Grounds of Visitors' Post-Trade Fair Behavior: An Exploratory Study

ABSTRACT

This paper attempts to gain a deeper understanding of trade fairs as services, analyzing determinants of visitors' post-trade fair behavior (i.e., global satisfaction and future intention) according to their main objectives for trade fair participation. We discuss the fact that trade fairs represent a peculiar type of service, since the evaluation of satisfaction with the trade fair depends not only on the service provider (the organizer) but also on another stakeholder (the exhibitor). The nature of the study is exploratory and uses a survey applied to visitors at a business-to-business (B2B) international trade fair held in Portugal. The main conclusion is that, in the particular case of trade fairs as services, the role of the exhibitor is more important than the role of the organizer in determining the visitor's global satisfaction and intention to participate in future editions of the trade fair. The study contributes to trade fairs and services marketing literature and allows drawing of managerial implications, particularly relevant to trade fair organizers.

KEYWORDS:

• satisfaction,
• services,
• trade fairs,
• visitors

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers and the editor for their helpful comments on earlier versions of this paper.

Funding

This research is part of a larger study and was sponsored by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal (Ref. n° SFRH / BD / 29961 / 2006).