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Mediating role of perceived festival Mediating role

of perceived
value in the relationship between festival value

experiences and satisfaction

€bra Aşan and Kerem Kaptangil
Ku 255
Department of Recreation Management, School of Tourism and Hotel Management,
Sinop University, Sinop, Turkey, and Received 8 December 2019
Revised 22 January 2020
Aysun Gargacı Kınay 28 February 2020
Accepted 6 March 2020
Department of Gastronomy, School of Tourism and Hotel Management,
Sinop University, Sinop, Turkey

Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating effect of perceived festival value on the
relationship between satisfaction and experiences in the context of a music festival. The study presented herein
also examined festival experiences based on the experience economy model.
Design/methodology/approach – A face-to-face survey was performed at the rock music festival Kuzey
Fest in Sinop/Turkey, where 336 questionnaires were completed. The statistical analyses conducted to
establish the relationship between experiences, perceived value and satisfaction comprised explanatory factor
analyses and multiple regression analysis.
Findings – This study showed that the experience economy in the context of music festivals consists of four
experience dimensions. According to the findings, the participants had predominantly entertainment and
aesthetics experiences through passive participation. The study concluded that there were partial and full
mediating roles of perceived festival value in the relationship between some experience dimensions and
satisfaction; however, it was also found that escape experiences did not significantly affect satisfaction. Finally,
the aesthetics, education, entertainment and festival value variables were important pioneer variables for
satisfaction.
Practical implications – This study provides industry practitioners with meaningful insight on how to build
rich festival experiences and satisfaction.
Originality/value – Perceived value is a critical factor for developing satisfaction and gaining a competitive
edge. While much is known about the effect of festival experiences on satisfaction, there is little research
examining festival value within the framework of experiences and satisfaction. This research also provides
valuable insights for applying the experience economy within the context of events management.
Keywords Experience economy, Perceived festival value, Music festival
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
Festivals are celebrations of a specific theme, to which the public is invited for a limited period
(Grappi and Montanari, 2011, p. 1129). Festivals have been examined in the context of place
marketing, urban development, tourism, social change and well-being (Vada et al., 2019; Dieck
et al., 2018; Yolal et al., 2016; Getz, 2008). In the context of tourism, festivals are considered one
of the key activities that boost the tourism economy, and many cities around the world use
festivals to attract visitors (Dieck et al., 2018). Festivals have thereby become an important
part of a destination’s portfolio of tourism products (Getz, 2008).
Festivals are intrinsically experiential products (Park et al., 2010; Rivera et al., 2015;
Manthiou et al., 2014). Tourism businesses seek to create positive memorable tourism
International Journal of Event and
experiences to develop future behavioral intentions to revisit a destination with a Festival Management
management/marketing approach (Kim et al., 2012). In this regard, the overall festival Vol. 11 No. 2, 2020
pp. 255-271
experience might be designed to create a unique and memorable experience in the attendee’s © Emerald Publishing Limited
1758-2954
mind (Morgan, 2008; Rivera et al., 2015). DOI 10.1108/IJEFM-11-2019-0058
IJEFM Considering the experiential nature of festivals, the experience economy framework suits
11,2 festivals very well (Manthiou et al., 2014) . When the literature is examined, it can be seen that
the experience economics approach is often used to explain festival experiences (Park et al.,
2010; Rivera et al., 2015; Manthiou et al., 2014; Dieck et al., 2018). Considering the importance
of enhancing the visitor experience through various forms of interaction to increase or
sustain tourist numbers, enhance the level of engagement and generate positive word-of-
mouth to ensure future sustainability, the experience economy model is regarded as very
256 valuable within the context of the visitor economy (Dieck et al., 2018). In this regard, this
study explored festival experiences based on the experience economy (Pine and
Gilmore, 1998).
Experience is an essential variable in explaining festival satisfaction (Mehmetoglu and
Engen, 2011; Park et al., 2010; Manthiou et al., 2014). It can be seen that studies examining
experience and satisfaction generally construct models incorporating the overall experience
dimension; such models show the effect of the dimensions of experience collectively, but the
effect of each individual dimension may be different (Mehmetoglu and Engen, 2011). From
this perspective, in this study, a separate analysis was conducted for each sub-festival
dimension to reveal deeper insights into the effects of experiences. Another predictor of
satisfaction is the perceived value, which is defined as an individual’s perception of the
difference between the benefits and the sacrifices (Akhoondnejad, 2016). Perceived value is a
critical factor for developing long-term relationships with consumers and gaining a
competitive edge (Kim et al., 2011; Akhoondnejad, 2016). While much is known about the
effects of experiences on satisfaction (Dieck et al., 2018; Park et al., 2010), little research has
examined festival value within the framework of experiences and satisfaction. In this regard,
this study aimed (1) to examine festival experiences based on the experience economy model,
(2) to examine perceived festival value and satisfaction and (3) to examine the mediating
effect of perceived festival value on the relationship between festival experiences and
satisfaction.
For the aims of this study, a survey method was carried out at rock music festival Kuzey
Fest in Sinop/Turkey. The findings contribute to the literature on consumer behavior in event
tourism. Additionally, the results of this research provide empirical contributions in that the
experience economics approach was tested in the context of the music festival. This research
also offers meaningful insights to industry practitioners on how to build rich festival
experiences and satisfaction.

