Dimitra Papadimitriou a a Department of Business, University of Patras, Rion Patras, Greece

Transcription

1 This article was downloaded by: [University of Patras] On: 04 March 2013, At: 00:07 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: Registered office: Mortimer House, Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Journal of Convention & Event Tourism Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: Service Quality Components as Antecedents of Satisfaction and Behavioral Intentions: The Case of a Greek Carnival Festival Dimitra Papadimitriou a a Department of Business, University of Patras, Rion Patras, Greece Version of record first published: 14 Feb To cite this article: Dimitra Papadimitriou (2013): Service Quality Components as Antecedents of Satisfaction and Behavioral Intentions: The Case of a Greek Carnival Festival, Journal of Convention & Event Tourism, 14:1, To link to this article: PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Full terms and conditions of use: This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae, and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand, or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.

2 Journal of Convention & Event Tourism, 14:42 64, 2013 Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: print / online DOI: / Service Quality Components as Antecedents of Satisfaction and Behavioral Intentions: The Case of a Greek Carnival Festival DIMITRA PAPADIMITRIOU Department of Business, University of Patras, Rion Patras, Greece The main research objective of the author in this study is to investigate the strength of the interrelationships among performanceand experience-based variables of perceived service quality with satisfaction and behavioral intentions. Attributes of service quality (performance and experience) are set as antecedents of satisfaction and, behavioral intentions namely loyalty and willingness to pay more. Results from a survey on 452 festival visitors in Patras, Greece provided evidence that festival experience significantly affects behavioral loyalty and willingness to pay more, as well as satisfaction. The results extend previous knowledge on festivals by strengthening assertions that service quality dimensions are stronger predictors of visitor behavioral intentions than satisfaction. They also signify the key role of festival experience in bringing about favorable behavioral intentions in a festival context. KEYWORDS festival, service quality, satisfaction, loyalty, willingness to pay more INTRODUCTION Cultural events, including festivals, of varying sizes and themes are considered major attractions with multiple benefits for local communities, especially those communities with lower capacity to benefit from traditional tourism (Getz, 2005; Jaeger & Mycletun, 2009). In many cases they are treated as The author sincerely appreciates the valuable comments from the anonymous reviewers and editors, and the support provided for data collection, by the company DATARC, Greece. Address correspondence to Dimitra Papadimitriou, Department of Business, University of Patras, University Campus, Rion Patras, Greece dpapad@upatras.gr 42

3 The Case of a Greek Carnival Festival 43 flagship events because they are inextricably associated with the economic development of local communities. When used in this sense they often become part of a place-marketing strategy aiming toward city branding or re-branding and place positioning (Quinn, 2006). Depending on their size, events are also increasingly considered catalysts of social change and an effective tool for urban regeneration (Getz, 1991). This explains the considerable public funding committed for the development of such major attractions in various countries or cities. Festivals are also inextricably associated with tourism because they are targeted to draw visitor flows and marketed as tourist attractions (Getz, 1991). Given the competitive environment of tourism and the ongoing public funding required to keep them operational, festivals need to ensure the satisfaction of their visitors in order to avoid factors that may cause their deterioration. Attracting a significant number of visitors remains a top performance challenge for festival suppliers, while creating a positive impact on the destination area which is equally important for future visitation and economic outcomes. While tourism and economic related benefits of festivals have been widely acknowledged, little empirical evidence is available on how cultural festivals can enhance visitation rates and affect long-term loyalty. In the present study I explore perceptions of service quality (performance and experience) at a major carnival festival and their effect on visitors satisfaction, behavioral loyalty, and willingness to pay more. The main research goal is to investigate the strength of the interrelationships among performanceand experience-based variables of perceived service quality with satisfaction and behavioral intentions. To achieve this, a model has been developed to predict visitors future behavioral intentions based on satisfaction and perceived service quality measures. An equally important goal is to determine which specific dimensions of service quality (performance or experience) are better predictors of festival satisfaction and behavioral intentions so as to equip festival providers with practical advice on how to adjust their festival attribute provisions to bring about positive future behavior. In the context of this study, the term festival is used with reference to what Getz (2007, p. 31) calls a themed, public celebration with a formal program, which is rooted in historical, religious, socio-cultural, or natural aspects. Carnival celebrations in many places of the world (Greece, Spain, Italy, Brazil, etc.) reflect a specific type of festive act as people get together to dress up and enjoy the freedom of anonymity along with parading, music, and dancing. Similar to other festivals, carnival celebrations consist of some core activities and events, a timescale, and usually provide opportunities for additional planned or spontaneous activities to take place.

