A comparison of results of three statistical methods to understand the determinants of festival participants’ expenditures

Abstract

The aim of the research reported upon in this study is to examine the impact of visitors’ socio-demographic and festival experience-related variables on expenditure levels and patterns of visits to festivals. Three statistical models including logit, OLS (ordinary least square) and Tobit models are employed to identify and examine the differences or similarities in results from three different approaches. A comparison of the three approaches using cross-section survey data generated differences in model fit. In addition, it was found that the set of independent variables which were significant in estimating festival visitors’ expenditures varied between the three models. As such the findings of this study suggest a singular statistical approach may be inferior to multiple ones in gaining a full understanding of the determinants of festival participants’ expenditure.