Literature review
“Experience economy” in the context of festival experiences
The experience economy model developed by Pine and Gilmore (1998) considers experience
as an economic unit and integrates experience as experienced economic changes to gain a
competitive edge. Because of the growing attention given to the alleged importance of
systematically staging experiences for consumers in different contexts, this model can be
considered a mega-trend (Mehmetoglu and Engen, 2011). Correlatively, the experience
economy is considered to be the predominant framework within the subject area of visitor/
tourist experiences (Jung et al., 2016).
According to this approach, Pine and Gilmore (2011) explain experience within two
dimensions: participation, which may become evident in active and passive ways, and
connection, which manifests itself as immersion and absorption. These approaches reveal the
dimensions in four different areas that may emerge in the plane where the horizontal and
vertical axes are located. Despite the active and passive status of customer participation on
the horizontal axis, sub-dimensions are formed according to the severity of the dimensions
related to immersion and absorption on the vertical axis. In the dimension of absorption, the
individual is drawn into the created experience with a weaker affiliation; in the dimension of Mediating role
immersion, individuals feel the excitement and emotions in the experience more, form a of perceived
strong relationship with the experience and are captivated by the experience. With the
intersection of these dimensions, four areas of experience – which include entertainment,
festival value
education, aesthetics and escape – emerge.
In the context of tourism, first, the experience of education refers to the situation where
visitors are actively engaged in tourism activities to gain new skills and knowledge (Oh et al.,
2007). This means that educational experiences are those solicited by festival attendees when 257
they feel that their knowledge and skills may be improved through festival participation
(Rivera et al., 2015).
Second, the experience of aesthetics was originally proposed to reflect tourists’ full
immersion within an experience that does not interact with them (Dieck et al., 2018).
Correlatively, aesthetic experiences are defined as festival attendees’ overall evaluation of the
festival’s physical environment (Rivera et al., 2015). Additionally, the concept of aesthetics
has been referred to as “servicescape” or “festivalscape” (Manthiou et al., 2014).
Third, the experience of entertainment is manifested through tourists watching the shows
and events with either active or passive participation (Oh et al., 2007). Therefore,
entertainment experiences are those that occur at festivals where people observe the
activities and performances of others (Rivera et al., 2015).
Finally, the experience of escape is among the most frequently mentioned motivations in
tourism studies (Iso-Ahola, 1983; Getz, 2008; Park et al., 2010). According to this, tourists can
escape daily life and immerse themselves in a different world, while the performance of the
destination in terms of the other dimensions of experience economy will satisfy the tourists
(Park et al., 2010). Similarly, the escape experience is festival attendees’ desire to engage in
different experiential contexts that are unlike their daily lives (Rivera et al., 2015).
Few studies have employed the experience economics approach to explain festival
experiences (Park et al., 2010; Mehmetoglu and Engen, 2011; Rivera et al., 2015; Manthiou
et al., 2014; Dieck et al., 2018). Table 1 shows the achievements in experience economy in the
example of events and festivals and other dimensions of this study. Park et al. (2010) focused
on how an escapist experience mediates the effects of the other experiential dimensions on
behavioral intention. Their study substantiated a mediating role of the escapist experience in
tourists’ participation in a film festival. Conversely, Mehmetoglu and Engen (2011) tested the
experience economy model in the context of two distinct tourism events: music festivals and
museums. According to this study, the dimensions of escape and aesthetics had a strong
effect on satisfaction concerning the music festival. Manthiou et al. (2014) examined the
effects of the experience dimensions on vivid memory and attendant loyalty. The findings of
this study showed that each dimension of experience significantly influences vividity of
memory; however, loyalty is affected only by the entertainment and aesthetics dimensions.
Similarly, Dieck et al. (2018) demonstrated that the four realms of experience economy
influence satisfaction, memory and visitor engagement within the augmented reality
experience in the science festival context. This study also revealed that aesthetics is a strong
predictor of education, entertainment and escapism.
When studies related to the festival experience in general are evaluated, research
suggests that experiences are a primary variable of satisfaction and behavioral tendencies.
From this perspective, experiences were considered the premise variable of this research. At
the same time, it can be seen that different dimensions of experience can be dominant in the
total experience. Moreover, the dimensions of experience seem to have different levels of
influence on satisfaction. As can be seen in the literature (Dieck et al., 2018; Mehmetoglu and
Engen, 2011; Park et al., 2010), focusing on the impact of each dimension separately produces
more detailed information. Therefore, each dimension was considered separately in
this study.
IJEFM Study Study site Concepts Findings
11,2
Park et al., (2010) Pusan International Film The experience economy, The escapist experience
Festival/Korea satisfaction mediates the effects of the
other experiential dimensions
on behavioral intention
Mehmetoglu and Ice Music Festival The experience economy, While the dimension of
258 Engen (2011) Maihaugen Museum/ satisfaction escapism has a significant
Norway effect on the visitors’ overall
satisfaction in the case of the
Ice Music Festival, the
dimension of education
significantly influences the
visitors’ satisfaction at the
Maihaugen Museum
Manthiou et al., VEISHEA (campus-wide The experience economy, Each dimension of experience
(2014) festival)/USA vivid memory, loyalty significantly influences the
vividity of memory; however,
loyalty is affected only by the
entertainment and aesthetics
dimensions
Rivera et al., (2015) Aruba, The Electric The experience economy, In the case of Gen Y, it may be
Music Festival/ generation Y, economic necessary to reference
Caribbean value, behavioral economic value as part of the
intentions second-order construct for
overall experience to predict
future intentions
Dieck et al., (2018) European City of Science The experience economy, The four realms of experience
(ECOS) festivities and satisfaction, memory, economy influence
Manchester Science visitor engagement satisfaction and memory, and
Festival/UK ultimately, the intention for
visitor engagement with
science research at science
festivals
Akhoondnejad Turkmen handicrafts Festival authenticity, Perceived authenticity
(2016) festival during/ festival quality, festival influenced perceived quality,
Turkmenistan value, satisfaction, trust value and satisfaction.
in festival, loyalty Perceived quality was found
to have a direct effect on
perceived value, satisfaction
and trust. Perceived value
affected satisfaction, trust and
loyalty
Yang et al., (2011) Shanghai International Visitors’ emotion, The results show that tourist
Tea Culture Festival/ perceived value, emotion is positively related to
China behavioral intentions, perceived value and
festivalscape behavioral intentions, and
perceived value is positively
related to behavioral
Table 1. intentions
Literature review on Kim et al., (2011) Lowcountry Oyster Perceived value, The perceived value is the
experience, perceived Festival/USA satisfaction, intention, to antecedent of satisfaction
value and satisfaction revisit
in festival and event
management (continued )
Study Study site Concepts Findings
Mediating role
of perceived
Rigatti-Luchini Food and wine events/ Experiential quality, Experiential quality and festival value
and Manson (2010) Italy functional value, perceived value have direct
monetary price, and indirect impacts on
satisfaction, behavioral visitors’ future behavioral
intention intentions
Lee et al., (2009) Punggi Ginseng Festival/ Festival quality, festival First-time visitors associated 259
South Korea value, festival loyalty more strongly with
relationships on food value
and souvenir value than did
repeat visitors
Lee et al., (2011) The Boryeong Mud Festival quality, festival It investigated the relative
Festiva/ South Korea value, satisfaction, contribution of emotional and
behavioral intentions functional values to
satisfaction levels and
behavioral intentions Table 1.

