Mobile application as contribution to attendees’ experience of trade events - case: DesignCon 2015

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Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
School of Business | Master's thesis
Date
2017
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
corporate communication
Language
en
Pages
71
Series
Abstract
The objective of the study is to identify the extent to which a trade event’s mobile application play a role in attendees’ experience of the event. The case of the study is DesignCon 2015, a trade fair of the high-speed communications and semiconductor industry, which takes place annually in Silicon Valley. The study employs theories of corporate communications and marketing to answer the main research question: “Did the DesignCon app have impacts on attendees’ experience of the event? If yes, to what extent?” The data of this qualitative single case study comes from three sources: a survey of 92 attendees at the event, observation at the event, and content analysis of the app structure and what is posted on the app before, during, and after the event. The theoretical framework is a two-layer model, the event experience is broken down into pre-, during, and post-event, each has their own criteria. On the other hand, a personal event experience is constructed by a value exchanging process between one and the organiser, as well as interaction between one and the other attendees. Attendees at DesignCon 2015 is a mix of exhibitors and visitors, with slightly different objectives and expectations, but when it comes to app awareness, a majority of attendees surveyed have knowledge about the app, and the adoption rate is about 50%. Most people who use the app do agree that it plays a role in their experience at the event. Before the event, the app has the ability to fulfill all the needs of attendees regarding pre-event activities, which are imagining, searching, planning and budgeting. During the event, it also plays a role in every aspect of the experience, including sensory, emotional, functional, social, information and novelty. However, it did not take much of a role in post-event experience.
Description
Thesis advisor
Louhiala-Salminen, Leena
Keywords
stakeholder communication, experience marketing, experiential consumption, trade fair, digital communication
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