The experience of the festivalscape at a craft beer and food festival: the moderating effect of gender

Abstract

ABSTRACT As craft breweries and craft brewing events have grown in size and number worldwide, it is important to understand the experiences of craft event attendees, ensuring the event is successful. To facilitate this understanding, festivalscape experiences were measured to determine the types of experiences that festival attendees prefer at a craft beer festival. Festivalscape represents the atmosphere and the quality experiences that a festival attendee receives when attending an event. Festival attendees can be male or female. Traditionally more men than women attend craft brewing events, but more and more females are showing interest in craft beer and attending craft-related events. Men and women may experience craft beer and craft beer events differently. Thus, the current study includes two primary objectives: (1) To develop a model of success for a craft beer and food festival and (2) To determine if craft beer experiences differ across gender. Researchers surveyed visitors attending the North Miami Brewfest in North Miami, Florida, United States. Structural equation modeling was employed to examine the relationships among festivalscape, attitude toward attending the festival, and word-of-mouth. Multi-group analysis was applied to explore the moderating role of gender.