Visitor's Motivation in Free Food Festivals

The purpose of this study was to examine motivations for both intended visitors and accidental visitors in the context of free food festival. The data was collected from the visitors who attended the New Orleans RoadFood Festival, which was free and open to the public. The results of exploratory factor analysis identified four factors (taste, enjoyment, change, and socialization) of attendees’ motivations to the food festival. Multiple regression analysis found that entertainment was a significant antecedent of attendee satisfaction. Results also found attendee satisfaction positively affected their loyalty. Independent samples t-test showed significant differences between accidental visitors and intended visitors in terms of the perceptions about experiencing quality food, learning about a variety of food, experiencing new foods, intention to recommend, and intention to revisit. Practical implications of the findings are further discussed.