Perceived festival value

Perceived value is defined as an individual’s perception of the difference between the benefits
and the sacrifices (Akhoondnejad, 2016; Kim et al., 2011; Yang et al., 2011; Lee and Back, 2008;
Lee et al., 2009). Perceived value means the customer’s evaluation of what he or she has paid
and the acquired utility (Zeithamal, 1988).
When the literature is examined, it can be seen that research suggests that there are
different types of perceived value (Lee et al., 2011b; Sweeney and Soutar, 2001; Sheth et al.,
1991). Sheth et al. (1991) posit that five consumption values affect consumer choice behavior:
functional, social, epistemic, emotional and conditional values. Functional value refers to a
cognitive trade-off between quality/benefits and costs. Social value is linked to a user image
with which consumers wish to be aligned, and pertains to the perceived utility of a desire for
knowledge and curiosity. Emotional value is related to various affective states or feelings
such as feeling excited, pleasant or disappointed. Finally, conditional value refers to choices
that are contingent on a particular situation. On the other hand, the perceived value is
generally explained by the emotional and functional value dimensions in the tourism
literature (Lee et al., 2009, 2011b; Song et al., 2015).
The most frequently used concept of value, however, is unidimensional value, functional
value, as defined by Monroe (1990) and Zeithaml (1988). According to Zeithamal (1988), value
can be identified in four attributes: “Value is low price; value is whatever one wants in a
product, value is the quality that the consumer receives for the price paid, and value is what
the consumer receives for what he or she gives” (Akhoondnejad, 2016; Kim et al., 2011;
Zeithamal, 1988). Similarly, according to Monroe (1990), buyers’ perceptions of value
represent a trade-off between the quality/benefits they perceive in the product and the
sacrifice they perceive in paying the price.
In the case of festivals, attendees evaluate festival value by mentally trading off between
the benefits they receive and the sacrifices in terms of time, money and effort (Akhoondnejad,
2016). Some empirical efforts have been made to investigate the role of value in the festival
literature. Studies on different types of festivals demonstrate that perceived value has an
impact on festival satisfaction and loyalty (Akhoondnejad, 2016; Yang, 2011; Grappi and
Montanari, 2011; Kim et al., 2011; Rigatti-Luchini and Manson, 2010; Lee et al., 2007, 2009).
Thus, there appears to be a consensus that value is a predictor of satisfaction.
At the same time, Pine and Gilmore (1998) explain that the design of an experiential
product must be worth the cost to the consumer. Leask et al. (2011) also note that price is an
IJEFM influential character in the overall evaluation of an experiential product due to consumers’
11,2 perceptions about obtaining value for money. Therefore, festival attendees’ perceived value
of a festival experience is representative of a cognitive trade-off between festival benefits and
the cost to attend the festival (Rivera et al., 2015). In this study, the effect of experiences on
perceived festival value was examined.

260 Festival satisfaction

Satisfaction is one of the most important elements influencing consumer behavior; therefore,
ensuring a high level of customer satisfaction is a major concern for all businesses (Mason
and Paggiaro, 2012). According to Srivastava and Kaul (2014), satisfaction is a consumer’s
judgment that a product or service provides a pleasurable level of consumption-related
fulfillment. Consumers are satisfied if the experience exceeds their expectations, and
dissatisfied if the experience does not meet their expectations (Akhoondnejad, 2016; Grappi
and Montanari, 2011; Mason and Paggiaro, 2012). According to the equity theory in
marketing (Bagozzi, 1975), satisfaction occurs when customers receive more value than what
they spent in terms of price, time and effort (Oliver and Swan, 1989). In this regard, a customer
evaluates what is fair, right or deserved for the perceived cost of the offering, including
monetary payments and nonmonetary sacrifices, such as time consumption, energy
consumption and stress experienced by customers (Yang et al., 2011).
When the experience is also seen from the perspective of the economics approach,
satisfaction is a partial evaluation of the experiences (Park et al., 2010; Mehmetoglu and
Engen, 2011; Lee et al., 2011a). In the case of festivals, satisfaction with the festival refers to an
attendee’s overall evaluation of his or her experiences at a festival (Akhoondnejad, 2016).
Therefore, perceived festival value can also be considered in this evaluation.
There are some empirical studies showing that the experiences are effective on
satisfaction through perceived value (Lee et al., 2011b; Song et al., 2015). For example, Song
et al. (2015) examine the influence of the dimensions of experience economy on perceptions of
functional and emotional values as well as tourist satisfaction with temple stay experience as
an emerging global cultural attraction. The findings of the study empirically proved that the
experience economy theory is an appropriate conceptual framework for predicting visitor
satisfaction with temple stays through mediating effects of emotional and functional values.
However, few empirical studies have addressed the impact of perceived value and
experiences on satisfaction in the context of festival or event tourism (Table 1). Rivera et al.
(2015) applied the experience economy framework to a music festival and examined that
economic value is part of the second-order construct for the overall experience. The
relationships between these structures, however, need to be better understood and supported
by empirical evidence in the context of festival or event tourism. Therefore, this study focuses
on examining the causal relationship between experiences, perceived value and satisfaction
with empirical evidence. Furthermore, a separate analysis was conducted for each sub-
experience dimension to reveal deeper insights into the effects of experiences, and the
mediating role of perceived value in the relationship between experiences and satisfaction
was tested. Integrating the above theoretical background, the following hypotheses were
proposed:
H1. Perceived festival value mediates the relationship between education experience and
satisfaction with festival.
H2. Perceived festival value mediates the relationship between entertainment experience
and satisfaction with festival.
H3. Perceived festival value mediates the relationship between escape experience and
satisfaction with festival.
 H4. Perceived festival value mediates the relationship between aesthetic experience and Mediating role
satisfaction with festival. of perceived
Figure 1 graphically illustrates the conceptual model examined in this study. festival value

Methods
Study site
This study was conducted at the rock music festival Kuzey Fest in Sinop/Turkey between 1 261
August 2019 and 4 August 2019. Sinop province, located in the north of Turkey, has
prominent natural beauty, and according to the governorship of Sinop, the population was
approximately 220,000 in 2018. In this city, large participatory events, such as the rock music
festival Kuzey Fest, with fieldwork are rarely organized. As stated by the organisers, nearly
50,000 participants from 25 provinces participated in the event. Therefore, the event provided
touristic mobility and an economic contribution to the city for four days. The event area is
located on Akliman Beach, one of the city’s most attractive areas. Participants stayed in the
camp area. Food and beverage services are also available around the event area. Moreover, in
the event area, playgrounds and machines were placed for the entertainment of the
participants during breaks in the concerts. It was therefore observed that the participants
were served an integrated product.

Sampling and data collection

Face-to-face survey techniques were implemented for the data collection in this study. The
field implementation of the research was carried out between the dates 1 August 2019 and
4 August 2019. Since it proved impossible to implement random sampling in the expansive
outdoor festival space (Gannon et al., 2019) and the population of festival attendees was
unknown, convenience sampling was employed. A total of 336 questionnaires were
completed, and 303 valid questionnaires were used in the data analysis.