4 44 D. Papadimitriou LITERATURE REVIEW Perceived Service Quality Service providers in the tourism and leisure industry acknowledge the critical role of service quality for increasing visitation and ensuring service survival. The term refers to quality as perceived by customers and has repeatedly been characterized as an elusive construct in terms of its definition and measurement (Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Berry, 1988). The heterogeneous character of services, involving both the customer as well as the provider on the production and delivery process, explains to a great extent the complications in conceptualizing the particular concept. Over the last three decades two major issues dominate the research on service quality: (1) the operationalization of the construct of service quality in terms of dimensions and content, and (2) whether quality should be measured as the difference between customer perceptions and expectations or only at a perception level. In regards to the first issue, the relevant literature is extensive and reflects at least two approaches: the general service marketing approach and the recreation and tourism approach. In the general service marketing approach the widely cited work of Parasuraman et al. (1988) prevails, where the variable of service quality measures consumers normative expectations of a service and their perceptions of service performance and is treated as a five-factor construct (i.e., tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy). Parasuraman et al. s (1988) SERVQUAL instrument has been repeatedly utilized in different sectors of the service industry (Gil, Hudson, & Quintana, 2006; Jamal & Anastasiadou, 2009; Jonsson & Klefsjo, 2006; Newman, 2001) and is still considered a useful tool for measuring service quality because of its applicability in various types of services. However, a growing number of leisure and tourism researchers have criticized the instrument pointing to its problematic applicability in different leisure and tourism settings and the psychometric problems due to the different score measures (Baker & Crompton, 2000; Cole & Illum, 2006; Crompton & Love, 1995; Yoon, Lee, & Lee, 2010). Others have questioned the need to measure not only service-related perceptions but also expectations, and to produce a difference score (Cronin & Taylor, 1992; Brown, Churchill & Peter, 1993). This approach, according to Parasuraman et al. (1994), is useful only for diagnostic purposes, and thus was excluded in a more recent empirical study conceptualizing and measuring electronic service quality (Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Malhotra, 2005). Crompton and Love (1995) were the first to undertake a thorough investigation of the content of the quality construct in relation to festivals. Their results offered to the literature seven quality-related dimensions [i.e., expectations, importance times expectations, performance, importance minus performance, importance times performance, performance minus expectations,

5 The Case of a Greek Carnival Festival 45 and importance times (performance minus expectations)]. This work also demonstrated that performance-based operationalizations were the best predictors of festival quality with the least accurate predictors being the disconfirmation-based operationalizations (Crompton & Love, 1995). More recent measurement instruments are confined to a smaller number of dimensions. For example, Yoon et al. (2010) employed a five-dimension scale (i.e., information services, program, souvenirs, food, and facilities) to measure the service quality of a festival in Korea; Baker and Crompton (2000) employed a four-dimension instrument (i.e., generic features, specific entertainment features, information sources, and comfort amenities) for a community festival in the USA; and Yuan and Jang (2008) used three sub-constructs (i.e., facilities, wine, and organization) to capture service quality of a wine festival. While the discussion over the number and the composition of festival quality dimensions is still open in the tourism literature, following work by Brown (1988), Crompton and Love (1995) introduced the terms performance quality and experience quality to capture more unique service quality attributes of the various domains of the tourism and leisure industry. In the case of festivals, the term performance quality or quality of opportunity is conceptualized as the perceived quality of the attributes under the control of the festival organizer, while experience quality refers to the perceived psychological outcomes received by visitors from festival participation (Crompton & Love, 1995). This is a particularly interesting avenue for research as it signifies a line between functional quality attributes in festival delivery compared to non-controllable festival aspects (i.e., visitors mood, social environment, weather). Both influence the quality of the experience. As indicated by Williams (1988), the quality of outdoor leisure services, including festivals, contains an experience component that depends on how visitors react to the physical and social setting. Service quality for festival visitors is a relatively new area of study and findings so far remain inconclusive. The bulk of the studies undertaken have focused on the effects of functional attributes like generic and specific festival features, comfort amenities, and information sources rather than on the experience element of the environment (Baker & Crompton, 2000; Lee, Lee, Lee, & Bahin, 2008; Lee, Petrick, & Crompton, 2007; Yoon et al., 2010). Cole and Illum (2006) proposed the operationalization of service quality of a festival as a dual construct including performance and experience dimensions and found that both sub-constructs influence festival satisfaction. The present study follows Cole and Illum s (2006) approach and incorporates both an experience and a performance measure approach of festival perceived quality to test a model with visitor satisfaction and behavioral intentions components (loyalty and willingness to pay more). In line with the above conceptualizations, a considerable number of studies have incorporated service quality measures in testing models predicting behavioral intentions in festivals and other leisure settings (Cole &

