The Festival in My Hometown: The Relationships Among Performance Quality, Satisfaction, and Behavioral Intentions

Despite the high volume of research on festivals in Western cultures and the incredible growth of festivals over recent decades, little empirical research has been conducted on festivals in Thailand, many of which have existed more than 100 years. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the motivations that drive people to attend the Tenth Month Merit-Making Festival (TMMF) in Nakhon Si Thammarat, a province in southern Thailand, what they thought of products and services provided at the festival, what their level of satisfaction was, and whether or not they would recommend the festival to others or attend it again in the future. There were 324 respondents participating in the study. Friend-family togetherness, festival novelty, excitement, and escape were the leading motivations for attending the festival. Respondents were most satisfied with arts and crafts, entertainment, ticket price, displays and exhibitions, and the festival\u27s duration. The activity-culture factor was the best performer. Those who were satisfied with the festival would encourage others to attend the festival, but they might not attend again in the future themselves. © 2011 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC