RECN 344: Event Management

1. RECN 344: Event Management Week 5 Lecture 2 Event Demand: Introduction to Event Motivation

2. Week 5 Lecture 2: Event motivation • Introduction to motivation concepts • Motivation theories • Event attendance and motivation

3. Week 5 Lecture 2: Readings • e-book: Getz, D. (2012). Ch. 8: Antecedents and decision-making. In Event Studies: Theory, research and policy for planned events (2nd ed.)(pp. 247-268). Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. • R6: Li, R. & Petrick, J. (2006). A review of festival and event motivation studies. Event Management, 9(4), 239-245. • R7: Crompton, J.L. & McKay, S.L. (1997). Motives of visitors attending festival events. Annals of Tourism Research, 24(2), 425-439. • Additional reference: • Getz, D. (2013). Demand and the event tourist. In Event tourism (pp. 43-76). New York: Cognizant Communication.

4. Understanding motivation • “A decision to attend an event is a directed action which is triggered by a desire to meet a need” (Crompton & McKay, 1997, p. 425 ) • Identifying and prioritising motives is key to understanding the decision making process • Motivation is closely related to satisfaction

5. Terminology • Intrinsic motivation: • individual and unique personal needs & values that motivate people to attend or participate in an event • Extrinsic motivation:

6. Motivational theories • Needs-based approaches • Human needs motivate human behaviour – hierarchy of needs (e.g. Maslow) • People choose to attend events to satisfy certain needs

7. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Self-actualisation (e.g. self-fulfilment, understanding) Ego needs (e.g. respect, status, prestige) Social needs (e.g. affection, love, friendship) Safety needs (e.g. security, protection) Physiological needs (e.g. food, water, air) • Human needs arranged in hierarchy from lower-level to higher-order needs. People normally satisfy lower order needs before the higher order of needs

8. Iso-Ahola’s model • Two elements: • Optimal arousal theory • Approach-Avoidance theory • Much behaviour is produced by opposing motives (cause organisms to both ‘approach’ and ‘avoid’ stimuli)

9. Iso-Ahola’s model • In event context, individuals seek different levels of stimulation • Needs change with event, lifestyle/lifestage, etc • Motivation is ‘seeking-escaping’ behaviour (or ‘push’ – ‘pull’)

10. Push-Pull theories • Push-pull approaches • Push factors: motivational factors from within individual, or social context (intrinsic and extrinsic) • Pull factors: features of an event likely to attract people • Event pull is a response to motivational push

11. Crompton’s travel motives • Four main components in pleasure vacation • State of disequilibrium • Break from routine • Behaviourial alternative: stay at home, pleasure trip, travel for other purposes (e.g. VFR, business) • Motives (source of disequilibrium) which help determine nature/destination of the pleasure vacation • Continuum: primarily socio-psychological – cultural

12. Crompton’s travel motives • Socio-psychological motives (‘push factors’) • Prestige • Regression • Enhancement of kinship relationships • Facilitation of social interaction

13. Motives to attend events • Cultural motives (pull factors’) • Crompton & McKay (1997) found that festival attendees had multiple motives • Seeking, rather than escaping more important for festival attendees

14. Motives for attending events • Morgan (2009, cited in Getz, 2013, p. 59): Event motives fall into three groups: • Personal benefits of hedonic enjoyment • Mostly generic, rather than specific benefits/motives • See list of case studies: Li & Petrick (2006, p.241)

15. Motives for attending events • Li & Petrick (2006) – provide overview of festival/event motivation studies • Primarily quantitative and largely descriptive case studies •  little in the way of theory building • Key questions: ‘Why do they come?’, ‘Who are they?’ ‘What do they do there?’, ‘Are they satisfied?’ • Most event motivation research has been seen as subset of travel motivation research  uses same theories

16. Getz, 2012, p.257

17.  Thanks for coming along today. See you on Thursday!