IJAM Volume 8 Number 2 (PDF)

EDITOR’S NOTE

Three articles in this issue of the Journal deal with the festival sector. Despite the fact that this sector includes thousands of organizations around the world, relatively few studies have been conducted in this field by cultural management researchers. Yet, in addition to having the potential to significantly raise the visibility of the host city or region, a festival can constitute a major tourist attraction. The category that we call festivals encompasses the full range of artistic disciplines. Aside from the many benefits they confer on their city or region, festivals represent an opportunity for businesses to reach new markets and to establish themselves as a significant brand within their respective artistic fields.

The piece featured in the Company Profile section describes the success of the Kongsberg Jazz Festival. Two other articles in this issue present the findings of studies on consumers of this type of event. One of these is a study on the personality aspects of a festival: because of the diversity of groups and genres that frequently make up a cultural festival, the consumer’s brand identification is often largely determined by aspects linked to the festival’s personality. The authors of the second article propose a typology of music festivals and discuss the role of festivals in the formation of music genres.

A fourth article in this issue of IJAM reports the results of a survey of a large sample of American consumers of arts and sports events. The usual observations are made concerning the sociodemographic profile of these clienteles. However, the study also reveals that the performing arts face greater competition from movies than from sports events.

Yet another article examines the important issue of “friends” of cultural organizations. While this concept applies to the museum sector in particular, the use of volunteers can also contribute greatly to the success of organizations in the performing arts sector. According to the authors, marketing efforts must be directed at potential volunteers, with the aim of not only recruiting them but also retaining them.

Finally, this issue of the Journal features an article that looks at the heritage sites included on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, focusing on the effect of this designation on eventual customers. According to the authors, experienced tourists tend to be the most sensitive to this effect.

Happy reading!

François Colbert
Editor