A comparative generational analysis of a cultural event

Like most products, special events are marketed to specific target markets. One such event, however, held in Melbourne, Australia, in May 2005, was marketed more broadly to the Melbourne community. The cultural event was developed to stimulate discussion, which one social commentator noted is currently deficient &hellip;&lsquo;there is a prevailing element of defensiveness, wariness and caution in our public discourse&rsquo; (Jones, 2005). The event sought to fill this void in community life and encouraged members of cross-sections of the community to participate in the event. One evaluative measure of success of the event was, therefore, the post-consumption evaluations of attendees. By using generational segments (ie. Traditionalists, Baby-boomers, Generation X and the Millennials) as the bases of comparison, few statistically significant differences were found with regard to post-consumption evaluations of the event. It is, therefore, not unreasonable to conclude that the event was successful in that the generational segments were generally homogenous with regard to the post-consumption evaluations of the event. The results, however, provide opportunities for improvement in the event&rsquo;s marketing and management in the future.<br /

Mentoring volunteer festival managers : evaluation of a pilot scheme in regional Australia

Festival managers in regional locations often have limited access to didactic experiences in their field. As such, developing strategies that enhance the skills of festival management in regional locations can be challenging. This paper, set within the context of the Australian regional arts festival sector, evaluates a pilot mentoring scheme developed by Regional Arts Victoria and Arts Victoria to assist volunteer festival managers to enhance the management, and focus the artistic direction, of their festivals. The results of the evaluation, based on six case studies, indicate that mentoring is highly suited to this scenario. Recommendations are made with regard to the future application of mentoring within this context, particularly in relation to communication and formalisation.<br /

Pricing in the museum sector : the need to balance social responsibility and organisational viability

An essential component of marketing strategy is pricing. Pricing in museums, however, is problematic as issues beyond cost recovery or surplus, such as social responsibilities, need to be considered. This area of marketing is under researched. The aim of this study is to address the research gap by synthesising the literature on pricing strategy in the museum sector. The study found that there are a number of strategies being advocated with regard to pricing in the museum sector in the literature, each representing various perspectives of museology. A research agenda was proposed to assist marketers in the museum sector to meet their organisational needs, whilst balancing their social responsibilities.<br /

Personal values of international postgraduate students from Asia : a cross cultural study

Australian universities face a challenging task to service an increasingly diverse international student community in the globally competitive education market. The pressure on universities to successfully negotiate cultural diversity arising from nationality differences and to improve service quality will continue to increase with further expansions in the international student market. Such a scenario requires insights into the individual backgrounds of students. Personal values are one way in which insights can be gained of students, particularly with regard to their needs and preferences. Using Factor Analysis, ANOVA and MANOVA, this study analyses the national differences on the basis of underlying value domains of Selfefficacy, Power, Inner harmony, Aspiration and Hedonism. The results indicate significant differences in personal values amongst the student cohorts, which suggest that universities may need to adopt different approaches in servicing international students.<br /

Communicating with residents of host destinations: an exploratory study of a dispersed mega-event

In 2006, the Commonwealth Games were hosted by the State of Victoria, Australia. This study examined the efficacy of the communication channels that were used to disseminate information to residents in three regions across Victoria about the community events that were associated with the 2006 Commonwealth Games (Games, hereafter). It also explored residents’ preferred communication channels regarding community events in each of the regions. The Games were a “dispersed mega-event”. That is, while they were largely staged in the City of Melbourne, parts of them were dispersed to other areas of the State of Victoria. While this is a newer model of event delivery, it is one that has been taken up quite well in the context of mega-events. The dispersed mega-event, however, raises challenges for event organisers and marketers including how to communicate with larger and more diverse communities than what might be the case of a single-location event. Focus groups were conducted with residents in three host destinations. Results suggested that traditional methods of disseminating event information were ineffective. Participants in this study reported a preference for (passively) receiving information about events in their respective communities through existing infrastructure and social networks. They reported a desire to receive information in places that are sympathetic with their lifestyles—such as at sport clubs, on public transport, at schools and childcare facilities, and at supermarkets. However, there were differences in the perceived efficacy of some of these methods among the destinations. Implications for practitioners are discussed, as well as implications for further research

Strategic marketing of educational institutions

Strategy development in higher education (HE) institutions has not been investigated a great extent. To address this issue, this study reports on the first stage of a larger investigation of strategy development in HE. The theoretical background draws on two theories of strategy and competitive advantage, namely, industrial organisation (IO) and resource-based view (RBV). These are used to guide 32 in-depth interviews that explore the elements of external industry structure, internal resources and capabilities, and institutional performance with senior HE decision-makers. Factors of competitive advantage and the indicators of institutional performance identified in the study verify and further develop the limited understanding relating to strategic marketing of educational institutions.<br /

Applicability of leisure theory in managerial views on volunteerism in a volunteer managed nonprofit organisation : some preliminary findings

This paper explores whether a leisure perspective explains volunteer&nbsp; motivations as perceived by managers of one event-based nonprofit&nbsp; organisation - Victoria&rsquo;s Open Garden Scheme. The results identify that a leisure perspective does not explain all motivations, as some volunteers are socially motivated by a desire to give back to their community. Other&nbsp; motivations are less positive and less voluntary than is expected of leisure and volunteering in a traditional context. Suggestions are made for further research and managerial implications in regards to managing volunteers.<br /

An investigation into the influence of situational components in hospitality retailing

Although the importance of situational influences on consumer behaviour has been recognised for some time, little research has been conducted into their effects in hospitality retailing. Over the past decade the Irish theme pub sector has enjoyed extensive growth, which recent studies attribute to the situational components inherent within the environment. This study sought to identify and evaluate the situational components that influence consumers within Irish theme pubs and to gauge the influence of each of the dimensions of an established situational model on customer behaviour among gender and age cohorts. A three phase, mixed method research design was used and respondents were selected from six Irish theme pubs in Melbourne. The study found that both physical and social situational components have a significant influence in attracting, serving and satisfying the needs of consumers