The effects of commercialisation on motivation to attend music festivals (using the Big Chill festival as a case study)

Abstract

This study explores how commercialisation affects people's motivations to attend UK music festivals. To achieve this aim the researcher firstly made a series of objectives that needed to be completed, these were: To critically review any literature on motivation and explore factors that motivates individuals to attend music festivals, using the Big Chill festival as a case study, explore how the buying of the Big Chill festival brand by Festival Republic has affected the attendees' motivation to attend the festival, discover whether the commercialisation of festivals has made a difference to these motivations and to finally to evaluate the findings and identify the key reasons for why individuals attend music festivals in present times. Data was obtained by interviewing 20 people (10 under 25 year olds and 10 over the age of 25), who had attended the Big Chill festival at least once before. Because the data was collected in the form of interviews, the researcher then discussed this data qualitatively with the use of tables to pin point the quotations that the interviewees had used. The study found that there was a clear difference between the motivations of people under the age of 25, compared to the over 25 age group. The under 25's mainly went for the social aspect of the festival, whereas the over 25's were focused on the escapism factor of attending the festival. Further to this the study found that the majority of the interviewees, in particular those who had been to the festival for many years before, believed that the Big Chill festival was becoming too commercialised and therefore if the ticket price were to rise much more they most likely would not attend the festival. Whereas the interviewees who were relatively new to the festival scene, thought that the more commercial it is, the bigger acts there are likely to be performing and therefore they would want to attend even more.