6 46 D. Papadimitriou Illum, 2006; Lee et al., 2007; Yoon et al., 2010; Yuan & Jang, 2008) with inconsistent findings. More specifically, Lee et al. (2007) reported evidence that generic features and comfort amenities exert greater influence on perceived service quality in a festival setting compared to information sources and specific entertainment features. In the same study, attendees intention to revisit the festival was better predicted by attribute-based service quality than by a single measure of overall service superiority (Lee et al., 2007). Similarly, Cole and Illum (2006) found that experience quality had a direct impact on visitors future behavior intentions. However, Yuan and Jang (2008) reported no linkage between festival quality and behavioral intentions and Baker and Crompton (2000) asserted that the service quality behavioral loyalty relationship is significantly mediated by satisfaction. Given the lack of consensus, the conceptual model proposed in the present study was set to also explore the relationships between service quality attributes and behavioral intentions. Perceived Service Quality and Satisfaction The general marketing literature agrees that service quality and satisfaction are two interrelated constructs (Baumann, Burton, Elliott, & Kehr 2007; Jamal & Anastasiadou, 2009; Oliver, 1997). However, the small number of studies of festival visitors shows mixed results regarding the relationship between perceived service quality dimensions and satisfaction. In a study on a rural heritage festival, Cole and Illum (2006) found a significant relationship between perceived service quality and visitors satisfaction, whereas Lee et al. (2008), in their study on an international mask dance festival, found that only controllable festival environmental cues (i.e., food quality and planned program content) influenced visitors emotions, including satisfaction. Important service attributes such as convenience, staff, information, and souvenirs were not found to influence satisfaction. Similarly, Lee et al. (2007) provided empirical evidence of an insignificant link between perceived service quality and attendee satisfaction in a Catfish Festival in the United States. They also found that operationalizing perceived service quality with multiple attributes as opposed to overall service superiority leads to better predictions of visitors intention to return to the festival in the future. Services in a festival setting can be particularly complex and incorporate a variety of elements. According to Lee et al. (2007, p. 404), the level of satisfaction is dependent not only on quality of service attributes, but also on the status of a host of variables that may affect the visitor. This implies that high quality service is not the only antecedent of overall satisfaction. In experience industries like festivals and other events the quality of perceived total experience as co-produced by the visitors and the provider in a specific environment might also influence overall satisfaction (Lee, 2006; Mossberg, 2007). The provider can manipulate a significant part of service attributes, but in many cases the actual engagement of visitors in the experience offered

7 The Case of a Greek Carnival Festival 47 is largely self-guided. As a result, the exploration of overall visitor satisfaction along with service quality measures provides useful feedback, from a managerial point of view, not only on the controllable service attributes but also on visitors experience and perspectives. The conceptual model proposed in the present study adopts a global perspective of satisfaction along with performance and experience service quality measures. Visitors Satisfaction and Behavioral Intentions Achieving satisfaction among visitors is one of the main strategies used in tourism and destination management to cope with increasing competition, service quality expectations, and perceived value (Velazquez, Saura, & Molina, 2011; Yoon et al., 2010). Visitors satisfaction is of critical importance to destination management and the effective promotion of tourist products (Kozak & Rimmington, 2000; Petrick & Backman, 2002). Research has shown that satisfied tourists are more likely to return (Choi & Chu, 2001; Lee, Lee, & Lee, 2005; Yuan & Jang, 2008) and are also willing to spread positive word-of-mouth recommendations promoting tourism services to newcomers. While service quality reflects the cognitive response to a leisure service experience, satisfaction is seen as customers affective reaction to the same experience (Cronin, Brady, & Hult, 2000; Petrick, 2004). Satisfaction is defined as a judgment that a product or service feature, or the product or service itself, provides a pleasurable level of consumption-related fulfillment (Oliver, 1997, p. 13). Similarly, many other researchers have conceptualized satisfaction by focusing on the psychological outcomes which emerge from a service experience (Lee et al., 2008; Lee et al., 2007; MacKay & Crompton, 1990). In the tourism literature, customer satisfaction has often been operationalized either as a single measure of overall satisfaction (Cole & Scott, 2004; Lee, 2006) or with multi-item service quality scales (Lee, 2009). However, multiple criteria service satisfaction measurements are made at the process or transactional level of service delivery and often perplex the interrelationship between perceived quality and satisfaction with service attributes. In an effort to combine both the process and outcome phases of a visitor s psychological outcomes from a travel experience, a few researchers operationalize satisfaction at a global level by using an overall satisfaction measure (Lee et al., 2007; Zeithaml, Berry, & Parasuraman, 1996). The advantage of the overall satisfaction measures lies in capturing the overall experience of the visitors, which is formed from a combination of perceived service quality attributes as well as visitors emotions and other external factors such as climate or the network of social groups (Lee et al., 2007; Zeithaml et al., 1996). Such cumulative evaluations can be built over the course of the travel experience and should be considered a post-service evaluation of the

