Use of Social Media for New Service Development by Finnish Event and Festival Organizers

This article explores how event and festival (EF) managers use social media in new service development (NSD), in what phases of NSD consumers are involved, and in what way the customer contributions are used in order to influence the different phases of service development. The empirical data for the study were collected by electronic survey from Finnish cultural and sports EF organizers, and complemented with phone interviews. The study revealed that Finnish EFs use the most common social media tools in everyday operations, particularly for marketing purposes. They have recognized the possibilities to use social media in NSD and have also acknowledged the benefits customer involvement in NSD can bring. Most commonly, customers are involved in the first and final stages of the NSD process. Constraints for web-based NSD was also found. This study brings information about the possibilities of social media in NSD in EF context that may help the organizers and developers to plan and develop the management strategies. Results also show that in the future there may be demand for additional training for EF organizers related to the usage of social media. This study also has limitations. The response rate was rather low, and larger samples should be used in the future. It would also be useful to interview diverse EFs using social media in NSD purposes in the future. The study was conducted only in Finland and thus the results cannot be internationally generalized.