An Analysis of Motivation and Expectations of Tourists: A study of The Burning Man, Nevada

Teddy Alcheva Higher Diploma in International Hospitality and Tourism Management HTMi Switzerland

Introduction
Nowadays people have great variety of destinations and events to travel to, ut what motivates different mar!et segments and how the decision"ma!ing process is done# $hat do tourist e%pect when going to &The 'urning Man( in Nevada) As &The urning Man( is an event that started in *+,- .'urning Man, /0*/1 is interesting to see the influence of tourist e%pectations on changing the event itself# 2vents in Hospitality and tourism on a whole is a wide concept thought there are many motivators and determinants which helps the tourist ma!e a firm decision to visit certain event .Swar roo!e and Horner, /0**1# Motivators and determinants could affect the customers at any time# As tourists are all different and still they have something in common, it is very hard to give a proper classification of motivators that influence the decision ma!ing process# Nevertheless, events and festivals are vast topics# There are different theories, which help us to understand the role of the motivators and determinants# According to 3oodness .*++41 it is a driving force, which represents people5s aims# 6noth .*++71 concludes that motivators also have an influence on uilding e%pectations, which leads to certain perception of the service, and construct the consumer5s satisfaction .Authentic Holiday 3ilms, /0*/1# 8rompton .*+7+1 notes (it is possi le to descri e the who, when, where and how of tourism, together with the social and economic characteristics of tourist, ut not to answer the 9uestion &why(, the most interesting 9uestion of all tourist ehaviour#( .3odness, *++41# Accordingly to previous research that has een done recently was descri ed the decision ma!ing process on attending and participating in a certain event or festival# Some of the most successful events annually are visited y great num er of returning customers# Ta!ing the e%ample of The 'urning Man, events evolve with the help of returning & urners(# $in!le made a research on the impacts of the cognitive aspect

and their influence on the participation in a festival:event .;manito a, /0*/1# Another point of view suggests y $e er# According to her research people are focusing on too narrow ideas and understanding of the importance of the consumer ehaviour and that is the reason for the wrong e%pectations and perceptions# A common investigation that has een held in the last couple of years loo!s at mar!et segmentation as a tool to find out more a out consumer ehaviour in events and festivals tourism# The author is interested in consumer ehaviour and its development and influence on events

tourism# However, what motivates a tourist to visit the same event:tourist destination is another topic on which the author will focus and will investigate, to get the given ideas more crystal#

Motivation and Expectations

Motivation has een defined y $e ster and <oram .*+7/1 as the forces that drive the individual to satisfy a need or want# To 9uote from =ames 3# 2# >oger D#' and ?aul $#M# .*++01 ehaviour is the outcome of motivation, where motive is the the inside force to stimulate a consumer to ehave, respond in a certain way, and gives directions on how to satisfy a need# According to >yan and Deci ./0001 a person is considered motivated if he:she has a stimulus to perform the steps of the decision" ma!ing process# 3odness .*++41 suggests that motivation can e viewed as dynamic process where needs, wants and goals lead to a certain level of tension within the consumers ody and mind, coming out as action to resolve that tension# $riting in *+,@ 6runow" Autter says Ba personCs dynamic relationship etween the real and the ideal self, constituting a process of decreasing the distance etween these two cognitive systems, themselves su Dect to continuous change#B 6oosess ./0001 argued that consumer5s

want to achieve state of homeostasis, which appears when an individual recognises a gap etween real and desira le self, is called need deficiency# The initiate need of self"actualisation is the motive, which is highly influenced y the current situation and the environment around and with this the motivation stage egins .6noth *++71# $riting in Tourism motivation and e%pectation formation, 6noth suggested that motivation could e divided into two approachesE ehaviourist and cognivist# In order to provide etter analyse the author will provide a definition of events:festival

tourism# >eferring to 6etz ./00,1 events are considered as a motivator, which develops the description given, earlier y Hal .*++/1 and >itchie .*+,41# As tourism is a usiness highly influenced y the environment and technology development the terminology used in previous research is argua le# ?reviously events were considered as part of the destination and were used to complete the image for the tourists# Today we can suggest that festivals ecame a destination of their own# $hy sustaina ility will play an important role in this research) As sustaina ility is the factor that connects the host of an events and the tourists y giving the opportunity to develop a festival attractive enough to fulfil the demands of the attendees# A lot of theories were developed in order to help organizers predict consumer5s ehaviour, their perception of the destination, though Dust several can e applied# Tourism is very rought usiness depending on the type of the destinations and the personality of the tourist the decision"ma!ing process will loo! differently# ?eople have different motives to travel# A lot of factors will e involved in the e%pectation formation and decision ma!ing process# $hy it is important to !now how the decision is made) As organizers need information to !now how to promote their product, on what segment of the mar!et should they concentrate in order to provide an e%traordinary e%perience for the participants# There are different models trying to

