The impact of national culture on a music festival

The Impact of National Culture on a

Student: Francisco Pereira Martins Gonçalves Student Number: 11186534

Date: 16th January 2017

MSc. in Business Administration Faculty: Amsterdam Business

First Supervisor: Erik Dirksen Second Supervisor: Dr. Ilir Haxhi

The Impact of National Culture on a

Music Festival

Pereira Martins Gonçalves Antunes Student Number: 11186534

c. in Business Administration - International Management Track msterdam Business School

Erik Dirksen MSc. Second Supervisor: Dr. Ilir Haxhi

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Statement of Originality

This document is written by Student Francisco Antunes who declares to take full responsibility for the contents of this document.

I declare that the text and the work presented in this document is original and that no sources other than those mentioned in the text and its references have been used in creating it.

The Faculty of Economics and Business is responsible solely for the supervision of completion of the work, not for the contents.

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Acknowledgements

I would sincerely like to thank my supervisor Erik Dirksen MSc. for all of his guidance, patience, and availability during this research, which I never could finish without him. I would like to thank my family, especially my parents, who supported me in everything to pursue this Master at the University of Amsterdam, and my girlfriend who besides all the support had to continuously hear all of my worries and complaints about this project. Finally, I would also like to thank all the respondents who participated in this study. Their contributions were fundamental for the conclusion of this research.

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Table of Contents

3.1. Uncertainty Avoidance (UA) ... 17

3.2. Individualism vs Collectivism (IDV) ... 18

3.3. Cultural Identity ... 20

3.4. Location Choice - CAGE Model ... 22

4. Research Design ... 24 5. Results ... 27 5.1. Germany ... 27 5.2. India ... 29 5.3. Italy ... 31 5.4. Netherlands ... 32 5.5. Portugal ... 34 5.6. United Kingdom ... 37 5.7. United States ... 39 6. Discussion ... 41 6.1. Germany ... 41 6.2. India ... 44 6.3. Italy ... 47 6.4. Netherlands ... 51 6.5. Portugal ... 54 6.6. United Kingdom ... 57 6.7. United States ... 60 6.8. Cross-case analysis ... 63 6.9. Limitations ... 64 6.10. Future Research ... 65 7. Conclusion ... 67 8. References ... 70 8.1. Literature ... 70 8.2. Websites ... 73 Appendices ... 77

5 Appendix 1. Questionnaire ... 77 Appendix 2. Interviews ... 79 Appendix 2.1. Interview 1 ... 79 Appendix 2.2. Interview 2 ... 81 Appendix 2.3. Interview 3 ... 82 Appendix 2.4. Interview 4 ... 84 Appendix 2.5. Interview 5 ... 85 Appendix 2.6. Interview 6 ... 87 Appendix 2.7. Interview 7 ... 88 Appendix 2.8. Interview 8 ... 90 Appendix 2.9. Interview 9 ... 91 Appendix 2.10. Interview 10 ... 93 Appendix 2.11. Interview 11 ... 94 Appendix 2.12. Interview 12 ... 96 Appendix 2.13. Interview 13 ... 97 Appendix 2.14. Interview 14 ... 98 Appendix 2.15. Interview 15 ... 100 Appendix 2.16. Interview 16 ... 101 Appendix 2.17. Interview 17 ... 103 Appendix 2.18. Interview 18 ... 104 Appendix 2.19. Interview 19 ... 105 Appendix 2.20. Interview 20 ... 107 Appendix 2.21. Interview 21 ... 108

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Abstract

This research investigates the impact of national culture on a music festival. The goal is to provide music festivals' organizers awareness for the importance of national culture within a music festival context. The national culture of seven countries is assessed through Hofstede's Uncertainty Avoidance (UA) and Individualism vs Collectivism (IDV) cultural dimensions, Cultural Identity, and Location Choice (assessed through Ghemawat's Geographic and Economic Distance) importance.

This study incorporates a multiple-case study, being each one of the cases represented by a country, in which qualitative data is collected through structured interviews and questionnaires to music festivals' attendees from each of the nationalities.

The data analysis led to a mixed support of the working propositions and to the development of a set of theories that may be useful for festivals' organizers on the understanding of different national cultures and on the building of music festivals in the respective countries. It was found that national culture is unique, and that it provides a broad knowledge about the music festivals' attendance in each country.

