UNDERSTANDING THE TRAVEL MOTIVATIONS OF POP CULTURE FANS

Popular culture (pop culture) events have the potential to promote tourist destinations and to generate tourism income. Travel motivation is a critical consideration for reaping these benefits since it serves as a stepping stone for event attendance and it initiates a desire to act. The purpose of t...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Veronique Labuschagne, Elizna Burger
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Huelva 2022-06-01
Series:Enlightening Tourism: A Pathmaking Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.uhu.es/publicaciones/ojs/index.php/et/article/view/5464
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849471513748570112
author Veronique Labuschagne
Elizna Burger
author_facet Veronique Labuschagne
Elizna Burger
author_sort Veronique Labuschagne
collection DOAJ
description Popular culture (pop culture) events have the potential to promote tourist destinations and to generate tourism income. Travel motivation is a critical consideration for reaping these benefits since it serves as a stepping stone for event attendance and it initiates a desire to act. The purpose of this paper therefore is to determine the travel motivations of pop culture fans. Data was gathered from 576 pop culture fans attending a pop culture event in Gauteng, South Africa, using a structured questionnaire.  The data were analysed using exploratory factor analysis. The findings revealed nine travel motivations which were labelled brand visibility, event participation, acquire pop culture knowledge, escapism, celebrity fandom, value for money, exclusive merchandise, social enjoyment and novelty. The paper highlights novelty as the most important travel motivation for attending the specific pop culture event and it is therefore argued that pop culture fans attend these events to experience something new and different. In line with the findings of this research, it is recommended that pop culture event marketers pay close attention to all nine identified travel motivations to retain their current fans and to remain competitive.
format Article
id doaj-art-cf7291e938da4cb79f712ed1317e8e70
institution Kabale University
issn 2174-548X
language English
publishDate 2022-06-01
publisher University of Huelva
record_format Article
series Enlightening Tourism: A Pathmaking Journal
spelling doaj-art-cf7291e938da4cb79f712ed1317e8e702025-08-20T03:24:48ZengUniversity of HuelvaEnlightening Tourism: A Pathmaking Journal2174-548X2022-06-0112110.33776/et.v12i1.5464UNDERSTANDING THE TRAVEL MOTIVATIONS OF POP CULTURE FANSVeronique Labuschagne0Elizna Burger1Vaal University of TechnologyVaal University of TechnologyPopular culture (pop culture) events have the potential to promote tourist destinations and to generate tourism income. Travel motivation is a critical consideration for reaping these benefits since it serves as a stepping stone for event attendance and it initiates a desire to act. The purpose of this paper therefore is to determine the travel motivations of pop culture fans. Data was gathered from 576 pop culture fans attending a pop culture event in Gauteng, South Africa, using a structured questionnaire.  The data were analysed using exploratory factor analysis. The findings revealed nine travel motivations which were labelled brand visibility, event participation, acquire pop culture knowledge, escapism, celebrity fandom, value for money, exclusive merchandise, social enjoyment and novelty. The paper highlights novelty as the most important travel motivation for attending the specific pop culture event and it is therefore argued that pop culture fans attend these events to experience something new and different. In line with the findings of this research, it is recommended that pop culture event marketers pay close attention to all nine identified travel motivations to retain their current fans and to remain competitive. https://www.uhu.es/publicaciones/ojs/index.php/et/article/view/5464Pop CulturePop Culture FansTravel MotivationPop Culture EventComic ConExploratory Factor Analysis
spellingShingle Veronique Labuschagne
Elizna Burger
UNDERSTANDING THE TRAVEL MOTIVATIONS OF POP CULTURE FANS
Enlightening Tourism: A Pathmaking Journal
Pop Culture
Pop Culture Fans
Travel Motivation
Pop Culture Event
Comic Con
Exploratory Factor Analysis
title UNDERSTANDING THE TRAVEL MOTIVATIONS OF POP CULTURE FANS
title_full UNDERSTANDING THE TRAVEL MOTIVATIONS OF POP CULTURE FANS
title_fullStr UNDERSTANDING THE TRAVEL MOTIVATIONS OF POP CULTURE FANS
title_full_unstemmed UNDERSTANDING THE TRAVEL MOTIVATIONS OF POP CULTURE FANS
title_short UNDERSTANDING THE TRAVEL MOTIVATIONS OF POP CULTURE FANS
title_sort understanding the travel motivations of pop culture fans
topic Pop Culture
Pop Culture Fans
Travel Motivation
Pop Culture Event
Comic Con
Exploratory Factor Analysis
url https://www.uhu.es/publicaciones/ojs/index.php/et/article/view/5464
work_keys_str_mv AT veroniquelabuschagne understandingthetravelmotivationsofpopculturefans
AT eliznaburger understandingthetravelmotivationsofpopculturefans