Motives of potential event visitors : A pre-event case study of the Storsjöyran music festival

Abstract: The purpose of this thesis was to study potential event visitors and their motives to either attend or not attend an event. A pre-event case study of the music festival Storsjöyran was conducted and 701 potential visitors’ motives were studied through a web-based survey containing both questions with 5-point Likert-type scale and open ended questions. The main motive for visiting Storsjöyran music festival was to experience the core program (live music), but socializing and to experience the special atmosphere were also important factors. Motives for not visiting the festival were a question of costs exceeding benefits. High costs did not solely mean high ticket prices but also included the effort to travel and the risk of what an event can bring in terms of negative experiences, mainly in the confrontation with other festival visitors. The results also support previous findings that motives differ between visitors to the same event. Respondents’ age, origin and links to the place where the festival is held were found to be useful segmentation factors according to the festival Storsjöyran. The organizers were recommend to continue to design the festival for music experiences, but also to consider the social interactions between visitors and design the event for more satisfying experiences related to this area.