Keywords: national culture, music festivals, Uncertainty Avoidance, Individualism vs Collectivism, Cultural Identity, Geographic Distance, Economic Distance

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1. Introduction

"Festivals are emerging worldwide and are seen to have significant economic, socio-cultural, and political impacts on the destination area and host groups" (Arcodia & Whitford, 2006, p.1). Despite being interesting and important to evaluate the economic and political perspectives, various literature already covered these subjects previously. Therefore, this paper focuses on the cultural aspects within a music festival, more specifically on the national culture of festivals' attendees. Among all the aspects surrounding an event of this type, it was decided to focus on national culture since it is one of those, until now, that was not deeply analyzed within this context. The importance of this topic relies on the fact that national culture can reflect significant differentiation between different countries and explain some of the aspects of success and/or failure of a music festival. Additionally, it is one of the factors that can provide clear explanations about festival attendees' behaviors before, during, and after an event. The gap aimed to address in this thesis is about the relationship between the value that people attribute to a festival and their national culture. Moreover, a music festival's success is highly dependent on its attendance. Therefore, it is interesting to study the relationship between the attendees' national culture and the attractiveness of a festival. It was already noticed in several occasions that such events have different impacts on people. As stated above, there are various factors that contribute to this outcome but culture is one that can be discussed in different aspects and perspectives, which leads to the understanding of the big impact it has on such an unusual topic as music festivals. This research aims to enhance the importance of national culture within a music festival context and compare it among different countries. Certainly, different cultures (re)act differently upon an event like this. Different ethnicities, religions, customs, perspectives of the society, etc. will result in distinct behaviors. These will allow characterizing

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different cultures and associating them with its countries. In addition, it will be possible to determine which cultures value more music festivals and why. Hence, certain failures may be prevented when planning these events and a higher awareness will be provided to the organizers.

Potentially in the end of this research, it will be clear for music festivals' organizers which major aspects related to culture they would have to consider during the planning, and comprehend different outcomes they may get upon executing their events in some countries. Furthermore, it will be provided in this study the characteristics of some countries and the cultural aspects of visitors in music festivals. This will lead to a better understanding about the feasibility and probability of success of a music festival in each country. Accordingly to Hofstede (1984), management skills are culturally specific and can differ amidst countries. This study will minimize these differences by adapting the planning to the host country set and not the opposite.

This thesis begins with a literature review covering the most important articles related to this subject, giving priority to the most recent ones that more accurately provide a current set of today's world. Afterwards, the theoretical framework will identify the theories/aspects used for this research and explain them thoroughly. Based on a qualitative approach through questionnaires and interviews, it is pretended to assess the level of importance national culture has in the context of a music festival by collecting data from festivals' attendees from different countries. Upon the collection of sufficient respondents, the data will be analyzed in order to understand their propensity to attend a music festival, which emotions are achieved by the occasion, which types of music festivals are preferred and why, and conclude if national culture is truthfully impactful in these events.

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2. Literature Review

These days music festivals are spread around the world and are becoming even more attended as time passes. Being an ongoing growing industry, this literature review starts through the analysis of recent articles which provide more accurate insights about the actual set of music festivals.

A base foundation of this research is the definition of a festival which does not have a widely accepted definition among literature. Falassi (1987, p.2) defines it as "a sacred or profane time of celebration, marked by special observances", while in a more modern approach, Getz (2005, p.21) defines it as "themed, public celebrations". Since music festivals are the focus and different cultural impacts the aim of this research, the latter definition was chosen to pursue this quest. Nowadays, there are more music festivals than back in the 1980s, thus an event of this kind it is not considered a special event, it is simply one more. Hence it is more appropriate for this study, to define a festival as a public celebration rather than a special event of celebration.

"Festivals are universal, present a unique experience for the society and its culture, and their management presents a number of unique challenges" (Getz et al., 2010, p. 30). Getz' (2010) article presents several possibilities of research within festival studies and identifies some important gaps to be addressed in the future. As a broad area, festival studies, may be depicted in different frameworks which lead to some difficulties in deepening the topic to a specific gap.

