Factors  influencing  attitude  and  intention  to  visit  a  consumer  fair

Based on the theoretical framework, I will now briefly discuss the factors I believe should be included in the modified TRA model to investigate the factors that influence attitudes and intention to visit a consumer fair for jewellery. These factors will be discussed further and in more detail in chapter 8. The factors are based on existing theoretical frameworks and

studies within consumer behaviour. Since there does not exist studies on consumer fairs, the factors are chosen based on research from other areas of consumer behaviour that can be generic motivators for several types of behaviour. Other factors that did not appear salient in the literature may as well be of high relevance, which stress the importance of conducting further research to reveal additional industry-specific factors. The included factors at this point proved to be most prominent in the literature.

3.5.1 Price of entry ticket

Price can be defined as “what is given up or sacrificed to obtain a product” (Zeithaml, 1988, p. 9). Price has previously been studied in research concerning sport events. Ferreira and Armstrong (2004) found the cost of attending a sport event to be a determinant of attendance in their study on sports. A study by Welki and Zlatoper (1999) investigated attendance at professional football games in the United States and found higher ticket prices to affect attendance negatively.

Monroe and Krishnan (1985, as cited in Zeithaml, 1988) found that there is a positive relationship between price and quality. Zeithaml (1988) found that when a consumer judges the perceived value of a product, a link between price and quality arises. Judging the price-quality relationship of a product, and of attending a consumer fair, is different as they serve to satisfy different needs. I assume that the price of the entry-ticket will have an impact on the attitudes and intentions of consumers, and it will be based on the judgement of the overall experience the consumer will attain from attending. If consumers find the price to be high that will have a negative impact on their attitudes and intention. It is therefore of high importance for managers to know how consumers perceive the price. Thus, price refers to the cost of the entry-ticket of visiting a consumer fair. This factor is included to investigate how important the price of visiting is for consumers.

Furthermore, the price of the entry ticket can be perceived as too high or too low depending on the income of the consumer. Income is not included as a factor influencing attendance, as respondents in the study will be students who are not receiving a salary yet, apart from those working part-time jobs after school. I therefore assume that there will not be great variances in income.

3.5.2 Accessibility and location

Ferreira and Armstrong (2004) found convenience and accessibility to be determinants of attendance at sport events. Other studies have found the distance a consumer must travel to be a determinant of attendance (Carmichael et al., 1999; Becker and Suls, 1983; Marcum and Greenstein, 1985; Ferreira and Armstrong, 2004). For exhibitors at a trade fair, Rinallo (2011) lists that a possible criteria for selecting which trade fair to attend is location and accessibility. By including this factor it can be revealed if it matters to the consumers where the consumer fair is situated and how accessible it is, in terms of travel and time. I assume that if it requires a great deal of travel to visit the fair then that can be a negative influence on visitors and limit the number of consumers that actually visits the fair.

Accessibility and location could be split into two factors, however for this study they are closely linked as they both describe the physical positioning of the fair in terms of location and ease of reaching the fair. Accessibility and location is included as one factor influencing attitude and intention to visit. I believe it to have an impact on attitude and intention to visiting the consumer fair, as it is an important part of trade fair selection.

3.5.3 Number of exhibitors

Rinallo (2011) mentions exhibitors as a possible criterion when other exhibitors are choosing which fair to attend. It is interesting to investigate if the number of exhibitors represented at the fair will influence the attitudes and intentions of consumers to visit it. Consumers might find a fair more attractive if there are a large number of exhibitors under the same roof, as it enables consumers to look, at and evaluate, competitors more closely.

The number of exhibitors present at a consumer fair will determine the size of the overall fair, and thus the variety of products and designs displayed. This factor is included, as I believe it has predictability of attitude and intention to visit the fair.

