Linking event quality to economic impact

Abstract

The aim of this study is to develop and test, in an event context, a model describing the relationships between perceived quality, satisfaction, use value and consumer expenditures. A model is proposed and tested using data from a Web and telephone survey of 326 visitors to a Swedish music festival. Findings from bivariate correlation, multiple regression and structural equation models show that links are significant and support a chain of dependencies. Better managed festivals seem to generate higher economic impact at the destination as well as in the festival area. Implications of this are that festival managers can influence the economic impact by careful design, planning and operation of the festival and that the DMO can positively influence the economic impact by monitoring the quality of publicly supported festivals and events. Quality standards and quality certification could provide means for such developments.