Event Title
Parallel Session 32, Event and Festival Design Track: The "Ale" in Female: The Feminine Voice at a Craft Beer Fermentation Fest
Location
Classroom 207
Start Date
14-12-2017 4:45 PM
End Date
14-12-2017 5:10 PM
Description
Purpose
The modern economy has been characterised by a shift from a product/service-based economy to an experience-based economy valuing the delivery of memorable and high-quality experiences to customers which in turn determine a business' ability to generate revenue (Pine & Gilmore, 1999). Thus, to stage an experience at events, it is imperative to identify the needs and motivations of attendees. However, it is important to be cognizant that tourists' different interests and backgrounds lead to diverse interpretations for a single tourist product (Kim, Ritchie & McCormick, 2012; Ooi, 2005). Kruger & Saayman (2015) are of the opinion that regarding interpretation, women and men are involved differently in the construction and consumption of events. Swain (1995) states that gendered realities shape marketing, guests' motivations, and hosts' actions. Learning about the interests and activities from a gendered perspective is thus vital to the planning and marketing of tourism products (Meng & Uysal, 2008). The failure to fully recognise and integrate gender perspectives with the design and marketing of tourist products would lead to gender-blind marketing and consumer dissatisfaction (Kruger & Saayman, 2015). This can also be said for marketing of events, such as a beer festival.
Beer may not come to mind as a warm and welcoming environment for women in management. Indeed, few other mainstream industries utilize advertising as openly hostile to women. In contrast to the 2% CEO positions held by women in Fortune 500 firms, 20% of U. S. large and medium sized malt brewing companies are headed by women. Regarding craft beer festivals, South Florida hosted the first-ever festival celebrating women in the brewing industry on Memorial Day Weekend (May 28, 2017) in FAT Art District. This festival hosted a large selection of female-run breweries from local female run establishments. The event organiser stated that according to their research women are responsible for 32% of craft beer consumption figures in the USA. According to the Editor of Beverage World, Jeff Cioletti, the craft beer/female connection is obviously nothing new, especially when you look at the leaders behind notable breweries. Women craft beer aficionados have been an increasingly prominent force through blogs like thebeerchicks.com; drinkwiththewench.com and BeerGoggins.com and endeavours such as Ladies of Craft Beer. "Women are a large and growing market for craft breweries," said Taste of Brew's event director Jennifer Hernandez. "It is exciting to see the passion and excitement that full-flavored craft beers are generating among women attending Taste of Brews." In this article the author question if women in New Zealand share the same enthusiasm for craft beer. The purpose of this article is to extend existing gender research by segmenting visitors to a local craft beers festival, namely the Dunedin Craft Beer and Food Festival (DCBF) in New Zealand, using gender as a segmentation base. An online survey was conducted the day after the festival and 436 completed questionnaires were included in the analysis. Independent t-tests as well as two-way frequency tables were used to profile attendees and to compare the differences between females and males who attended the festival. The results suggest that there are enough differences regarding gender preferences to event organisers to pay attention to when organising events such as a craft beer festival. The results further suggest that craft beer is as popular with female connoisseurs as it is with the male beer drinkers.
Methodology
An online survey was undertaken the day after the festival. Attendees could only purchase tickets online, and the researcher used that database to distribute the questionnaire to all the email address used when purchasing the tickets. A total of 436 completed questionnaires were received back on Qualtrics with an almost equal number regarding gender (Female N=202 / Male N=234. In populations of 5 000 (N), the respondents would be seen as representative and result in a 95% level of confidence with a ±5% sample error. The questionnaire was divided into two section where section A captured demographic details and section B captured motivational factors measuring items on a 5-point Likert scale. The questionnaire was validated by using content validity (literature analysis); face validity (statistical consultation); construct validity (factor analysis) and reliability (Cronbach's alpha). Data was analysed on SPSS and exploratory principle axis factor analysis, using PCA with Varimax rotation on the motivation item.