An important subject to focus is the organizers' motivations to host a music festival. Their engagement is dependent on the value of the festival for the attendance. Accordingly to Gursoy et al. (2004), festivals create trust and cohesiveness among community members and organizers believe that festivals create more social benefits than social costs. This argument is related to Reed (2010) where it refers to Chicagoland

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Music Festival (African American festival held in Chicago). This event brought together different races in an era (early 20th century) when racism and differentiation among cultures were in a high level. At that time contact between white and black community was abnormal, and this festival succeeded in being able to join both communities.

On the other hand, also attendees' motivations are important to refer. Abreu-Novais & Arcodia (2013) identifies some dimensions which explain the attendees' drives to participate in special events, more specifically music events, such as: entertainment, socialisation, novelty, etc. It concludes that there are similarities across cultures and generalisability in respect to event motivations. In the end, it addresses major importance for future research to focus on specific motivations to attend music festivals. Furthermore, when building up a festival it is important to consider its location, being some dependent on it in order to attract visitors (Leenders et al., 2015), and forced to move site when the demand is not sufficient. Accordingly to Leenders (2005, pp.154-155), "city locations are better than rural locations, but given that city locations are scarce and in high demand, this focus may lead to higher costs". On the other hand, taking as an example the Belgian festival Tomorrowland (held at Boom — a small city in Belgium), it can be assumed that much of its popularity and success arises from the location itself where people find themselves away from the city in a natural environment. Thus, the location decision between city and rural environments it is not clear yet.

Festivals may start locally but in order to expand their brand, they have to go abroad. Internationalization theory "explains the existence and functioning of the multinational enterprise (Rugman, 1981), contributes to understanding its boundaries, its interface with the external environment, and its internal organizational design" (Rugman &

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Verbeke, 2007, p. 156). Thus, going abroad creates a new perspective where two (at least) countries have to be taken into account. The differences among these are called distance (Hutzschenreuter et al., 2015), which "introduces friction (Shenkar et al., 2008) and complexity (Vermeulen & Barkema, 2002) to cross-border activities, increasing the challenges of achieving and sustaining successful cross-border activities" (Hutzschenreuter et al., 2015, p. 1).Therefore, the distance between home and host countries may be impactful on a festival brand when this expands internationally. Again, the importance of location decision of a festival is enhanced.

Moreover, when going abroad, firms have to consider liability of foreignness and the costs of doing business abroad. The former concerns the "costs of doing business abroad that result in a competitive disadvantage for a multinational enterprise’s subunit" (Zaheer, 1995, p. 342), while the latter refers to the disadvantages suffered by a subsidiary in the host country, relatively to the rival firms operating there (Hymer, 1960). Sethi & Judge (2009) elaborates a study about these notions in which are drawn "conceptual arguments that have implications at the firm level for selecting MNE strategies, market-entry modes, FDI decisions, and mechanisms for operating international cooperative alliances" (Sethi & Judge, 2009, p. 415). It also develops a framework that "analyzes the costs and benefits of a foreign subsidiary’s cross-border operations" (Sethi & Judge, 2009, p. 415). This framework allows MNE managers to more accurately choose a location to go abroad, predict, and prevent some of the costs/benefits they may face in each location.

Regarding the impact music festivals have on people, variations among different cultural factors are evident. Age, ethnicity, gender are just a few that have significance in this case. Packer & Ballantyne (2011) studies this impact on young people's psychological and social well-being. Among the findings, it enhances that "music

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experience facilitates connections between attendees (the social experience), and states that music provides the time and space where young people can experience personal growth and self-discovery by disconnecting from their everyday lives, and thus become open to exploring new relationships, new ways of understanding themselves, and new ways of perceiving the world (separation experience)" (Packer & Ballantyne, 2011, pp. 178-179). Furthermore, "music can be lively and spirited, beautiful, serene, sad, joyful, and so on" (Packalén, 2008, p. 41). Not only a hearing experience, but also a way to express emotions. Accordingly to Packalén (2008), which presents and discusses three theories of expression in music, it concludes that "the basis of expressivity is in the objectively perceivable structural properties of music, but the background and the personal features of the listener, the conditions of listening, conventional matters about expression, and even cultural habits concerning outward manifestations of emotions may affect the way the properties of music are heard" (Packalén, 2008, pp. 54-55). From this perspective it is concluded that a music festival is not just a celebration but beyond that, it is a place where people relax and enjoy new emotions and improve their social side. By all means this experience varies accordingly to different factors, as stated above; therefore an analysis of this set would be interesting to understand truthfully the different outcomes it has on people.