8 48 D. Papadimitriou visitors feelings toward the service, experience, activity, or destination (Choi & Chu, 2001). A significant part of the tourism and hospitality research treats satisfaction as a post-consumption evaluation variable that follows perceived service quality appraisals and thus is expected to function as an intermediate variable linking perceived quality to behavioral intentions (Cole, Crompton, & Willson, 2002; Yuan & Jang, 2008). This approach has led to increased interest in exploring the relationship between satisfaction and behavioral intentions. It is generally acknowledged in the service marketing literature that satisfaction and behavioral intentions are two closely related constructs (Lee et al., 2007; Petrick & Backman, 2002; Yoon et al., 2010; Yuan & Jang, 2008). Tourism authors are consistent in reporting evidence showing that satisfied visitors express positive repurchase intentions and produce high loyalty scores (Alexandris, Kouthouris, & Meligdis, 2006; Bigne, Mattila, & Andreu 2008; Petrick, Morais, & Norman, 2001). While a few festival studies have explored the causal relationships between satisfaction and various behavioral outcomes such as loyalty (Lee, 2009; Lee et al., 2007; Yoon et al. 2010), revisit intentions (Petrick & Backman, 2002; Yuan & Jang, 2008), and recommendation to others (Cole & Illum, 2006; Yuan & Jang 2008), their results are largely inconclusive. Yoon et al. (2010) and Cole and Illum (2006) reported that festival satisfaction positively affected behavioral intentions. However, Lee (2006) and Lee et al. (2007) provided evidence that satisfaction is not a significant predictor of behavioral intentions and point to the importance of strong perceptions of service quality for influencing visitors behavioral intentions. Therefore, in the present study I explore the interrelationships between satisfaction and behavioral intentions using both attitudinal and behavioral measures. METHODOLOGY The Proposed Model and Hypotheses Based on previous literature, the present study is set to test a conceptual model enclosing three latent variables and predicting two variables related to behavioral intentions namely festival loyalty and willingness to pay more. Models developed by Lee et al. (2007) and Yoon et al. (2010) provide a starting point for conceptualizing the pathways between perceived service quality, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions. These models have been expanded in three important ways. First, besides performance-based benefits, experience-based benefits have been included as predictors of satisfaction and behavioral intentions. Second, following assertions of prior researchers (Sudhahar, Israel, Britto, & Selvam, 2006; Velazquez et al., 2011), behavioral intentions are conceptualized both as attitudinal (i.e., loyalty) and behavioral constructs (i.e., willingness to pay more). Thirdly, the suggested model

9 The Case of a Greek Carnival Festival 49 FIGURE 1 The proposed conceptual model. explores the relative direct impact that festival service quality dimensions play on the two important behaviors of festival visitors. The linkages of the conceptual model are presented in Figure 1. Based on this model, four sets of hypotheses are investigated: H1a-c: Perceptions of service quality referred to unique festival activities, amenities, and experience are all related to visitor satisfaction. H2a-c: Perceptions of service quality referred to unique festival activities, amenities, and experience are all related to festival loyalty. H3a-c: Perceptions of service quality referred to unique festival activities, amenities, and experience are all related to willingness to pay more. H4a-b: Visitor satisfaction will be related to festival loyalty and willingness to pay more. Research Setting and Data Collection The setting for this study was the carnival festival held in the city of Patras located in the region of western Greece. This is the largest carnival in Greece and among the largest in Europe as measured by the number of visitors and international exposure received. Typically scheduled in the beginning of March, the particular festival attracts over 120,000 visitors who take part in various activities designed to celebrate the carnival. The distinctive activities of the carnival festival of Patras include street theatre, kids and adults parades (day and night) at the city center in groups with different costumes, parade of dance schools, a treasure hunt, a parade of carnival floats inspired by current political and social conditions (satire), live

10 50 D. Papadimitriou entertainment, and food and drink street vendors. The festival offers many opportunities for visitors to experience the unique carnival atmosphere not only by partying and dancing at the downtown area, but also by constructing their own experiences through personalized choices and group interaction. A few of these opportunities (e.g., parade participation, partying, exhibitions, etc.) involve a fee for the visitors and local residents in order to participate. The data collection took place during the 2011 carnival festival of Patras, Greece. The targeted sample included visitors (18 years and older) who visited the particular city to participate in the festival. Respondents were approached in various popular crossroads in the city center, and were invited to complete the questionnaire on site. A convenience sampling was followed because of the lack of accurate records of visitors arrivals in the city. In order to follow a more systematic structure of selecting respondents, city locations were randomly sampled in combination with blocks of time (morning 9:00 a.m. 11:00 a.m.; midday from 11:00 a.m. 13:00 p.m.; and from 15:00 p.m. 17:00 p.m., and evening from 19:00 p.m. changing every two hours up to midnight). More specifically, researchers invited every 10th visitor passing the designated points to take part in the survey by voluntarily filling out the questionnaire. Eight experienced researchers were engaged in contacting the visitors in the designated points. Efforts were made during selection of respondents to maximize diversity in gender and age. Festival visitors filled out a total of 452 valid and usable surveys over the last two-day of the carnival festival. Table 1 presents the profile of the respondents. TABLE 1 Sample Characteristics (N = 452) Samples characteristics Frequency Percent Gender Male Female Age < > Purpose of travel Carnival Business Others Number of nights One night nights nights and more

