Involvement, Satisfaction, Perceived Value, and Revisit Intention: A Case Study of a Food Festival

Festivals are one of the most frequently occurring events, happening at destinations across the world, with numbers increasing annually, making festivals the fastest growing segment of the tourism industry. Thus, research on the topic of festivals becomes crucial for their successful management. Through a quantitative approach, a survey was administered at a food festival in the southwest United States, and 419 usable surveys were collected over a three-day period. Two clusters emerged through the cluster analysis, each significantly different across involvement, satisfaction, perceived value, and intention to revisit. Differences were also visible in number of visits, expenditure at stores/vendors, and primary reason for visit. It is important for marketers of local festivals to consider psycho-graphic differences among guests and to develop unique marketing plans to target each of the resultant segments. Implications and recommendations for planners and organizers of future events are suggested.