The Show Must Go On: Young consumers’ virtual live music event experiences during COVID-19

Music enhances consumer wellbeing. Often used as entertainment and atmospherics in various servicescapes, in the advent of COVID-19, live music experiences as the world knew it changed for the foreseeable future. In this article, we investigate the way young consumers engage with virtual live music events (VLME) during COVID-19, by using logistic regression modeling. We present factors that determine the probability to attend a VLME during COVID-19, to attend a VLME post-COVID-19, and to have a willingness to pay (WTP) for a VLME. In the Internet age, VLME could represent a post-COVID opportunity for the cultural sector, if consumers consider it as a real option, and not only a second choice in a pandemic context