11 Instrument Design and Pre-testing The Case of a Greek Carnival Festival 51 FESTIVAL SERVICE QUALITY To measure visitors perceptions of service quality, 14 quality indicators were selected pertinent to the context of festivals. The service quality indicators were drawn from the literature in event tourism (Cole & Illum 2006; Crompton & Love, 1995; Lee et al., 2007; Yoon et al., 2010). Nine performance quality indicators were selected from the inventories developed by Cole and Illum (2006) and Crompton and Love (1995) and grouped in two service quality dimensions (i.e., festival unique activities and amenities). For example, performance quality pertinent to unique festival activities included the four items of carnival floats, carnival parade of characters with costumes, the city decorating image and lighting, and the festival music. Items such as safety in the city, food quality and beverages, adequate information for the activities offered related to amenities and were grouped together in the second performance quality factor. Based on a selection of items from Cole and Illum s (2006) inventory, quality of experience was measured with five items reflecting visitors socialization and enjoyment during the festival. This factor included the items take part in dancing, get together with friends, meet new people, enjoy the festival atmosphere, and opportunities for dancing and fun. Respondents were asked to rate the quality attributes of the festival using a 10-point Likert type scale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 10 = strongly agree. Given the availability of service quality inventory, the 14 items were initially grouped into three dimensions, namely unique festival activities, amenities, and experience quality. Validity and reliability measures of the particular survey instrument were examined with confirmatory factor analysis and Cronbach s alpha scores. The 3-factor service quality solution with 12 items presented a better fit (RMSEA =.51; IFI =.964; CFI =.964; x 2 = ; df = 48, p < 0.001) compared to the 14-item solution. Two items (i.e., adequate information for the activities offered and enjoy the festival atmosphere) were dropped due to low standardized regression loadings. The internal reliability based on Cronbach s alpha for the perceived quality sub-scales were.76 for unique festival activities,.72 for amenities, and.71 for festival experience, which are considered above satisfactory (Nunnally, 1978). SATISFACTION Consistent with researchers calling for a multi-attribute scale for satisfaction (Yuan & Jang, 2008; Zeithaml et al., 1996), two items were used to measure festival and trip overall satisfaction on a 10-point Likert scale with 1 = not at all satisfied to 10 = very satisfied. The scale had a Cronbach s alpha score of.77.

12 52 D. Papadimitriou LOYALTY Three indicators were employed to measure visitors behavioral loyalty to the festival based on items recommended by Baker and Crompton (2000), Lee et al. (2007) and Zeithaml et al. (1996). Respondents were asked to report the likelihood of saying positive things to other people for the festival, recommending the festival to others, and encouraging friends and relatives to visit the festival in the near future. The 10-point scale was anchored with 1 = not at all likely to 10 = extremely likely and produced a Cronbach s alpha score of.91. WILLINGNESS TO PAY MORE To measure visitors willingness to pay more for festival attendance, two items recommended by Zeithaml et al. (1996) were enclosed in the instrument. Baker and Crompton (2000) and Lee et al. (2007) have also utilized these items in a festival research context. The particular attitudinal attributes were continue to visit the festival if its prices increase and pay a higher price than competing festivals for the benefits currently received. As in previous cases, the 10-point Likert scale was anchored on 1 = not at all likely to 10 = extremely likely. The internal reliability of the two behavioral items was.82. The Measurement Model Table 2 presents the correlations between the measured constructs. All correlations were moderate and statistically significant at p < and the highest correlation was observed between satisfaction and festival experience. In the second phase of the analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) using AMOS 18 was employed to test the measurement model and confirm that the given set of items load satisfactorily on the three predetermined service quality dimensions. Before estimating the model, Cronbach s alpha was calculated for all service quality dimensions and other exogenous variables (i.e., satisfaction, willingness to pay, loyalty) and found to be greater than.70, in accordance with Nunnally s (1978) recommendations. TABLE 2 Correlations of Model Variables (all significant at p <.001) Festival unique features 1 2. Festival amenities quality Festival experience Satisfaction Festival loyalty Willingness-to-pay more

13 The Case of a Greek Carnival Festival 53 The results of the measurement of the service quality dimensions satisfaction and the two behavioral intention factors (loyalty and willingness to pay more) showed good model fit (x 2 = ; df = 132, p < 0.001, GFI = 0.933; IFI = 0.955; CFI = 0.955; SRMR = 0.046; RMSEA =.055). The fit indices were found more than adequate to support that the CFA model fits the data. CFA-based composite reliabilities for all variables in the measurement model were estimated, yielding satisfactory scores (Hair, Anderson, Tatham, & Black, 1998). The average extracted variances (AEV) were all above the recommended.60 (Hair et al., 1998) indicating that more than one-half of the variances observed in the items were accounted for by their pre-defined factors (Table 3). Convergent validity was also evaluated by examining the factor loadings, following Fornell and Larcker s (1981) recommendation for loadings greater than.50. Loadings ranged from.53 to.97, supporting convergent validity for the measured variables (Table 3). Based on the results of the measurement model, all constructs produced adequate reliability and convergent validity scores. DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS The proposed model and hypotheses were examined using structural equation modeling (SEM). The analysis was conducted with AMOS 18.0 and for the estimation of parameters the maximum likelihood method was used. All hypotheses were tested simultaneously to estimate the significance and direction of the relationships. The model included 12 observed items leading to three exogenous variables and three endogenous latent factors (i.e., satisfaction, festival loyalty, and willingness to pay more) (Figure 1). To evaluate the adequacy of the fit of the model to the data, the following statistical indices were employed: the Chi-Square Statistic (x 2 ), the Goodness-of-Fit Index (GFI), the Incremental Fit Index (IFI), the Comparative Fit Index (CFI), the Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR), and the Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA). For GFI, IFI, and CFI, values above.95 are considered good, while values higher than 0.90 are considered acceptable (Marsh, Hau, & Wen, 2004). For SRMR, values below.08 indicate a good fit of the model to the data. The measurement model provided adequate fit to the data (x 2 = 333.6; df = 135, p < 0.001, GFI = 0.928; IFI = 0.951; CFI = 0.951; SRMR = 0.049; RMSEA =.057). The structural model predicting festival visitors satisfaction and behavioral intentions (i.e., festival loyalty and willingness to pay more) from the three dimensions of perceived service quality produced supporting results, which are presented in Table 4 and Figure 1. The explained variance in the three endogenous constructs (Figure 1) was 79.5% for satisfaction, 53% for loyalty, and 52.8% for willingness to pay more.

