Do millennials have an interest in attending, volunteering at, or participating in community events?
Abstract
This research investigates if millennials have an interest in attending, volunteering
at, or participating in community events. Community events are important for
residents as it allows them to continue traditions, meet with one another, and create
a sense of community. However, existing literature identifies that millennials’
interests are in mega-events, therefore suggesting millennials’ attendance at
community events is low, implying it is important for event organisers to understand
if millennials currently attend community events, and what motivates them to do so.
The aim of this study was to critically assess whether millennials attend, volunteer
at, or participate in community events. In order for this aim to be achieved,
objectives were set to include exploring the breadth of community events, the level
of participation of millennials at community events, what factors prevent or persuade
millennials to attend community events, and what impact millennials’ involvement is
having on community events facing a lack of support.
Secondary research was carried out by analysing existing literature and displaying it
in the form of a literature review. For primary research, an online questionnaire was
carried out to gain quantitative data surrounding millennials’ involvement with
community events. This consisted of 11 questions; either multiple choice or Likert
scale questions to identify if millennials do involve themselves in community events,
factors affecting involvement, and motivations to persuade or prevent involvement.
The findings highlight that millennials do involve themselves in community events,
mostly by attending, however some do volunteer or participate also. Many
motivational factors were identified, and this proved family and friends’
togetherness, and socialisation were the most common. Technology was identified
in literature as the most important motivational factor, however in the research
carried out technology has lower importance than many other motivational factors.