Necessity is the mother of innovations: A qualitative study of event innovations during “shock” events

Abstract

Crises have impacted how both businesses and consumers have allowed opportunities for new processes to emerge. However, there has been a void of literature on novel strategies in the event industry, mainly through service-dominant (S-D) logic. Therefore, this study explores event business professionals’ perceptions of S-D logic innovative strategies due to the impacts of global crises. Based on the results of in-depth interviews of event business professionals, six overarching themes emerged: (1) core product innovation; (2) service environment innovation; (3) technology innovation; (4) process innovation; (5) marketing innovation; and (6) socialization innovation. Theoretical and managerial implications are provided to academia on event research and on incorporating these innovative strategies into event management in the future.