The evaluation of the perceived value of festival experiences: the case of Serralves em Festa!

Abstract

Purpose Serralves em Festa! is a festival of contemporary artistic expression held annually in the city of Porto attracting a large number of national and international tourists. As there is no entrance fee, the purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of the perceived value through the attendee’s willingness to pay for the event. The authors also describe the respondents (the “cheap talkers”) who indicated that they are willing to pay for a festival but when compared to other groups their opinion is different. Design/methodology/approach Considering the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of visitors, their segmentation and satisfaction level, a regression model was created, based on combination of a double hurdle approach with a contingent valuation (CV) analysis. Findings The results show that gender and age above 53 years old are more likely to decide to pay for the event, while place of residence, satisfaction, repeated visits and intention to revisit influence the amount of the event’s payment. The cheap talkers are the respondents residing in Portugal. Practical implications Possible options for the implementation of an entrance fee or a system of donations are discussed taking into consideration the segmentation of demand. The authors concluded that an organized system of donations, combined with institutional sponsors, limited advertising (also with negative impacts on the perceived authenticity) and merchandising related to the event could contribute for an increment of the revenues related to the festival. Other implications related to the cultural and economic impacts on the city are also addressed. Originality/value It was combined a double hurdle approach with a CV method based on a segmentation of the public, which influences the propensity to pay for the event. This paper makes a contribution to the literature by seeking to deal with the cheap talk problem in CV methods by observing the comparison of the amount of the event’s payment between groups.