An investigation into the influences of green marketing communications on event attendees and event professionals’ attitudes and behaviours towards sustainable consumption.
Abstract
The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the influences of green
marketing communications on event attendees and event professionals’
attitudes and behaviours towards sustainable consumption. In order to
explore this, the Shambala Festival, recognised as a green event for their
outstanding focus on sustainability, was used as a case study.
The rapid growth of the events industry has emerged as a vibrant sector of
the tourism industry. The popularity of events has generated an increase in
event research and applied work, focusing mainly on the economic impacts
to highlight the aftereffects and overall value of an event. However, with
monetary measures being the primary topic, few studies have analysed the
combination of environmental, social and economic impacts of events or
the idea of sustainability within the industry. Therefore, for a more holistic
evaluation of events, the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) approach was introduced
to measure beyond financial performance. The TBL is also referred to as
the 3P’s, People, Planet and Profit, encouraging businesses to be more
accountable for their environmental impacts reducing inherent confusion
around the topic. Furthermore, demands for increased responsibility is
being popularised throughout the events industry by both event attendees
and event managers thus, highlighting the importance of green events.
The primary data collection method applied in this research was in the form
of structured interviews conducted face to face. Conducting qualitative data
fitted naturally with the research aim as it recorded personal accounts of
green events and sustainable consumption from five festivalgoers and five
event managers. Following a set of 7 pre-established questions assured
relevancy of interviewees responses to the project and facilitated the
natural emergence of themes within collected data.
The findings from the study established that the Shambala Festival is
admired for its sustainability policy and environmental efforts. Furthermore,
it is evident from interviewees responses that global attention given to
environmental issues has amplified along with proliferating observation
towards sustainable accomplishments and event legacies.
Four key themes emerged from the data: two relating to event attendees
and two relating to event professionals. The first of these is event
attendees’ education and accountability for sustainable consumption, which
is influenced by green marketing; secondly event attendees environmental
concerns, which relates to the previous theme as it acts as a catalyst for
encouraging consumers to self-educate on best practice to avoid becoming
recipients of greenwashing. Regarding event professionals, sustainable
event management incorporates environmental, social and economic
responsibilities to benefit industry experts, event attendees and the
environment, however it is recognised as a prime ground for greenwashing.
Moreover, the social reality of encouraging sustainable consumption is
evident as green business emerges as a new trend within the events
industry, and professionals are more motivated to portray a positive
sustainable image with such marketing strategies being beneficial to the
customer, but even more significant in satisfying stakeholders’ interests and
investment opportunities. However, with limited research on perceived greenwashing and green events, this study contributes to an unexplored
area within event literature and may help provide a base for future
research.