3.5.4 Experience

Ferreira and Armstrong (2004) found game and pregame entertainment to influence attendance at sport events. Several other studies have found entertainment to be important for attendance at sports played by women (Antonelli, 1994; Armstrong, 1999; Funk et al., 2000; Ferreira and Armstrong, 2004). Entertainment in the experience of a consumer fair for

jewellery can for instance be screenplay of how to make jewellery, or a stand where one can design an own piece of jewellery. Experiences can be merely visible, from looking at magnificent pieces of jewellery, to trying them on and imagining how this piece of jewellery will satisfy the needs one may have. It is interesting to investigate how entertainment and experiences at the fair will influence attitude and intention to visit.

Consumers visit a fair for hedonic reasons and to indulge in new experiences (Rinallo, 2011), and it is therefore expected that this factor will have an impact on attitude and intention to visit a consumer fair for jewellery.

3.5.5 Subjective norm

The subjective norm is one of the original factors that influence intentions to act in the TRA framework (Lutz, 1981). This factor explains how other people, such as family or friends, influence consumers and their decisions. Other people may be an influence in visiting a consumer fair, depending on the interests of the consumer, the people interacting with him/her, or the social setting. Consumers in certain social settings might be expected to visit a fair if others from the same group are visiting. Furthermore, a consumer that purchases a lot of jewellery can be expected to visit a consumer fair for jewellery. On the contrary, the subjective norm might not influence intention to visit if consumers can visit fairs without any of their friends, family or acquaintances knowing about it or expecting it. It may not be expected that a consumer visit this type of fair unless he or she is in a particular situation where a large amount of information and research is necessary. It is interesting to investigate how strong impact the subjective norm has on intention to visit a consumer fair, based on subjective norms role in well-established frameworks such as TRA and TPB.

3.5.6 Relative advantage

Relative advantage is highly important as it stresses the advantages in choosing a product instead of its competitors, as it is perceived as better than the idea it is based on (Rogers, 2003). This factor imply that the product, service or in this case, event, can offer something that competitors cannot. The consumer fair must have a relative advantage compared to competing events or single jewellery stores.

A consumer fair is differentiated from other events and experiences consumers can attend to,

and the differentiation is mainly a result of two dimensions of relative advantage, uniqueness and efficient information acquisition. Unique attributes added to a product will be perceived as novel, and thus the consumer gives more attention to it and forms favourable attitudes towards it. The uniqueness of a product can affect the comparison of other products, and if competitors lack the unique attributes they have a disadvantage (Carpenter et al., 1994).

According to Cooper (2001, as cited in Banyte and Salickaite, 2008) unique innovations are 3-5 times more successful than other innovations.

In the case of a consumer fairs, the relative advantage is the amount of information and experiences gathered at the same time and place, which reduces search-costs and enables consumers to achieve a better overlook of what the jewellery industry can offer. A consumer fair can provide consumers with a unique experience and efficient information gathering that they cannot obtain from visiting a single store and jeweller.

3.5.7 Past behaviour

In the context of visiting a consumer fair it may be relevant to look at how past behaviour can influence intention. The factor is adopted from the Theory of Trying (TT) by Bagozzi and Warshaw (1990). In the TT framework, past behaviour refers to the frequency and recency of past experiences, however only frequency will be investigated here. Past behaviour can refer to prior purchase of jewellery made by consumers, and how frequently they purchase it. Furthermore, it can refer to how often consumers visit consumer fairs. I assume that prior experiences with fairs and jewellery are important determinants for intention. As Ouelette and Woods (1998) point out, past behaviour can in addition affect both attitudes and social norm, whereas the focus in this thesis is how it impacts attitude and intention to visit.

If a consumer never purchased jewellery in the past it may be less likely that he or she would like to visit a consumer fair for jewellery. On the other hand, a consumer might have a large interest in jewellery, except he or she can not afford to purchase it, and therefore wish to visit a consumer fair for the experiences alone. It is likely that past behaviour of previous visits at consumer fairs not will be a strong determinant of intention to visit, as there exist few consumer fairs in Norway where the study takes place. However, consumers may have visited such fairs abroad. On the other hand, previous purchases are expected to be a strong

determinant. I therefore wish to include past behaviour as a predictive factor to investigate its effect on attitude and intention to visit.