ANALYSIS Study reveals psychological effects of live events

02/03/2010 by Ian Whiteling, Joint Editor in Chief Print

FaceTime, the newly launched marketing body for the UK’s multi-billion pound live events industry, has recently announced the findings of the industry’s first-ever psychological study of the power of consumer and trade shows.

The organisation claims that the findings explain how live events work, and reveal the unique attributes of going face-to-face with customers as part of a sales and marketing strategy.

The study was undertaken by Cog Research across four major events – Masterchef Live, The Boat Show, World Travel Market and education technology show BETT – during the fourth quarter of 2009 and the first quarter of 2010. It involved key British and international brands, including Sainsbury’s, Henri Lloyd, Best Western Hotels and BLI Education, and comprised 1,160 pre and post interviews of people attending these events.

The study analysed the state of mind of visitors before and after a live event, and FaceTime says that the results reveal how attending has a positive uplift in people’s attitudes towards events, and brands exhibiting at events. Using an indirect research technique, the results also reveal how both the conscious mind (explicit) and sub-conscious mind (implicit) are positively affected by events.

FaceTime claims that the results are particularly interesting as they prove how the multi-sensory experience of an event achieves a very strong emotional engagement with visitors. For example, they reveal a large number of visitors thought that they already had positive attitudes to events and brands before the show, when in fact it was the feelings and memories of attending the show that made them sub-consciously think this. According to FaceTime, the results are “ultimately great news for businesses as the value of events can be planned into its sales and marketing activity”.

“This research authenticates what we have always known and believed to be the multi-faceted power of live events,” says FaceTime chief executive Austen Hawkins.

“In these digital times, our research reinforces the power and relevance of a business going face-to-face with its customers, in whatever sectors you may operate in. This research provides all businesses a robust framework of how they can use live to drive sales, engage with customers and build brand loyalty.”

FaceTime claims that the key findings prove that live events are:

The best form of marketing – Before a show, 32% of visitors viewed events as the “best marketing as you can interact and compare to others”, but this rose dramatically to 74% post-show, including an uplift in positive sub-conscious feelings for one in five people.

Fuel sales uplift – After experiencing a brand at a trade event, 28% more visitors indicated “I would like to buy” it, (16% implicitly), with 29% at a consumer event (19% implicitly).

Inform customers in detail about purchasing decisions – Before an event 36% of visitors say attendance “makes it easier to decide to buy”, but after an event this doubles to 76%, with one in five visitors showing an implicit/sub-conscious gain. Meanwhile, 50% of visitors expected the event to be the “best place to find out new things”, with this rising to 85% after an event.

Power brand engagement for consumers – After attending an event, almost three times as many people (74% compared to starting point of 27%) thought that events “let you be more open minded about what brands offer”. There was a strong implicit gain of 23% on this statement.

Interestingly, there was a one in five subconscious gain in people stating that brands at a show were “one I aspire to” after attending and a third of visitors went on to believe a brand is “the best-known brand in its field” after attending an event.

Build and strengthen relationship with corporate customer – An additional 37% of visitors to a trade event believed “experiencing a business first-hand makes it more memorable”, with one in five believing this implicitly post-event.

Breed knowledge, insight and contacts – 37% of visitors believed a trade event would be the “best way to meet new contacts”, rising to 71% post-event. Likewise, from an opening 38% of visitors believing they will “find out new things”, that number was more doubled to 80% post-event.

Compete well against TV – One in three people experience an uplift in positive attitudes after attending an event, versus only one in four people after watching a standard 30-second TV commercial.