Residents’ Motivation and Place Meanings in a Hallmark Event: How to Develop a Sustainable Event in the Hosting Destination

Abstract

The main challenge for sustainable events is to attract residents to participate and to continue participating. Motivation can be used to explain a place and the intention to revisit a place. The main purpose of this study was to explore residents’ place meanings at Peony Culture Festival Luoyang China (PCFLC) and the impact of residents’ motivation on place meaning and place satisfaction with respect to PCFLC. A sequential mixed-methods approach was adopted. In-depth interviews and questionnaires were used to collect data. The thematic analysis yielded four themes of residents’ place meanings in PCFLC. Structural equation modeling via the bootstrap approach was used to examine the role of residents’ motivation in place making in PCLFC. The results indicated that residents’ place meanings in PCFLC consisted of self-identification, self-development, economic dependence, and leisure, which enriched the types of place meanings. In addition, place meaning had a mediating role in the relationship between autonomous motivation and place satisfaction and a masking role in the relationship between controlled motivation and place satisfaction from the perspective of the self-determination theory. The paper provides a theoretical perspective to explain the effects of motivation on place making and puts forward a practical proposal for the products and marketing of events.