Willingness to pay for sustainable practices at music festivals: insights from festival attendees
Till Oevermann, Oliver Roll, Kim WernerPurpose
The aim of this study is to investigate whether and to what extent festival attendees are willing to pay more for sustainable practices at music festivals with a focus on environmental sustainability. A behaviour-based segmentation of attendees is performed that allows conclusions to be drawn about potential correlations between individual psychological factors and willingness to pay (WTP).
Design/methodology/approach
An extended model of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) was developed based on a literature review and applied to a sample of 326 panel participants who had attended at least one music festival. The data were analysed using structural equation modelling with SPSS 29.0 and AMOS 29.0.
Findings
Subjective norms, environmental concerns, and perceived behavioural control significantly and positively influence WTP, with the extended model explaining 16.3% of the variance. Adjusted for hypothetical bias, the average WTP premium is +10.77%. To leverage these insights, festival organisers must ensure absolute transparency in fund usage to build trust, while actively engaging opinion leaders to drive collective social change.
Originality/value
Although the TPB is widely applied to sustainability, conceptualizing the unique transient context of music festivals offers a distinct environment for consumer decisions. The presented analysis demonstrates how this specific event setting reshapes attendees’ psychological commitment, linking contextual factors including the role of social expectations directly to a quantified bias adjusted monetary premium.