‘All that jazz’: the relationship between music festival visitors’ motives and behavioural intentions

ABSTRACT

This exploratory study investigated the relationship between visitors’ behavioural intentions (ex-post) and their motives (ex-ante) for attending a jazz festival. The aim was to discover whether a music festival brings additional intangible benefits. The research followed a quantitative approach by conducting a visitor survey at the Cape Town International Jazz Festival in South Africa. Structural Equation Modelling showed that music festivals have the potential to create benefits beyond the festival itself or the host destination, particularly fostering an appreciation of a music genre, increasing purchasing of music, and boosting music tourism. The findings showed that a music festival could have far-reaching benefits that can contribute to its legacy. It also showed that visitors’ motives have a unique relationship with their behavioural intentions, which emphasizes the need to market the festival accordingly.

KEYWORDS:

• Behavioural intentions
• Structural Equation Modelling
• music festival motivation
• music tourism
• music appreciation
• Cape Town International Jazz Festival

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial assistance from the National Research Foundation (NRF). The authors are furthermore grateful towards the organisers of the CTIJF for supporting the research as well as to all the fieldworkers and respondents who graciously formed part of the research.