e%plain how a consumer ma!es a decision# The traditional five step model, which is not that suita le for an individual decision according to the author as it is too asic and humans are complicated y nature so such a complicated process can not e e%plained y five steps, which is compara le to the Hierarchy of needs introduced to the audience y Maslow, those two theories are irrelevant and do not provide clarified answers for the topic# This model is divided into three main sectorsE input, process and output# $here it is shown how a product should e introduced and what factors influence a person to choose an event to participate in and moreover it provides post" purchase ehaviour e%ample# This gives us the opportunity to predict future

development of the destination and returning tourists, therefore growing usiness and industry# Tourism ehaviourE Motivators and Determinants# Segmentation#

Attendees will have different e%pectations, motives and ehaviour during a festival# IN the early years Murray .*+@,1 came up with two levels of needs that would motivate differently a person to participate in a festival# According to him every person have the same motives Dust that the levels are different therefore the different ehaviour and need needs# &A is a

stimulus" a force

pushing an individual in a certain direction or to ehave in a certain way( .Murray *+@, pp# */@1# The writer agrees with Murrays saying that needs are changea le# It leads to &cycle of needs( meaning that there is needs more dominate than others Dust until they are fulfilled# Murray also suggested that needs wor! with each other depending on the motivation of the person# The author compares Maslows Hierarchy of needs and Murrays theory and finds a lot of similarities, unfortunately the author cannot provide empirical prove to those theories# According to the writer these theories are no longer relevant to the tourism event first of all due to the long period of time that passed since the development of these theories and secondly ecause of the new way of loo!ing at festivals and events tourism# Depending on the type of tourism consumer5s e%pectations will vary# According to ?log .*+741 people can easily e divided into allocentrics and psychocentrics, in which allocentrics are people who are curious, ready to discover the world around them, and are adventurous# According to Iso"Ahola the main goal of a festival organizer is to maintain and enhance the needs of the visitors .*+,01# In order to understand etter how to satisfy a tourist one should ma!e the difference etween need want and desire# Tourist

motivation is an interesting topic for the researchers in the last couple of years, therefore a lot of ideas have een discussed and models were introduced during the time# 2lements that play an important role in tourist motivation and part of the decision" ma!ing process could e split into two i#e# &push( and &pull( factors .8rompton, *+7+F Dann, *+77F ?earce, *++@F ;ysal and Hagan, *++@F ;ysal and =urows!i, *++41#

An analysis on tourist motivation and activities is important for the event in order to understand what tourist5s are see!ing for in a festival, destination and event

.Moscardo, et al *++-1F gives a etter image of the event .'eerli and Martin, /004F Trauer and >yan, /00G1 and last ut not least helps to post evaluate the level of satisfaction of the participants in order to gain returning tourists .<oon and ;ysal, /00G1# In addition to this ?earce .*++@1 connects the cultural ac!ground and families traditions with the choice of even and whether or not to return# 'ell .*+,/1 and

Aoomes and Sugden .*+,/1 point out that emotions, mood, attitude, ethics and values will influence a level of satisfaction and therefore will design a disappointment or comfort from an event and this will affect further reaction as to return to the festival or not# The author finds this chapter very important, as it is directly connected with the second o Dective and will Dustify the settled aim#

Linking Expectation ith !eter"inants

In order to etter e%plore the effect of the motivators and determinants 6noth .*++71 o served the lin! etween e%pectations and determinants# Analysing the &push and pull( factors leads to etter understanding of what motivators and determinants are#

?ush factors are !nown as the one who refer to the asic needs of the consumer .'rownell /00+1, also seen y 6noth .*++71 as internal drivers# $hen an individual is aroused y the internal drivers he:she see!s for an o Dect to reduce the tension# In the end of this process a motive is developed# In his wor! 6noth .*++71 defines that emotional factors of decision"ma!ing wor! separately from the cognitivist approach, where motives are e%pressed and the consumer accounts previous !nowledge# However, ?earce and ?arinello criti9ued this in *++@, as according to the push and pull factors influence the consumer together at the same moment# 6noth .*++71 realised determinants are in their nature pull factors, such as services and even5s attri utes, which attract the participants# These attri utes will therefore form certain level of e%pectation from the tourist# The outcome of this process will e satisfaction or disappointment, depending on the level of needs and wants that have een fulfilled during the e%perience in attending the event#

