A Clustering Approach to Understanding the Impact of Multi-Phase Social Media Engagement at Festivals

Author Bios (50 Words for each Author)

Danielle Barbe is a Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Florida focusing on communications as a tool for the marketing, management, and development of tourism. Within this framework, Danielle's research interests include crisis communication, social media, and digital marketing.

Dr. Kelly MacKay is Professor & Vice-Provost Academic at Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada. She has worked extensively with Parks Canada, many DMOs, and major festivals. Her recent research examines ICT influences on tourist behaviour. Kelly is a long-time TTRA member, editorial board member for Journal of Travel Research and Past President of TTRA Canada.

Dr. Christine Van Winkle is an Associate Professor who brings both practical insight and theory-based knowledge to inform practice. Her research examines visitors experiences in a range of tourism contexts and has been published in tourism, festival and event journals, and books. Christine teaches in the Recreation Management Degree Program at the University of Manitoba.

Dr. Elizabeth Halpenny is an Associate Professor at Canada's University of Alberta. Her teaching and research addresses marketing, tourism and protected area management. Current projects focus on visitor engagement via social media, the role of conservation brands in travel decision making, agritourism and sustainability, as well as tourism operators’ adaption to and mitigation of climate change.

Abstract (150 Words)

Festivals are integral part of the tourism sector that face unique brand building challenges due to their community-building purpose and the limited time frame in which they take place. To overcome this challenge, festivals are increasingly using social media to extend the limits of engagement by providing opportunities to continue interacting online throughout each festival phase (before, during, after). The purpose of this study is to examine how social media use throughout various phases provides different outcomes for festival attendees. Using cluster analysis, this study identified four distinct segments (Social Media Inactives, Real-Time Engagers, Offline Engagers, Social Media Actives) of festival-related social media users based on which phases of the festival they engaged. Findings revealed significant differences between the segments regarding their age, sense of community, and festival loyalty. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.

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A Clustering Approach to Understanding the Impact of Multi-Phase Social Media Engagement at Festivals

Festivals are integral part of the tourism sector that face unique brand building challenges due to their community-building purpose and the limited time frame in which they take place. To overcome this challenge, festivals are increasingly using social media to extend the limits of engagement by providing opportunities to continue interacting online throughout each festival phase (before, during, after). The purpose of this study is to examine how social media use throughout various phases provides different outcomes for festival attendees. Using cluster analysis, this study identified four distinct segments (Social Media Inactives, Real-Time Engagers, Offline Engagers, Social Media Actives) of festival-related social media users based on which phases of the festival they engaged. Findings revealed significant differences between the segments regarding their age, sense of community, and festival loyalty. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.