When Do Festinos Decide to Attend an Arts Festival? An Analysis of the Innibos National Arts Festival

ABSTRACT

Festival-goers (“festinos”) put time and effort into deciding to attend a festival, and the way they decide what to see and the length of time they take to decide vary greatly. To attract those who buy tickets for shows—sales of which are crucial for the survival of festivals—and to know when to start promoting the event, festival organizers and marketers need to know how far in advance the visitors make their decision to attend and what influences their decision. This study categorized 438 visitors to the Innibos National Arts Festival, South Africa, using a survey of their decision-making time. Four groups were identified, and labeled “spontaneous,” “limited,” “extended,” and “routine” decision-makers. These market segments can be taken into consideration in the festival's marketing campaign so as to attract visitors to a variety of events and help ensure the long-term sustainability of the festival.

Keywords:

• Segmentation
• festival behavior
• decision-making time
• festival marketing

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the NRF for their financial support for this project. The authors would also like to thank the marketing manager of Innibos National Arts Festival, Sandra Jacobs, for allowing this research to be conducted and for partial funding of the project. Last but not least, we would like to thank all the fieldworkers and respondents who participated in the survey.