A Brand Loyalty Model for Arts Festivals

A brand loyalty model for arts festivals SE Burger 12309869 Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Philosophiae Doctor in Tourism Management at the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University Promoter: Prof E Slabbert Assistant promoter: Prof M Saayman May 2015 I DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENT WORK I, Elizna Burger, identity number 8204020004081 and student number 12309869, hereby declare that this research submitted to the North-West University, for the PhD study: A brand loyalty model for arts festivals, is my own independent work; and complies with the Code of Academic integrity, as well as other relevant policies, procedures, rules and regulations of the North-West University; and has not been submitted before to any institution by myself or any other person in fulfilment (or partial fulfilment) of the requirements for the attainment of any qualification. ____________________ ______________________ Elizna Burger Prof E. Slabbert ___________________ Date II ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I express my gratitude to the following individuals who supported me throughout the course of completing my PhD. Above all, I thank God the almighty for giving me this opportunity and granting me the capability to proceed successfully. To my supervisor, Prof Elmarie Slabbert, whose expertise, patience and understanding played an invaluable role in completing this study. Thank you also for the motivational talks. To Prof Melville Saayman for his useful insights. Thanks to my husband, Edohan, who has supported me in every step towards completing this study. Thank you for your endless love and encouragement. To my two children, Eldoné and Leah, who were born before this study was completed and who had to stay with family on various occasions to allow me to focus. Always remember that “education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world” – Nelson Mandela. Thank you to my wonderful family, especially my parents, parents-in-law and sisters-in- law who encouraged and believed in me and assisted in every way possible to complete this study from babysitting to acting as field workers. To all my close friends, thank you for your continuous support. Dr. Suria Ellis, thank you for assisting me with the statistical analysis and for patiently answering any questions I had relating to the statistics. To Rod Taylor for the language editing. III ABSTRACT A brand loyalty model for arts festivals The number of festivals and events worldwide as well as in South Africa has increased significantly over the past decade. With more than 600 festivals being staged annually in South Africa, it is clear that festivals are competing with each other to attract and retain visitors in order to remain sustainable. For this reason, creating and sustaining a loyal visitor base through marketing and branding activities has become increasingly important for festivals. This, however, is a complex task since branding of a festival is challenging in several ways. Festivals are non- permanent tourism offerings with a variety of attributes that need to be considered when branding the festival. These include attractions, accommodation, entertainment and the natural environment. The competitive environment in which festivals operate and the complex nature of a festival as a brand require a specific approach whereby festivals can create and sustain brand loyalty. To remain a competitive and sustainable arts festival, marketers of festivals need to know how their marketing efforts can be applied to enhance visitors’ loyalty as well as the aspects that contribute to visitors’ loyalty. Although various studies have been concerned with brand loyalty in a tourism context, little research has focused on brand loyalty in a festival context and more specifically in a South African arts festival context. In the light of this, the following research question was formulated: “What are the components and the relationships between the components of a brand loyalty model for arts festivals in South Africa? The primary goal of this thesis was to develop a brand loyalty model for arts festivals. To achieve this goal, four objectives were formulated. The first objective was to analyse the role of marketing in creating and sustaining brand loyalty for arts festivals by means of an in-depth literature review. The definition of marketing and the distinguishing features of tourism offerings were analysed. It was indicated that aspects such as visitors’ motivation for attending festivals impacts on their loyalty. Furthermore it was established that marketing activities such as market research, market segmentation, positioning, branding and developing an effective festival marketing mix can assist marketers of festivals to achieve visitors’ loyalty. The second objective was to review the literature regarding brand loyalty and its constructs. Branding and brand loyalty were defined and the history of branding was discussed. More IV importantly, the constructs of brand loyalty and the items for measuring them were analysed. It was clear that a variety of constructs impact on festival visitors’ loyalty including brand attitude, brand personality, individuals’ characteristics, circumstances and purchase situation, organisations’ commitment to being customer orientated, brand equity, brand associations, brand awareness, product involvement, brand commitment, brand affect, quality, brand image, brand experience, brand trust, brand value and satisfaction. In addition, it was concluded that these aspects are related and affect one another. The third objective was to identify the components of a brand loyalty model, test the relationships between them and determine the variables influencing them. This was done with the aim of developing a brand loyalty model for arts festivals. For this purpose, data were collected by means of a self-administered questionnaire which was distritubuted to visitors at Vryfees and Aardklop. A total of 400 questionnaires were distributed at each festival with 355 questionnaires obtained at Vryfees and 352 questionnaires obtained at Aardklop. Selected statistical techniques were employed to achieve this objective. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed on the items for measuring brand loyalty. From this, six brand loyalty components were revealed. Spearman Rank Order Correlation was used to determine the relationships between these brand loyalty components. An independent t-test, one-way ANOVA and two-way ANOVA between groups were employed to determine the impact of selected variables on the components of brand loyalty. Finally, the brand loyalty components were used in Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) to develop the model. The results of the study confirmed that brand loyalty for festivals such as Aardklop and Vryfees are multidimensional and consist of satisfaction, affective image, festival experience, loyalty, personal value and cognitive image. Affective image and satisfaction are also major components of visitors’ loyalty towards these festivals. It was furthermore confirmed that variables such as occupation, province of residence, frequency of attendance and home language have an impact on festival visitors’ loyalty. The final objective of this study was to draw conclusions and make recommendations concerning the compilation and implementation of the brand loyalty model for arts festivals. This research makes important contributions theoretically, methodologically and practically. Theoretically, this study is unique since it is one of the first to indicate the role of marketing in enhancing brand loyalty and to analyse various brand loyalty constructs that can be further investigated by future researchers. Methodologically, this study developed a reliable and valid questionnaire for the V measurement of brand loyalty in a festival context which can be used by other festivals to determine visitors’ loyalty. In addition, this study investigated distinctive relationships between the festival loyalty constructs and other demographic and festival-related variables. The impact of demographic variables on festival loyalty constructs was also explored. The greatest contribution of this study, however, is its practical contribution by developing a brand loyalty model for arts festivals which can be used by marketers of festivals to create, maintain and increase visitors’ loyalty towards their festivals. Keywords: destination branding, brand loyalty, brand image, tourism marketing, destination marketing, destination image, place marketing, brand equity and brand identification VI OPSOMMING ŉ Handelsmerklojaliteit-model vir kunstefeeste Die hoeveelheid feeste en gebeurtenisse wêreldwyd sowel as in Suid-Afrika het kenmerkend toegeneem tydens die afgelope dekade. Met meer as 600 feeste wat jaarliks in Suid-Afrika op die planke gebring word, is dit duidelik dat feeste met mekaar meeding om besoekers te lok en te behou om sodoende volhoubaar te bly. Daarom het dit toenemend belangrik geword vir feeste om ŉ lojale kliëntebasis op te bou en ook te handhaaf deur middel van bemarking en handelsmerk aktiwiteite. Hierdie is egter ŉ komplekse taak aangesien die bemarking van ŉ fees as ŉ handelsmerk op verskeie maniere uitdagend is. Feeste is tydelike toerisme-aanbiedinge en verskeie eienskappe moet in ag geneem word wanneer ŉ fees as ŉ handelsmerk bemark word, insluitend besienswaardighede, verblyf, vermaak en die natuurlike omgewing. Die mededingende omgewing waarin feeste funksioneer en die komplekse natuur van ŉ fees as ŉ handelsmerk

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