An investigation into the impact of terror attacks on consumer attendance, motivation, and perceptions of safety and security at large-scale events, and the implications for future event design

Abstract

The aim of this research project is to explore attendee perceptions of safety and security at events, their motivation to attend large scale events following terror attacks, and how these findings may influence future event design. This research has been formed on the desire to educate and inform future event managers to the threat of terror attacks on large-scale events and the ways in which consumers can be impacted by it. The methodological approach used for this study is qualitative. This method was best suited for this research due to the researchers desire to collect detailed and in-depth data that would attain a comprehensive understanding of attendee motivations, perceptions and attendance. Semi-structured interviews were the selected data collection research method, in which twelve participants were interviewed. Data was gathered using a voice recorder and was then transcribed for data analysis. By using thematic analysis, findings were separated into different themes and compared to the key themes within the literature review; the themes include; event motivations and attendance, participant knowledge about terror attacks, media influence on attendee perceptions, terrorism impacts on attendees, security measures identified, and future event design implications. Furthermore, the research findings demonstrate that there has been a prominent change in safety and security perceptions and that large-scale events have changed the way in which they conduct security measures. This study is significant as it provides a deeper understanding of how event managers must mitigate concerns regarding event consumer attendance and perceptions in order to protect the future of the events industry due to the threat of recent terror attacks at large-scale events.