Abstract

KRUGER, M  and  METSI, PI. Diamonds in the rough - managing higher spenders at a music festival in South Africa. JCMAN [online]. 2017, vol.14, n.1, pp.84-118. ISSN 1815-7440.

The Diamonds and Dorings Music Festival is used as a strategy to increase attendee numbers and associated spending which would boost the economy of Kimberley and the Northern Cape. The festival attracts mostly the African ethnic market, a term coined to describe South Africa's black middle class. In a festival context, the African ethnic festival and events market can be regarded as a niche and emerging market, which is growing in the South African economy. Unfortunately, to date, limited research has focused on the needs and spending power of this market at music festivals in South Africa. To fill this gap, this research applied expenditure-based segmentation to attendees at the festival. A visitor survey was conducted at the festival in 2015 where 367 questionnaires were administered and included in the analysis. Respondents were segmented into high, medium and low spending segments based on their total spending. The results showed that the high spenders could be distinguished from the medium and low spenders based on their spending behaviour, motives to attend the festival, province of residence, accommodation used during the festival and the marketing mediums where respondents heard about the festival. The results provide Information to the organisers and marketers of the festival on knowledge on how much money festival attendees spend and which factors influence higher spending. This knowledge can lead to a greater economic impact to the host city and province.

Keywords : African ethnic festival attendees; Diamonds and Dorings music festival; expenditure-based segmentation; Northern Cape.

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