Measurement
The questionnaire was divided into two sections. The first section consisted of experience,
value and satisfaction scales. The experience scale developed by Oh et al. (2007) was used to
measure the festival experience. Festival value was measured using three items: value for
time, value for money and value for effort (Lee et al., 2009; Yang et al., 2011; Akhoondnejad,
2016). Festival satisfaction was measured using three items: the right decision, meeting
expectations and pleasure (Akhoondnejad, 2016; Mason and Paggiaro, 2012; Dieck et al.,
2018). All scale items were measured using a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 for “strongly

Figure 1.
Conceptual model
IJEFM disagree” to 5 for “strongly agree.” The second section captured socio-demographic details
11,2 (gender, age, education status, occupation, marital status).

Data analysis
Given that it is important to work with qualified data to obtain valid results, the outliers,
missing data and normality, respectively, were analyzed. After univariate and multivariate
262 outlier analyses, 33 questionnaires had to be excluded as outliers. Data from the remaining
313 interviews were analyzed. Missing data, which constituted less than 1% of the data, were
replaced by the mean values of the relevant variables (Hawthorne and Elliot, 2005). The
normality of the data was analyzed based on both single univariate and multivariate
analyses. An inspection of the skewness and kurtosis results revealed that their values were
in the acceptable range within the þ2 interval, lending support for univariate normality in the
distribution of data (Cameron, 2004; George and Mallery, 2003). As for multivariate
normality, the distribution of Mahalanobis chi-square (X 2) values was used, and it was
determined that the multivariate normal distribution was assured.
Explanatory factor analysis (EFA) was applied to determine the structural validity of the
scales. As a requirement for factor analysis, the Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) test was used to
test whether a sufficient sample size was reached. The KMO measures were 0.84 for
experiences, 0.76 for perceived festival value and 0.77 for satisfaction; these were all above the
recommended value of 0.60 (Pallant, 2011, p. 187). Bartlett’s test of sphericity suggested that
the data were suitable for conducting an EFA. For the EFA implementation, using an oblimin
rotation with Kaiser normalization, the pattern matrix of the principal component factor
analyses was used. Cronbach’s α test was used to determine the internal validity of the
factors. Finally, multiple regression analysis was subsequently employed to examine the
effects of experiences and perceived value on festival satisfaction. All analyses were
conducted using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 21.

Results
The demographic characteristics of the festival attendees are presented in Table 2. There
were slightly more males (54.1%) than females (44.2%). The majority of respondents were
aged between 16 and 61, but more young people participated. At the same time, many
attendees were married (81%). Similarly, many participants’ education status (71.9%) was
secondary education and lower. Almost half of the participants were students (45.5%). It is
estimated that the participants were mostly university students continuing their education.
The EFA results for all the scales are summarized in Table 3. Initially, there were 16 items in
the experience scale, representing four dimensions: education, aesthetics, entertainment and
escape (Oh et al., 2007). During the EFA phase, three items were eliminated because their total
correlation values were low and they had co-morbid factor loads (Hair et al., 2010, p. 118). As a
result, EFA resulted in a scale comprising 13 items representing that festival experience
consists of aesthetics, education, escape and entertainment dimensions. The explained variance
was 0.84, which is considered a considerably high value (Dunteman, 1989). Similarly, the
validity of the perceived value and satisfaction scales was assessed using EFA. The explained
variance values were within the acceptable limits (Dunteman, 1989). The Cronbach’s α values
for all the scales were over the acceptable limit, which is 0.60 (Hair et al., 2010).
The factors of experience are listed according to their respective ranks based on their
degree of importance: aesthetics (mean: 4.08), entertainment (mean: 4.03), escape (mean: 3.91)
and education (mean: 3.42). The findings revealed that attendees’ various experiences existed
together. Furthermore, the results indicated that other variables also had high values: festival
value (mean: 4.20) and satisfaction (mean: 4.26). In this regard, the attendees were mostly
Variable n (%) Mean Standard deviation
Mediating role
of perceived
Age (n 5 303) 301 99.3 23.98 6.05 festival value
Missing 2 0.7
Gender (n 5 303)
Female 134 44.2
Male 164 54.1 263
Missing 5 1.7
Marital status (n 5 303)
Married 43 14.2
Single 234 77.2
Missing 26 8.6
Education status (n 5 303)
Secondary education and lower 218 71.9
Graduate 62 20.5
Higher education 19 6.3
Missing 4 1.3
Occupation (n 5 303)
Officer 31 10.2
Student 134 44.2
Employee 52 17.2
Unemployed 58 19.1
Employer 11 3.6 Table 2.
Self-employed 13 4.3 Characteristics of the
Missing 4 1.3 participants

