Widely understood “events” became an integral part of the modern lifestyle. They are present in our everyday life as never before. A lifestyle change involving the change of the learning paradigm (nowadays, for example, we learn throughout a professional life) has caused that almost every professionally active person participates once in a while in a workshop, training course or conference. Many of us want to educate also in non-professional areas of our life, so we participate in various events, be it cooking classes, lectures in the field of dietetics, or education workshops in the field of broadly understood personal development. The same goes in our free time, we like to participate in events that are a source of fun and relaxation, such as festivals, sport events and concerts.
For event organizers, understanding what motivates individual participants to take part in a particular event can be a source of valuable knowledge. Particularly, how to design another event to respond to the needs of its participants to the greatest possible extent. Not to mention that knowing the needs of potential participants, organizers have a better chance to avoid reefs in the form of their dissatisfaction.
The ongoing observation of participants’ motivation also allows noticing a change in the trends and predispositions of the participants, which in turn will allow the organizers to flexibly adapt to the needs of the changing event market and avoid negative opinions about the event, which are an event manager’s nightmare. So what exactly is the motivation?
Motivation – what is it?
Motivation, a word derived from Latin from “motus” (meaning “movement”), means a multi-faceted state in which an individual is willing to take specific actions as a result of internal or external needs. Motivations of event participants are driven, among others, by personal needs (e.g. participants of concerts wanting to listen to good live music), social (e.g. football fans wanting to experience sports emotions among people with similar preferences) or professional (participants of specialized training courses or conferences). Often, however, with one dominant need, others appear. Although they are not so expressive, can decide about taking part in a given event or choosing a different offer. The decision to participate in the event will, therefore, be a direct action taken to satisfy such a need.
I just have to be there – why is it worth investigating the motives of the participants of the events?
What connects almost all participants of events, regardless of their type, is the expectation that each event will be unique in a certain way. It is worth remembering that motivation is closely related to satisfaction. Learning the motivations of participants of events thus becomes a key element in understanding the decision-making process, which may help event managers prepare an attractive event plan corresponding to the expectations of their recipients.
It allows better planning of marketing activities, increasing the efficiency of the organization preparing the event, as well as limiting the costs dedicated to activities that participants may simply not appreciate. The aim of understanding the factors that motivate the participant to take a part in a given event is to convince them that not being at the event will be the lost opportunity to experience something interesting and unique.
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In the next post, we will describe main motivations of participants of sport events (football fans, marathon runners), cultural events (fans of festivals, concerts) and educational events (people participating in conferences, training courses, workshops).