Researching potential visitors

Research needs to be conducted to understand what event benefits will attract visitors. Research can also help answer questions about an event’s acceptable price, preferred venue, and promotional message. Research is a process that starts with a question and results in recommendations. If the correct research question is not asked, the results will be of little use. Descriptive quantitative research answers questions of what, when, and who. Exploratory qualitative research answers the more important question of why visitors attend events. Sampling is used because not everyone can be asked to participate in research. While there are online tools for writing descriptive surveys, time must still be spent writing the questions and answers so that the right information is obtained. Links to surveys can now be attached to social media postings. Exploratory research is used to understand visitor motivation. Focus groups, where potential visitors are asked open-ended questions, allow them to answer in their own words. While interviews take time, they can result in a deeper understanding of motivation or problems.