satisfied with the rock music festival Kuzey Fest. The attendees agreed that the festival was
worth its cost.
As an assumption of multiple regression, possible multicollinearity problems were
checked by examining the correlations between the variables (Table 4). Multicollinearity is a
condition where independent variables are highly correlated, with correlation coefficients of
0.90 or greater (Pallant, 2011). According to Pallant (2011), the results of the Pearson
correlation analysis indicated that multicollinearity was not an issue, as the coefficients were
lower than 0.90. Multicollinearity was also investigated by calculating the variance inflation
factor values (Table 5). The values were all below the recommended cut-off value of 10 and,
thus, within an acceptable level, suggesting no issues concerning multicollinearity (Hair
et al., 2010).
Multiple regression analysis was performed to examine the mediating effect of perceived
festival value on the relationship between festival experiences and satisfaction. Mediation
requires significant correlations between all three constructs (Hair et al., 2010). According to
the suggestion by Baron and Kenny (1986), a mature method of causal step approach was
applied to examine the mediating role. In this regard, first, the independent variables and the
dependent variable should be directly related. Second, the independent and mediating
variables are antecedents of the dependent variable, and the mediator has positive impacts on
the dependent variable. As the mediator is introduced, the impact of the independent variable
on the dependent variable must be significantly reduced for partial mediation or must be
insignificant for full mediation (Hair et al., 2010; Baron and Kenny, 1986; Zhou et al., 2018; Lv
et al., 2019).
Table 4 presents a summary of the multiple regression analysis. A significant regression
equation was found (F(5, 297) 5 136.399, p < 0.000), with an R2 of 0.692. The findings
IJEFM Explained Standard Item total Factor
11,2 Factors and items variance Eigenvalue Mean deviation correlation loads

Festival Education 46.404 6.032 3.42

experiences (α 5 0.971)
It is an educating 3.41 1.280 0.758 0.926
experience
264 It encourages my 3.45 1.275 0.769 0.971
willingness to learn
new things
It increases my 3.44 1.267 0.769 0.981
knowledge level
It was a real 3.42 1.284 0.778 0.960
learning
experience
Aesthetic 21.328 2.773 4.08
(α 5 0.845)
I felt a real sense of 4.06 0.620 0.500 0.831
harmony
Just being here was 4.18 0.626 0.375 0.931
very pleasant
The setting was 4.03 0.772 0.568 0.702
very attractive
Entertainment 10.493 1.364 4.03
(α 5 0.754)
Activities of others 4.49 0.655 0.127 842
were amusing to
watch
Watching others 4.44 0.692 0.182 0.923
perform was
captivating
I really enjoyed 3.98 0.851 0.545 0.649
watching what
others were doing
Escape (α 5 0.920) 6.449 0.838 3.91
I felt like I was 3.86 0.867 0.744 0.808
living a different
time or place
The experience 3.88 0.882 0.766 0.917
here let me imagine
being someone else
I felt I played a 3.99 0.840 0.691 0.920
different character
Total (α 5 0.894) 84.671
Festival Festival value 91.92 2.758 4.20
value (α 5 0.956)
Value for time 4.19 0.657 0.884 0.948
Value for money 4.21 0.656 0.923 0.966
Value for effort 4.23 0.683 0.914 0.962
Satisfaction Satisfaction 91.765 2.843 4.26
(α 5 0.971)
Right decision 4.29 0.640 0.947 0.977
Table 3. Meeting 4.24 0.703 0.925 0.966
Explanatory factor expectations
analysis Pleasure 4.28 0.681 0.947 0.977
indicated that 69.2% of the variance in predicting satisfaction was explained by festival Mediating role
experiences and perceived value. of perceived
First, the findings confirmed that satisfaction with the festival was significantly predicted
by aesthetics experience (β 5 0.15, t 5 2.537 p < 0.05), entertainment experience (β 5 0.26,
festival value
t 5 5.211, p < 0.001) and education experience (β 5 0.30, t 5 5.132, p < 0.001). The impacts of
escape experience on satisfaction, however, were not significant (β 5 0.09, t 5 1.433, p > 0.05).
The independent variables and the dependent variable should be directly related to mediation
analysis (Baron and Kenny, 1986). Thus, Hypothesis 3 was not supported. 265
As shown in Table 4, the impacts of perceived value on satisfaction were significant
(β 5 0.72, t 5 18.516, p < 0.001). These findings allowed for examining the mediating effect of
perceived value for aesthetics experience, entertainment experience and education
experience. The beta coefficient of the relationship between aesthetics experience and
satisfaction presented a positive relationship, with 0.15 (p < 0.05) in the first step but an
insignificant relationship with 0.03 (p > 0.05) in the final step. As a result, perceived festival
value plays a full mediating role in the relationship between aesthetic experience and
satisfaction. Thus, Hypothesis 4 was supported.
Conversely, the positive effect of entertainment experience on satisfaction decreased when
the mediator was introduced (β 5 0.08, t 5 2.435, p < 0.05). Similarly, the beta coefficient of the
relationship between education experience and satisfaction decreased (β 5 0.12, t 5 3.046,
p < 0.01) in the final step, indicating a partial mediation effect. Therefore, Hypothesis 1 and
Hypothesis 2 were supported. In this regard, the results indicated that there is a partial
mediating role of perceived festival value in the relationship between satisfaction and the
education and entertainment dimensions of experience; however, because the influence of
escape experience on satisfaction (β 5 0.09, t 5 1.433, p > 0.05) was insignificant, no
mediating effect of festival value on the relationship between escape experience and
satisfaction was found.