14 54 D. Papadimitriou TABLE 3 Results from Confirmatory Factor Analysis (N = 452) Constructs and Measures Mean (SD) Factor Loading t-value Festival unique features (CR =.56; 8.43 (1.18) AVE =.65; IR =.765) SQ1. Carnival floats 8.52 (1.45) SQ2. Groups costumes 8.47 (1.41) SQ3. City image & decorative lighting 8.31 (1.58) SQ4. Festival music 8.42 (1.70).655 (set one) Festival amenities quality (CR =.51; 7.36 (1.45) AVE =.62; IR =.72) SQ5. Food and beverages 7.32 (2.04).716 (set one) SQ6. Bathrooms 6.44 (1.92) SQ7. Security 7.45 (2.14) SQ8. Friendly people 8.22 (1.7) Festival experience (CR =.50; AVE = 8.60 (1.04).61; IR =.71) SQ9. Meet new people 8.51 (1.43).485 (set one) SQ10. Get together with friends 9.23 (0.95) SQ11. Opportunities for dancing and fun 8.18 (1.57) SQ12. Take part in dancing 8.48 (1.61) Satisfaction (CR =.75; AVE =.79; 8.68 (1.10) IR =.77) S1. Overall festival satisfaction 8.65 (1.24) S2. Overall trip satisfaction 8.75 (1.20).706 (set one) Festival Loyalty (CR =.91; AVE =.92; 8.97 (1.30) IR =.91) L1. Positive word-of-mouth to others 8.96 (1.34) L2. Recommend the festival to others 9.03 (1.40) L3. Encourage friends and relatives to 8.92 (1.49).895 (set one) visit the festival Willingness-to-Pay More (CR =.81; 6.26 (2.32) AVE =.84; IR =.82) WP1. Continues to visit the festival if 6.52 (2.40) prices increase WP2. Pay a higher price than other festivals for the services offered by this festival 6.02 (2.61).846 (set one) CR = Composite Reliability; AVE = Average Variance Extracted; IR = Internal Reliability. With respect to testing the relationships between the festival quality dimensions and satisfaction, the quality of the unique festival activities had the strongest and statistically most significant effect on satisfaction (β =.50, t = 5.11, p < 0.001) supporting hypothesis H1a, followed by experience performance, which was also found to be a strong predictor of satisfaction (β =.36, t = 3.75, p < 0.001) supporting H1c. However, the perceived quality of festival amenities failed to produce a significant effect on satisfaction (β =.11, t = 1.66, p > 0.05), leading to the rejection of hypothesis H1b (Table 4). In exploring how service quality attributes affected visitors behavioral intentions, it was found that festival experience served as the strongest predictor both for loyalty (β =.63, t = 4.08, p < 0.001) and willingness to

15 The Case of a Greek Carnival Festival 55 TABLE 4 Results of the Conceptual Model with Structural Equations Modeling Standardized path Path coefficients of the model t-value Hypotheses Festival unique activities Supported (H1a) satisfaction Festival amenities satisfaction Not supported (H1b) Festival experience satisfaction Supported (H1c) Festival unique activities loyalty Not supported (H2a) Festival amenities loyalty Supported (H2b) Festival experience loyalty Supported (H2c) Festival unique activities Supported (H3a) willingness-to-pay more Festival amenities Supported (H3b) willingness-to-pay more Festival experience Supported (H3c) willingness-to-pay more Satisfaction loyalty Supported (H4a) Satisfaction willingness- to-pay Not supported (H4b) more Endogenous constructs R 2 Satisfaction.795 Loyalty.53 Willingness-to-pay more.528 p < 0.05; p < 0.01; p < 0.001; R 2 : Percentage of Variance Extracted. pay more (β =.49, t = 3.24, p < 0.001), supporting H2c and H3c. Similarly, significant effects were produced in the relationships between amenities and loyalty (β =.19, t = 2.25, p < 0.05) and amenities and willingness to paymore(β =.20, t = 2.30, p < 0.05) supporting hypotheses H2b and H3b respectively. Also, the dimensions of unique festival activities were found to have a significant effect on visitors willingness to pay more (β = 39, t = 2.33, p < 0.05) but not on visitors festival loyalty (β =.26, t = 1.76, p > 0.05) leading to the rejection of H2a and the support of H3a (Table 4). Exploring the relationship between satisfaction and the two behavioral variables, the data analysis produced supporting results for H4a suggesting that visitors satisfaction had a positive and significant effect on loyalty (β =.41, t = 2.19, p < 0.05). However, satisfaction did not have a significant effect on visitors willingness to pay more for the festival in the future (β =.45, t = 1.87, p > 0.05), hence H4b was not supported (Table 4). DISCUSSION The current study was set to explore the interrelationships among visitors perceived service quality, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions. Overall, the

