Measuring Attendees' Cultural Event Experiences

Abstract

This chapter explores the concept of cultural event experience, as the interaction between an individual and the cultural event environment, altered by the level of engagement with multiple experiential elements and outputs, measured in four dimensions: experience novelty, affective engagement, cognitive engagement, and conative engagement. The purpose is to test the event experience scale (EES) as a valid measurement instrument for cultural event experiences, producing valuable insights for stakeholders and marketing management teams. The empirical study lays on a program of cultural and artistic events, the “365 Algarve,” which was launched in a bottom-up approach to involve residents and local cultural groups to increase territory cohesion and to reinforce the brand image of Algarve. Using a sample drawn from the attendees present at those events, the results confirm the validity of EES with a new dimension emerged: experiential learning. The study reveals a possible new measurement instrument, the cultural event experience scale (CEES).