Discussion and conclusion

This study showed that the experience economy in the context of a music festival consists of
the four experience dimensions by the purpose of study. In this regard, festival experiences
were explained with aesthetics, education, escape and entertainment dimensions. According
to the findings, the participants had predominantly entertainment and aesthetics experiences
through passive participation. As was the case in other studies in the literature (Mehmetoglu
and Engen, 2011; Oh et al., 2007), it was observed that aesthetics experience was the most
dominating dimension in this study. Thus, considering the work of Dieck et al. (2018), which
offers aesthetic experiences as an important predictor variable in overall experience, it is
understood that aesthetics experiences are powerful experiences.
The results indicated that the festival attendees were satisfied. Furthermore, the
satisfaction level was quite high. Consistent with the findings of previous research
(Rigatti-Luchini and Manson, 2010; Grappi and Montanari, 2011; Kim et al., 2011;

Variables Satisfaction Festival value Aesthetic Escape Entertainment Education

Satisfaction 1 0.818** 0.395** 0.445** 0.395** 0.444**

Festival value 1 0.457** 0.418** 0.399** 0.382**
Aesthetic 1 0.548** 0.407** 0.263**
Escape 1 0.270** 0.619**
Entertainment 1 0.128*
Education 1 Table 4.
Note(s): *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 Correlation matrices
 11,2

266

Table 5.
IJEFM

analysis results
Multiple regression
Unstandardized coefficients Standardized coefficients Collinearity statistics
Model B Std. error Beta t Sig. Tolerance VIF Model summary

1 (Constant) 1.445 0.262 5.526 0.000 Adj. R2 5 0.338

Aesthetic 0.168 0.066 0.151 2.537 0.012 0.621 1.612 F 5 39.488
Escape 0.081 0.057 0.099 1.433 0.153 0.456 2.194 Sig. 5 0.000
Entertainment 0.291 0.056 0.268 5.211 0.000 0.831 1.203
Education 0.165 0.032 0.308 5.132 0.000 0.608 1.644
2 (Constant) 0.456 0.186 2.447 0.015 Adj. R2 5 0.692
Aesthetic 0.043 0.047 0.038 0.915 0.361 0.584 1.714 F 5 136.399
Escape 0.049 0.039 0.059 1.250 0.212 0.455 2.198 Sig. 5 0.000
Entertainment 0.096 0.040 0.089 2.435 0.015 0.772 1.295
Education 0.069 0.023 0.128 3.046 0.003 0.576 1.736
Festival value 0.748 0.040 0.726 18.516 0.000 0.665 1.505
Note(s): Dependent variable: Satisfaction
Akhoondnejad, 2016; Lee et al., 2011b), perceived festival value was found to be an important Mediating role
predictor of satisfaction. The results of stepwise multiple regression analyses highlighted of perceived
that different dimensions of experiences significantly predict festival value and satisfaction
and that perceived festival value plays a mediating role at different levels.
festival value
The analyses conducted for the study revealed that there were partial and full mediating
roles of perceived festival value in the relationship between some experience dimensions and
satisfaction. First, perceived festival value plays a full mediating role in the relationship
between the aesthetics experiences and satisfaction of the attendees. Hence, the concept of 267
aesthetics has been referred to as “servicescape” or “festivalscape” (Manthiou et al., 2014).
Aesthetics experiences, which occur with attendees’ immersion by festivalscape, create a
positive perception of festival value, and this positive perception of value converts into
satisfaction. Consequently, the view of attendees that the festival is worth the cost leads to the
transformation of the aesthetics experiences into satisfaction.
The findings illustrated that perceived festival value plays a partial mediating role in the
relationship between the entertainment and education experiences of participants and their
satisfaction. According to Pine and Gilmore (1998), individuals at the dimension of
absorption, which consists of education and entertainment, are pulled into the created
experience by a weaker affiliation. Thus, this study pointed out that perceived festival value
has a partial mediating effect for education and entertainment experiences, which consist of
attendees’ affiliation with festivalscape, that is less than its partial mediating effect for
aesthetics experiences. Based on the experience economy model, it can be concluded that
perceived value mediates the relationship between experience and satisfaction according to
the connection dimensions of experiences.
No mediation effect of perceived festival value, however, was found in the escape
dimension, experienced as a strong environmental connection through immersion, because
the escape experience is less than other experiences and the current escape experience does
not affect satisfaction. Therefore, mediation analysis could not be performed. At the same
time, previous research has supported the idea that the escape dimension is a weak predictor
variable for satisfaction (Mehmeto glu and Engen, 2011; Manthiou et al., 2014; Dieck
et al., 2018).
The results of this study indicated that festival satisfaction was very high with the current
experience pattern; therefore, it seems that there is no need to incorporate all the experience
dimensions to ensure satisfaction. This finding is supported by the study conducted by
Mehmetoglu and Engen (2011), which indicated that an attraction or event does not have to
contain elements from all four dimensions for it to be a “rich” experience. In this context, it is
possible to state that in events such as festivals, satisfaction can be explained by certain
experiences, which can be differentiated according to the features of the event.
Consequently, this study, which was implemented within the scope of a rock music
festival, indicated that the aesthetics, education, entertainment and festival value variables
were important pioneer variables for satisfaction. It is understood that aesthetic experiences
are especially dominant. Additionally, perceived festival value plays a mediating role at
varying levels in the relationship between experience and satisfaction.