16 56 D. Papadimitriou results of this study provide strong support for the tested structural model as applied to behavioral intentions in a cultural festival setting. The present findings unveiled the following: (1) that of the three service quality components employed (i.e., unique festival activities, amenities, and experience) only unique festival activities and experience appeared to influence visitors satisfaction; (2) visitors festival loyalty is best predicted by two of the three service quality components (i.e., amenities and experience); (3) all service quality components seem to play an influential role in determining willingness to pay more; and (4) satisfaction appears to be a significant predictor of festival loyalty but not of willingness to pay more in a festival setting. More specifically, the testing of the present conceptual model of festival visitors behavioral intentions indicated that unique festival activities were the strongest antecedent of visitors satisfaction followed by perceived quality of experience, whereas one quality dimension (i.e., amenities) was not associated to overall satisfaction. This suggests that the authentic and unique elements of the festival program along with the visitors experience while taking part in the festival are the two most influential dimensions to visitors satisfaction. The insignificant linkage between amenities and satisfaction implies that festival visitors are more concerned with the core attractions offered in a festival and the opportunities available to experience real entertainment and either pay less attention to typical amenities offered by the organizers or consider them expected quality levels. By examining the role of perceived service quality on loyalty, it was found that festival experience quality was by far the strongest antecedent of loyalty followed by amenities, which also exerted a significant effect on the outcome variable. The significant impact of experience on loyalty supports earlier findings that have demonstrated the role of festival content or program in creating an unforgettable experience and in turn affecting loyalty (Yoon et al., 2010) and satisfaction (Schofield & Thompson, 2007). Festival visitors leaving with positive perceptions about the quality of interactions, fun, and entertainment are very likely to revisit and/or recommend the festival to others. This finding also provides empirical support to the assertion that attractive festivals are the ones that offer space to visitors for creating their own co-value through experiencing unique moments and as such they have a better chance to develop loyal attendees (Mossberg, 2007). And, even though it is understood that experience is not a fully controlled variable on the part of the organizers, measures facilitating social interaction, uninterrupted participation in events and entertainment may bring about enhanced opportunities for a memorable experience in a festival setting. The evidence that the perceived quality of unique festival activities did not influence visitors loyalty to the festival confirms recent findings by Stokes and Tkaczynski (2011). They reported similar results showing that, either directly or through the satisfaction variable, a festival s core activities are not a significant predictor of visitors intention to come back to the festival.

17 The Case of a Greek Carnival Festival 57 Although more studies are needed to further clarify the determinants of festival behavioral intentions (Velazquez et al., 2011), the present results suggest that loyalty programs for cultural festivals should be based on creative ways to improve the value of visitors experience rather than spending resources for very unique activities and festival amenities. Moreover, strategies to improve positive word-of-mouth and revisit intentions should focus more on the opportunities for entertainment and on providing an overall satisfying festival experience. All three quality constructs were significantly associated with visitors willingness to pay more, with festival experience again being the strongest and most positive antecedent of the particular outcome variable followed by unique festival activities and amenities. This finding is in congruence with Baker and Crompton s (2000) assertion that festival visitors who evaluate performance quality highly are also willing to pay more for the services and the opportunity to participate. The stronger link between experience and willingness to pay more implies that if festival providers want to enhance visitors behavioral intentions in relation to price elasticity they should first strengthen the quality of elements contributing to what Quan and Wang (2004) call a memorable festival experience and second, focus on measures to improve the quality of festival amenities. The strong but negative linkage between the quality of unique festival activities and visitors willingness to pay more for the same festival demonstrates the importance of exploring strategies that improve the quality of the core festival activities in a cost-effective manner, especially in times of financial crisis. Considering that cultural festivals are often supported by public subsidies, visitors are critical in associating this dimension of service quality to favorable behavioral intentions and thus expressing price sensitivity. With regards to behavioral intentions, the results showed that overall satisfaction had a significant influence on loyalty but not on willingness to pay more. This confirms earlier findings that visitors satisfaction may not always exert a positive effect on behavioral intentions, especially relating to a pay more attitude in a future festival visit (Lee, 2006). Theoretical and Practical Implications From a theoretical perspective, through this study I offer three main implications: First, the results support existing literature (Cronin et al., 2000; Lee et al., 2007; Petrick, 2004) by demonstrating that perceptions about the quality of a carnival festival have a direct and significant effect on behavioral intentions of visitors. This study enhances existing literature as well by examining not only loyalty and satisfaction levels as desirable behavioral outcomes, but also visitors willingness to pay more, a variable that has been somewhat overlooked in service quality research. Through the present study I offer clear evidence that not all quality dimensions have the same effect on

