的影响力排序,各个影响因素按照影响力的大小可为分三个等级。最后,用模糊评判法对中国湖州国际湖笔文化节的大众参与度进行了综合评价,分值为60.6778。     

European Viking Themed Festivals: An Expression of Identity

Viking themed festivals are now widespread throughout Europe and are a popular expression of heritage identity. The Anglo-American stereotypical representation of Viking heritage is of sea-faring, sexist and bloodthirsty men raping and pillaging. In contrast to this image, in Scandinavia the dominant image of Vikings in popular culture finds fewer references to war and warriors. Here the Viking representation is very much concerned with the people who ‘abroad were known as pirates, but at home lived in a well-ordered society’. European Viking themed festivals have largely attempted to give greater credence to the latter representation. However, it is often the more bloodthirsty image that initially inspires Anglo-American tourists to visit sites. Based upon qualitative research, in this paper we examine the geographical and organisational depth of Viking themed festivals in Europe. Furthermore, we argue that at Viking themed festivals the past is constructed and idealised by participants as an authentic way of life and that this is used as an expression of identity.     

The matter of pride: positioning one’s self in tourism inquiry

ABSTRACT

This article proposes a broader investigation of pride within tourism contexts, presenting it as an important concept for the enhancement of interpersonal understanding and cross-cultural empathy in tourism research and education, and also as a valuable emotion for teachers, students, and researchers to explore within themselves. Pride is applied here in the consideration of why certain research topics may be overlooked within tourism studies, and as an illustration of the benefits of utilizing qualitative, constructivist research and pedagogical approaches that incorporate methodologies of reflexivity and subjectivity. Through this exploration of pride, the author promotes interdisciplinary approaches of inquiry, with a focus on the utility of philosophy for students and scholars alike, toward deepening understandings of both self and other.     

Problematising ‘Festival Tourism’: Arts Festivals and Sustainable Development in Ireland

This paper problematises the term ‘festival tourism’. It conceptualises festivals as socially sustaining devices and argues that while they frequently function as tourist attractions, their social significance extends far beyond tourism. Using empirical material gathered in two case study arts festivals in Ireland, the paper demonstrates how festivals can contribute to arts development by inter alia creating demand for the arts, enhancing venue infrastructures, encouraging local creativity and animating local involvement. The paper contends that arts festivals, irrespective of their initial objectives almost inevitably develop tourist profiles over time and it proceeds to examine how changing tourism priorities in the two festivals studied impact upon sustainable festival practices. The findings suggest that tourism emerged as a key force promoting festival growth and expansion. It was found to be associated with increased revenue flows but also with increased arts activity on a year-round basis and with an improved venue infrastructure in both places. However, problems were identified with respect to the quality of the relationship forged between the festivals and local populations in the respective places. The paper concludes by arguing that festivals’ engagement with tourism needs to be carefully managed in the interests of promoting the socially sustaining function of festivals and of encouraging sustainable approaches to tourism development.     

Visitors’ experiences with Intangible Cultural Heritage: a case study from Córdoba,Spain

The development of heritage tourism has experienced significant growth in recent years. In this paper, we present an analysis of the relationship between an Intangible Cultural Heritage, the Fiesta of the Patios in Córdoba, Spain and tourism development. The methodology used in this research consisted of fieldwork to determine the significance of the demographic factors and variables in the level of satisfaction with the visit to the Fiesta of the Patios. Similarly, the contribution of these variables to the level of satisfaction was analysed.     

Corrigendum to “Dark tourism,abjection and blood: A festival context” [Tourism Management 64 (2018) 346–356]

Dark tourism and its implications have been gaining significant prominence in both the literature and in practice in recent years. Moving conceptualizations of dark tourism forward, we utilize the interpretative phenomenological frame to investigate the interrelationships between tourism and current conditions of society. We do this by qualitatively studying tourists' experiences while in the process of attending dark tourism oriented music festivals that prominently feature direct confrontation with abjection. Our findings indicate that these abjection-oriented festivals allow tourists to encounter blood, animal corpses and other death elements in a ritual-like context within the confines of a transitory space. Ultimately, our research reveals how dark tourism festivals featuring abjection can allow some tourists to feel closer to actual death.     

Socio-spatial authenticity at co-created music festivals

From the early days of hippie counter-culture, music festivals have been an important part of the British summer. Today they are commercialised offerings without the counter-cultural discourse of earlier times. Drawing on participant observation, interviews and focus groups conducted at a rock festival and a smaller boutique festival, the paper examines how their design, organisation and management are co-created with participants to produce authentic experiences. The paper contributes to research on authenticity in tourism by examining how authenticity emerges and is experienced in such co-created commercial settings. It presents the importance that the socio-spatial plays in authenticity experiences and how socio-spatial experience and engagement can also be recognised as a form of aura.     

The role of research in the hospitality industry: A content analysis of the IJHM between 2000 and 2005

This article analyzes academic research from the International Journal of Hospitality Management (IJHM), as it applies to the dimensions of the management process related to the Research Methodologies proposed by Ritchie [1987. Roles of Research in Tourism Management. In: Ritchie, J.R.B, Goeldner, C. (Eds.), Travel, Tourism, and Hospitality Research. Wiley, New York, pp. 13–22]. This analysis provides insight on the evolution of research published in the IJHM from 2000 to 2005 and compares the results with previous studies. The IJHM has evolved in to an empirical journal with highly sophisticated methodologies and procedures. Therefore, the intention of this article is to provide a vision of the current research efforts in hospitality while providing a better contextual understanding of the directions and trends in qualitative and quantitative research methodologies.