Should arts festivals focus on push or pull factors in marketing efforts?

Abstract

The rapid growth of arts festivals has led to increased competition resulting in festivals competing for visitors‟ money and leisure time. The aim of this article is to determine the importance of motivational push and/or pull factors of festival goers with regard to two national arts festivals in South Africa. Not only were the relevance and importance of push and pull factors identified, their differences for various socio-demographic subgroups were also discussed. A questionnaire was used to collect data. It was evident that visitors are more pulled by festival attributes, activities and productions than pushed to festivals. This finding highlights the importance of effective festival programme planning and showcasing the unique experiences to be found at the festival. It was also found that age, number of days spent at the festival, festival loyalty and number of tickets purchased exerted an influence on the importance of push and pull factors. This information could ensure that the most appropriate marketing messages are communicated to visitors and that these festivals are sustained.