Festivalscapes and patrons' emotions, satisfaction, and loyalty

Abstract

Despite the enormous impact of major festivals, very little theory exists addressing exactly what makes a festival a marketing success. Linking festivalscapes, patron emotions, satisfaction, and loyalty in a theoretical model, this study employs an on-site survey of more than 500 visitors attending a major international festival to test the theory. The results suggest that controllable environmental characteristics, such as food quality and planned program content, affect patron emotions including consumer satisfaction, and these emotions mediate the impact of the festival environment on loyalty to the festival.