Key success factors of holding exhibitions for the exhibition organisers using dramaturgy model and grey relational analysis

Abstract

The prosperous meeting, incentive, convention, exhibition (MICE) industry has been regarded as the most potential gold mine industry in the 21st century. The development of MICE could very well boost the economy of the respective nations, and open new dimensions in business opportunities (Wu and Lee, 2009). Hence, governments have begun to actively support the exhibitions that promote the infrastructure, and MICE has been utilised in the construction of infrastructure in several cities (Deng et al., 2008; Chen and Huang, 2011). Consequently, exhibitions are widely considered to be crucial tools for marketing. This study hopes to identify the service needs of exhibitors, and visitors, in exhibitions, and find out the difference between the degree of attention to detail for services provided at the exhibition, and the degree of satisfaction. The main structure of this study is based on the ‘dramaturgy model’, which involves the classic ingredients to any theatre act – actors, setting, audience and performance. In addition, this research developed two questionnaires: ‘exhibitor questionnaires’ and ‘visitor questionnaires’. 121 exhibitor questionnaires and 117 visitor questionnaires are collected. Tools such as dramaturgy model, key factors analysis, grey relation analysis and important-performance analysis are used for the analysis and key results are identified.