#lassification of Events
<eoman et al ./0041 o served that festivals and events are industry that has een developing since *++0 and will change with time as well# This means that new types of events will appear therefore new segment will e fulfilled and as well consumers ehaviour will change# According to the author research on decision"ma!ing process connected to different events has een done, ut event li!e &The urning man( was missing in the literature# ?rayag 6#, Hosany S#, Nun!oo >#, Alders T# on /0*/ a out the Aondon Hlympic 6ames, did empirical studies on sport events# Another type of event that has een researched is 3I3A world cup# In /00@ Iim S# and Morrison A#

loo!ed at the image of South Iorea after the $orld 8up and how tourist5s perception and e%pectations reflected# According to Saleh and >yan# who loo!ed at the motivation of tourist to attend Dazz festivals, the same motives could e o served as for the participants of all !inds of cultural events# The same motives were e%pressed y people attending Movie 3estival in 'razil .Hyonggon I#, 'orges M# and 8hon =# /00G1# According to the author events can e divided into sport, cultural etc#, where their attendees will show similar motives and e%pectation# &The 'urning Man( is considered new type of event .Harvey /0*/1 where it is not Dust a place for interacting with people with similar ideas, views and understanding, ut also a place to e uni9ue, creative and shows your talents# This is a prove that &The 'urning Man5s( participants will show all !ind of motivation as the event offers uni9ue e%periences and opportunities#

Background: $The Burning Man%

The urning man first started in a small each in San 3rancisco on /*st of =une *+,. urningman#com1# The inventors of the event Aarry Harvey and =erry =ames were he one not only to invent this festival ut also for the fist time the term &radical self" e%pression( was introduced . urninman#com1# The inventors never as!ed permission or hire a company to uild the ,"ft tall figure of a man, constructed from wood# It is an event that started with the help of friends and people passing y the same night on the same each, sharing similar views and ideas, strangers who were ready to ecome part of the event that now is situated in the desert of Nevada, 'lac! >oc! 8ity, accommodating more than 4,,000 participants every year# 6athering & urners( together to e%press talents, listen to music, dance etc# in a city uild in the middle of

nowhere Dust for a wee! every year Dust

efore Aa our Day in America

.touristmontheedge#com1# 2very year &The 'urning Man( invests around G00#000J on art proDects# . urningman#com1# The tic!ets for the event vary from /*0"@-0J# .drdrestarted urningman#tum lr#com1# 'ull ./0*/1 descri es the event as place that you have to visit in order to understand# He suggests four reasons to return to the festival# The first one is &to amaze your eyes(# A participant will e amazed a out the outloo! of the & urners( and the art and the decoration of the desert for this one"wee!# Secondly &to e inspired# As it appears to e self"e%pression event, everyone gets the chance to show his:her talent with no Dudgements from the rest# And simultaneously with this party all night# $hat etter way to understand the & urners( then ecomes one of them) In his wor! 'ull ./0*/1 defined the ways that one could get involved in &The urning man(#

#onclusion
In the end of this research paper the author would li!e to conclude that consumer ehaviour is a very e%citing topic for researchers, therefore it has een in the lights for the last couple of years# Nevertheless, it is still a road issue that is applica le in a variety of fields and is changea le depending on the environment, the personality of the consumers and providers# A lot of models were introduced in order to get etter understanding of it and give the participants of a festival:event uni9ue e%perience and fulfil as much as possi le their need and meet their e%pectations# As the author showed a ove the decision"ma!ing process, consumer ehaviour and mar!eting are strongly dependa le and connected with each other# As it was descri ed in this research there are variety of events that would lead to changes in the ehaviour of the participants and therefore different factors will e in priority#

&eco""endations
The author would li!e to ta!e this opportunity to suggest further investigation and development of the topic, where paying more attention in the post"purchase stage of the decision"ma!ing process, where participants evaluate the level of satisfaction and criti9ue the 9uality of the service and e%perience received during the festival:event# This will give the population interested in the phenomena etter view of the motives and forces influencing the attendee to return and recommend the event#

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