The importance of festivalscape: the case of food and wine events

The experience of food and wine events is strictly related to how one perceives the physical aspects of their environment. In this paper we propose a theoretical model relating experiential marketing and customer satisfaction, with a specific interest on the importance of festivalscapes in determining satisfaction and future behavior of participants at food and wine events. We specify a structural equation model with latent variables, and estimate it by using a sample of questionnaires form the “Friuli DOC” Italian Festival. The main results are that festivalscapes and emotions have significant direct effects on satisfaction, which in turn has a significant effect on behavioral intentions. The effects of the festivalscape on participants’ future behavior are only indirect and mediated by satisfaction. Thus, in order to enhance their customers’ loyalty, festival organizers should monitor emotions and satisfaction deriving from the subjective perception of exogenous characteristics like food quality, comfort and entertainment.