18 58 D. Papadimitriou satisfaction, festival loyalty, and willingness to pay more, and that the quality of festival experience is the most significant predictor of the future behavior of carnival festival consumers. These results provide additional support to an emerging stream of research that focuses exclusively on the construct of experience quality and its impact on satisfaction and behavioral intentions (Cole & Illum, 2006; Cole & Scott, 2004; Cole et al., 2002). Somewhat surprisingly, perceptions of the quality of the festival s amenities and unique activities had less of an impact on consumers future behavior than opportunities for personal interaction and overall experience at the carnival festival, which warrants more research regarding consumers quality perceptions in the context of carnival festivals. Second, this study shows that visitor satisfaction is predicted by festival experience and unique activities, and that it is a significant driver for loyalty but not for visitors willingness to pay more. Previous studies have debated the role of satisfaction on behavioral intentions (Lee, 2006; Lee et al., 2007) pointing to the salient role of positive service quality perceptions for favorable behavioral intentions. Lee et al. (2007) specifically stress that satisfaction is a holistic dimension of the visitation with little practical information on signifying those festival dimensions that influence future behavior. The present study further supports the predictive value of satisfaction but only in relation to loyalty, and not in regards to visitors willingness to pay more. Thus, the interrelationship between satisfaction and willingness to pay more deserves further empirical exploration, at least in reference to cultural festivals. Finally, the most important outcome of this study is that it highlights that festival attendance is primarily affected by experience quality which seems to play the most prominent and significant role for visitors satisfaction, retention, and willingness to pay more. Prior research has repeatedly made reference to the element of satisfying experience (Peggs & Patterson, 2010; Leenders, 2010) as a means to achieve festival retention in various music festivals. This study extends the above knowledge by offering the opportunity to measure and uncover specific aspects of experience quality, which substantiate more accurately what Pine and Gilmore (1998) refer to as engaging experience. Furthermore, the content of the carnival festival offers a platform to visitors to blend with locals and engage in a unique type of interaction, socialization, dancing, and entertainment while dressed in carnival costumes. By demonstrating the predictive power of experience quality, this study provides preliminary empirical support for the potential value of the Service-Dominant Logic (SDL) of marketing in the festival industry (Lusch, Vargo & O Brien, 2007). This approach argues that visitors are co-creators of value and the ones who produce the consuming experiences, playing the role of resource integrators (Lusch et al., 2007). Yet, little is known so far regarding how visitors value their engagement in various festivals (Peggs & Patterson, 2010) and what meanings they attribute to experiences offered in various settings and countries.

19 The Case of a Greek Carnival Festival 59 This study also offers practical recommendations for festival managers in general, and managers of this carnival festival in particular. First, the consistent significant effect of festival experience on satisfaction and behavioral intentions (i.e., loyalty, willingness to pay more) suggests that festival organizers should invest greatly in this dimension as a point of differentiation and a source of competitive advantage for the particular festival. So far event organizers have succeeded in producing high ratings in this quality dimension. The challenge remains to keep on designing and delivering a competitive package of services, given the deterioration of the economic conditions at the national and regional level. The present study helps the event organizers and tourism professionals to understand what this carnival festival stands for, at least in the perceptions of the past visitors, and to focus on offering high levels of entertainment and unique experiences. Therefore, enhancing elements pertinent to the core of the carnival s program and increasing opportunities for interaction, socialization, and entertainment can motivate visitors not only to return to the festival in the future but also to spend more of their discretionary income during their visit. As experience quality relates more to emotional perceptions, festival managers should design and deliver fulfilling experiences for visitors, including a unique atmosphere and a variety of service options. A second practical recommendation can be extracted from the determinants of loyalty related to the specific festival. The evidence shows that the most important drivers for obtaining loyal visitors to the festival are perceived experience and satisfaction. Since both variables are implicitly associated to emotions, and prior research has also highlighted the role of emotive responses in the attendance of festivals (Gursoy, Spangenberg & Rutherford, 2006; Leenders, 2010), organizers should work on maintaining the current high ratings and on further leveraging these well-established features. Along with a set of quality service offerings, what is most important for future festival success is a platform for marketing activities, which enhance image and reputation around these key characteristics. The results point clearly in the strengths of the festival, which needs to be acknowledged and supported further, especially nowadays that public spending becomes limited. Managers should strategically invest in communicating those unique experiences and offerings of the particular festival to the target audiences. At this point, a brand which articulates certain emotions and characteristics of the memorable experience atmosphere and satisfaction offered by the festival may also have an enduring effect on visitor retention. A last practical implication relates to the factors that drive visitors willingness to pay more. From the three quality dimensions under study, only festival experience had a significant and positive effect on visitors willingness to pay more, whereas unique festival activities produced a negative effect, and amenities had no effect on the particular outcome variable. Given the general declining consumption trend currently characterizing the Greek