An examination into a cultural festival in Glasgow and how event quality can affect the level of consumer satisfaction.

Abstract

Purpose With a rich and vibrant history surrounding the city, Glasgow industrial sector began to collapse after the First World War, resulting in a sectarianism reputation being formed around the city (Graham et al. 2012 and Duff, 2007). Within the 1980s and the 1990s the cultural renaissance was introduced to try and reimage Glasgow's post-industrial image brining in events, festivals and the creation of new venues (Glasgow City Council, 2015) leading for numerous event and festivals being held in the city today. The purpose of this study is to assess how event quality affects the level of consumer satisfaction whilst also ascertaining the relationship between event quality with regard to consumer satisfaction and behavioural intentions. All the while being concerned with a cultural event in Glasgow - the Celtic Connections festival. Research Methods To achieve the aims and objectives of this research project, a mixed methods approach was chosen as the best approach to be used when gathering data. As no similar research has been carried out at the Glasgow Celtic Connections festival, it was deemed in order to gain the best information back, that a both qualitative and quantitative data collection was appropriate. This was done through a mixed method questionnaire that attendees of the festival could access online or could participate in at the event, when approached by the researcher. Quantitative questions were asked to the participants with additional qualitative questions, in order to be able to gain a further, more comprehensive in-depth response. The data collected was then analysed and compared with literature, finally going on to draw conclusion and make recommendations. Key Results and Outcomes The results reveal that event quality does impact the consumers level of satisfaction regarding the Celtic Connections, whilst also identifying that there is a link between how the attendees of the festival feel they received the event quality, consumer satisfaction and behavioural intentions. It can be seen through the data collected that the consumers who feel they received good quality from the event as well as receiving good customer service, are wishing to come back to the festival again in the future as well as willing to recommend the festival to a family, friend or colleague member factors that Beard (2014) and Ko et al. (2010) could help events create loyalty with the attendees thus potential longevity for the event.