Practical implications
This study provides industry practitioners with meaningful insight on how to build festival
experiences and satisfaction. First, considering that the most important dimension has been
found to be aesthetics experiences in festival studies conducted in different geographies and
different contexts, it is recommended that practitioners focus on staging aesthetics
experiences in the festival organizations. In this sense, building festivalscape, where services
such as food and beverages, entertainment and transportation are presented in harmony and
IJEFM in an attractive way, is of primary importance in ensuring festival satisfaction. Besides,
11,2 festival themes can be highlighted to offer memorable and attractive experiences in the
festivalscape. It will be useful to treat the theme of the festival with an integrative
understanding of all materials that can be seen in the festivalscape.
The results of the study indicate that the entertainment and educational experiences
of the participants should also be taken into consideration. Practitioners should develop
services for educational and entertainment experiences that have an impact on perceived
268 value and satisfaction. The festivalscape can be supported by various entertainment
services such as shows, animations and playgrounds. For example, playgrounds
developed with simulation technology can be established. Activities that offer learning
experience can be added to the event program. Festival experiences can be strengthened
by organizing activities that enable participants to be active. For example, at a music
festival, boutique scenes can be built where visitors can perform their performances and
play instruments. In addition to the stage lighting, various lighting games and shows can
be used in the area where the audience is located, so that the participants can feel
differently.
At the same time, according to the results of this study, instead of trying to stage all the
dimensions of experience to build a plethora of experiences, practitioners can perform studies
on the staging of certain dimensions, depending on the topic of the festival. For this purpose,
it may be suggested that the organization companies should investigate their target group
well and provide services to meet their needs. With end-of-activity satisfaction studies,
research can be conducted to develop the participant portfolio.
This study indicated that perceived festival value mediates the relationship between
experience and satisfaction. This finding demonstrates that providing a good experience is
not enough to ensure satisfaction. In addition, the organisers should be informed of the
participants’ perceptions of the value of the festival. Moreover, the cost incurred by
participants should be considered when designing and pricing festivals, specifying festival
space and making festival announcements.

Limitations and future directions

This study was limited to the practices performed at a rock music festival. The festival is a
4-day event providing integrated services, such as food and beverages and camp-based
accommodation (or daily entrance). In this study, the participants were determined regardless
of whether they were daily participants or participants staying in festival camp-based
accommodation. Accommodation conditions were not considered when determining the
participants. This situation created a limitation in terms of understanding whether there is a
difference between daily participants and participants accommodated within the festival
environment. Therefore, the heterogeneous structure of the group could be considered in
future studies to generate more detailed information. In addition, similar studies could be
conducted in different geographies and different festival genres.
In this study, explaining the satisfaction was limited to perceived value and experience
variables. As a megatrend, experience economics approaches are frequently used in tourism
studies, and it has been observed that touristic events can be obtained from their natural
structure. In this context, differentiating results have been observed, especially in the context
of escape experiences, which are one of the most important determinants of tourism behavior
and include the motivation of people to move away from their daily lives. Therefore, further
studies are needed on escape experiences. The scope of escape experiences can be discussed
by comparing general tourism literature and event / festival management literature
Another theoretical limitation is that the perceived value is explained at the
unidimensional / functional level. It is also possible to examine perceived value using
multidimensional approaches including emotional dimensions. Emotional value can be useful Mediating role
to evaluate customers’ perceptions of products and services that are grounded in emotional of perceived
motives and benefits depending on the characteristics of the festival.
The fact that the festival participants have various experiences and the festival value they
festival value
perceive at different levels indicate that the festival market has a heterogeneous structure in
itself. In this context, experience and perceived value-based segmentation studies can be
conducted to better understand the behavior of consumer in festival market.
269
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About the authors

K€ubra Aşan, PhD, is a lecturer at the School of Tourism and Hotel Management, Sinop University/
Turkey. Her research interests are tourism marketing, tourist behavior, event management, nature-
based tourism and outdoor recreation. K€ubra Aşan is the corresponding author and can be contacted at:
kubra.asan@hotmail.com
Kerem Kaptangil is assistant professor, Sinop University, School of Tourism and Hotel Management,
Department of Recreation Management, Sinop/Turkey. He has publications in hospitality management,
business administration, economy and management journals. He authored two books related to human
resource management and economy.
Aysun Gargacı Kınay is assistant professor, Sinop University, School of Tourism and Hotel
Management, Department of Gastronomy, Sinop/Turkey. She has research publications in food
preservation, hygiene sanitation and food microbiology.

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