Analysis of Sources for Information Gathering before Visiting a Festival in the Case of Generation Z

Abstract

In recent years, festivals have become an essential part of summer activities for many members of Generation Z. Programs that last several days also mean significant financial burden for young people, so they gather information from multiple sources before decision-making. The purpose of the study is to examine which information sources – especially social media – and which motivations have become significant in the context of festival tourism's decision process.
An online survey was conducted as part of and exploratory research over four consecutive years dealing with the use of information sources and the importance of the music festivals' characteristics targeting the Hungarian Generation Z attendees of festivals. Besides the descriptive statistics cluster analysis and ANOVA tables were used.
It can be emphasized that in the case of festival tourism, the influence and usage of social media, relying on the opinions of acquaintances and friends is much more significant in the decision-making phase than in the case of traditional tourism. The program and the leading performers are not the only important factors, but meeting friends, the atmosphere of the festival, and reasonable value for money are also significant. Three groups of users could be identified: those who are mainly browsing official websites and search engines, those who try to make decisions based on earlier experiences, and those who are also looking at social media sites and digest several types of content to make the decision. Organisers of festivals should understand the differences among these groups to create better communication strategies.