Findings
Almost equal percentages of female/male respondents were present. The factor analysis identified seven factors and these were labelled according to characteristics in Table 1. The results indicated that to create a memorable experience, men place significantly higher importance than women on quality alcoholic beverages. Women placed significantly higher importance for a memorable experience compared to men. When asked to rate on a 5-point scale of importance on why they attended the DCBF, men placed significantly higher importance than women on the following reasons why they attended the beer festival; meet people with similar interests; have beer; try new beers; exchange ideas; learn about craft beer; experience a range of beers and compare my home brewed beers with others. Women placed significantly higher importance than men on the following reasons why they attended the beer festival: to see my favourite artist/performer; attend as many local festivals as possible; enjoy the music; relax from daily stress: escape from my busy everyday environment; do something exciting; to see The Black Seeds and because it is a local Dunedin event. An important finding to emerge in this study is males are just concerned about the beer, while women consider some other factors. The results are significant for three important reasons why attendees attended the festival (mean score higher than 4): to have fun (4.33); to try new beers (4.19) and to experience a range of different beers (4.20).
Practical implications
This research had investigated the difference between males and females at a type of festival that is often perceived as a male dominated event. The study set out to explore different factors that might influence experiences. The purpose of the present research was to extend existing gender research by segmenting visitors to a local craft beers festival (DCBF) using gender as a segmentation base. The study has shown that there are significant differences between the sexes. However, the findings are subject to at least two limitations. The most significant were that the research was done at only one beer festival and results cannot be generalised to all beer festivals. It is therefore recommended that this research should be conducted over a period as well as difference beer festivals in different destinations. Further research should be done to investigate the gender segmentation at other beer festivals, and future research should concentrate on Event Experience Scales to better understand a universal scale to measure experiences at festivals. Another limitation is that the research excludes participants that would classify as neither male nor female.
Value
The value of this research is to assist organiser to create memorable experiences for different genders at beer festivals. Experience seeking are different among different gender groups and that women are a new emerging market in a market that used to be dominated by males.
Parallel Session 32, Event and Festival Design Track: The "Ale" in Female: The Feminine Voice at a Craft Beer Fermentation Fest
Classroom 207
Purpose
The modern economy has been characterised by a shift from a product/service-based economy to an experience-based economy valuing the delivery of memorable and high-quality experiences to customers which in turn determine a business' ability to generate revenue (Pine & Gilmore, 1999). Thus, to stage an experience at events, it is imperative to identify the needs and motivations of attendees. However, it is important to be cognizant that tourists' different interests and backgrounds lead to diverse interpretations for a single tourist product (Kim, Ritchie & McCormick, 2012; Ooi, 2005). Kruger & Saayman (2015) are of the opinion that regarding interpretation, women and men are involved differently in the construction and consumption of events. Swain (1995) states that gendered realities shape marketing, guests' motivations, and hosts' actions. Learning about the interests and activities from a gendered perspective is thus vital to the planning and marketing of tourism products (Meng & Uysal, 2008). The failure to fully recognise and integrate gender perspectives with the design and marketing of tourist products would lead to gender-blind marketing and consumer dissatisfaction (Kruger & Saayman, 2015). This can also be said for marketing of events, such as a beer festival.
