Skip to main content

Distinguishing Chalk from Cheese: A 3-I "festivalscape" Typology of Cheese Festival Visitors

Buy Article:

$48.00 + tax (Refund Policy)

This research identified and segmented visitors to a premier South African cheese festival based on their satisfaction with the "festivalscape" elements at the festival. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the data from visitors over the 3 days of the festival, and 515 usable questionnaires were included in the analysis. Eight "festivalscapes" were identified (aesthetics and group composition, accessibility and parking, cheese knowledge, festival management, cheese experience, convenience and marketing, entertainment, and interaction), a combination that has not been previously identified in the literature. The cluster analysis identified three distinct segments, with heterogeneous behavioral and sociodemographic profile identifiers. To the authors' knowledge, this study is the first attempt to segment culinary visitors based on "festivalscape" factors, especially in the South African context. Segmenting based on "festivalscapes" proved to be a useful market segmentation tool and the authors proposed a 3-I typology of visitors to food-related events and festivals, namely Irrespectives, Intriguers, and Intentionalists. The labels correspond to each segment's level of satisfaction, ranging from low, medium, to high. The value of this critical market segmentation technique for the marketing and branding of an event or festival is that it could help managers and marketers to promote better culinary events and festivals in South Africa by offering unique attributes that attract culinary visitors.

Keywords: "FESTIVALSCAPE"-BASED MARKET SEGMENTATION; CULINARY FESTIVALS; SOUTH AFRICA; TYPOLOGY

Document Type: Research Article

Publication date: 13 May 2019

This article was made available online on 20 February 2019 as a Fast Track article with title: "DISTINGUISHING CHALK FROM CHEESE – A 3-I “FESTIVALSCAPE” TYPOLOGY OF CHEESE FESTIVAL VISITORS".

More about this publication?
  • Event Management, an International Journal, intends to meet the research and analytic needs of a rapidly growing profession focused on events. This field has developed in size and impact globally to become a major business with numerous dedicated facilities, and a large-scale generator of tourism. The field encompasses meetings, conventions, festivals, expositions, sport and other special events. Event management is also of considerable importance to government agencies and not-for-profit organizations in a pursuit of a variety of goals, including fund-raising, the fostering of causes, and community development.
  • Access Key
  • Free content
  • Partial Free content
  • New content
  • Open access content
  • Partial Open access content
  • Subscribed content
  • Partial Subscribed content
  • Free trial content