Beer may not come to mind as a warm and welcoming environment for women in management. Indeed, few other mainstream industries utilize advertising as openly hostile to women. In contrast to the 2% CEO positions held by women in Fortune 500 firms, 20% of U. S. large and medium sized malt brewing companies are headed by women. Regarding craft beer festivals, South Florida hosted the first-ever festival celebrating women in the brewing industry on Memorial Day Weekend (May 28, 2017) in FAT Art District. This festival hosted a large selection of female-run breweries from local female run establishments. The event organiser stated that according to their research women are responsible for 32% of craft beer consumption figures in the USA. According to the Editor of Beverage World, Jeff Cioletti, the craft beer/female connection is obviously nothing new, especially when you look at the leaders behind notable breweries. Women craft beer aficionados have been an increasingly prominent force through blogs like thebeerchicks.com; drinkwiththewench.com and BeerGoggins.com and endeavours such as Ladies of Craft Beer. "Women are a large and growing market for craft breweries," said Taste of Brew's event director Jennifer Hernandez. "It is exciting to see the passion and excitement that full-flavored craft beers are generating among women attending Taste of Brews." In this article the author question if women in New Zealand share the same enthusiasm for craft beer. The purpose of this article is to extend existing gender research by segmenting visitors to a local craft beers festival, namely the Dunedin Craft Beer and Food Festival (DCBF) in New Zealand, using gender as a segmentation base. An online survey was conducted the day after the festival and 436 completed questionnaires were included in the analysis. Independent t-tests as well as two-way frequency tables were used to profile attendees and to compare the differences between females and males who attended the festival. The results suggest that there are enough differences regarding gender preferences to event organisers to pay attention to when organising events such as a craft beer festival. The results further suggest that craft beer is as popular with female connoisseurs as it is with the male beer drinkers.
Methodology
An online survey was undertaken the day after the festival. Attendees could only purchase tickets online, and the researcher used that database to distribute the questionnaire to all the email address used when purchasing the tickets. A total of 436 completed questionnaires were received back on Qualtrics with an almost equal number regarding gender (Female N=202 / Male N=234. In populations of 5 000 (N), the respondents would be seen as representative and result in a 95% level of confidence with a ±5% sample error. The questionnaire was divided into two section where section A captured demographic details and section B captured motivational factors measuring items on a 5-point Likert scale. The questionnaire was validated by using content validity (literature analysis); face validity (statistical consultation); construct validity (factor analysis) and reliability (Cronbach's alpha). Data was analysed on SPSS and exploratory principle axis factor analysis, using PCA with Varimax rotation on the motivation item.
Findings
Almost equal percentages of female/male respondents were present. The factor analysis identified seven factors and these were labelled according to characteristics in Table 1. The results indicated that to create a memorable experience, men place significantly higher importance than women on quality alcoholic beverages. Women placed significantly higher importance for a memorable experience compared to men. When asked to rate on a 5-point scale of importance on why they attended the DCBF, men placed significantly higher importance than women on the following reasons why they attended the beer festival; meet people with similar interests; have beer; try new beers; exchange ideas; learn about craft beer; experience a range of beers and compare my home brewed beers with others. Women placed significantly higher importance than men on the following reasons why they attended the beer festival: to see my favourite artist/performer; attend as many local festivals as possible; enjoy the music; relax from daily stress: escape from my busy everyday environment; do something exciting; to see The Black Seeds and because it is a local Dunedin event. An important finding to emerge in this study is males are just concerned about the beer, while women consider some other factors. The results are significant for three important reasons why attendees attended the festival (mean score higher than 4): to have fun (4.33); to try new beers (4.19) and to experience a range of different beers (4.20).
Practical implications
This research had investigated the difference between males and females at a type of festival that is often perceived as a male dominated event. The study set out to explore different factors that might influence experiences. The purpose of the present research was to extend existing gender research by segmenting visitors to a local craft beers festival (DCBF) using gender as a segmentation base. The study has shown that there are significant differences between the sexes. However, the findings are subject to at least two limitations. The most significant were that the research was done at only one beer festival and results cannot be generalised to all beer festivals. It is therefore recommended that this research should be conducted over a period as well as difference beer festivals in different destinations. Further research should be done to investigate the gender segmentation at other beer festivals, and future research should concentrate on Event Experience Scales to better understand a universal scale to measure experiences at festivals. Another limitation is that the research excludes participants that would classify as neither male nor female.
Value
The value of this research is to assist organiser to create memorable experiences for different genders at beer festivals. Experience seeking are different among different gender groups and that women are a new emerging market in a market that used to be dominated by males.