Referring to musical identity, differences among cultures and origins may reflect on it, "demanding from each musician a special basis for decision making for each performance and each individual musical piece" (Baumann, 2001, p. 26). Despite festivals being already globalized these days, reinforcing the coexistence and mutual respect among different mental constructs (Baumann, 2001), some countries may be or not more receptive to some music genres. Therefore, the location decision by festivals' organizers should be deeply thought within the projection of an event. Certainly some

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festivals already overcame these issues, bringing together all kinds of people, but it remains to be a point of interest when assessing the feasibility of a festival.

Referring to Cavalcanti (2001), the Ox Dance Festival staged in Northern Brazil started as a community festivity but with the advancement of the ages passed to welcome folk fans from all over the country. Despite the festival popularity, there are also some problems and contradictions regarding its growth. Its evolution "brought new dramatic elements to the ox-play and transformed its artistic components" (Cavalcanti 2001, p.80). Sometimes the altering of cultural roots may lead to some controversy of locals and distortion of the initial significance.

When listening to unknown music, not only it is acquainted the music itself but also the cultural context from where it comes from (Deschênes, 1998). In this paper, Deschênes elaborates an anthropological study about the full meaning of music, in the contexts where it is created, performed, and experienced. His aim is "to identify and present what would involve a study of music listening from an anthropological perspective, putting all possible types of music" (Deschênes, 1998, p.149). From this research it is possible to conclude that cultural models are embedded on music experience and shape how this one is valued, performed, and felt (Deschênes, 1998). Certainly, when in a context of music (i.e. music festival) not everyone is dancing the same way and not even artists play similarly. Thereafter, the cultural roots from where human psychology arises have to be considered, in order to understand the differences among individuals' music experiences (Deschênes, 1998).

Giving the findings above, it is clear that culture is a very important aspect in the area of music festivals. Thus it turns to be a useful matter to deepen the understanding of people valorisation of festivals and how volatile this can be among different cultures.

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The value people give to a music festival is related with various factors being one, the frequency that a country hosts these events. Someone that has the opportunity to attend several festivals perhaps does not attribute great value to them while another which rarely have the opportunity to attend, may value it a lot. Nevertheless, the degree of value which people attribute to a festival can also be related to the location of the same. As assumed above, part of the success of Tomorrowland is due to its location and certainly it contributes to the value of the festival itself. Also, Ultra Music Festival is famous for being held in downtown Miami, USA providing visitors a unique atmosphere. But, how can two distinct festivals have such success in two completely different locations? Perhaps the European public demands different features, comparing to the American public. Could this be a matter of cultural identity?

Cultural identity is inherited through generations after generations and reflects on the customs, traditions, beliefs, and the world's perception of each individual (Stankova & Vassenska, 2015). Hence, each region of the world presents differences in these aspects and provides interesting findings about it. But when people travel, cultural identities mix and social turmoil occur. Relatively to music festivals, these have to be thought differently when they are aimed to locals or to both locals and international attendees, mainly because of the different cultural identities in the world. Despite cultural identity being related to ethnicity, religion, generation, etc., it is also related to nationality; therefore another important topic to focus is national culture.

Hofstede (1994) defines five dimensions of National Culture differences such as: Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, Individualism vs Collectivism, Masculinity vs Femininity, and Long-term vs Short-term Orientation. Regarding Power Distance, the decisions during the planning of a festival may be taken in a democratic manner in some

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cultures while in others the boards of the organizations may set a hierarchical framework where a few individuals have all the power of decision.

Concerning Uncertainty Avoidance, it is interesting to compare it with the propensity that people have to attend a festival. Certainly this will to attend, is not the same in every culture being some more concerned about novel, unknown, and surprising occasions when others present a lower level in this subject. For example, in The Netherlands where music festivals are usual, uncertainty in attending these may not be in a high level among Dutch people while in India, where festivals are not so common, people may present a higher level of uncertainty to attend such event they have not seen before. Furthermore, it is also possible to relate Individualism and Collectivism with the attendance of a music festival. The countries which host more music festivals have embedded in their culture a varied attendance in these events, being normal to see all kinds of ages in the attendance (individualistic cultures), for example. In other countries, such variety is not so usual, being even sometimes strange to see an adult in the attendance (collectivistic cultures). For Masculinity vs Femininity the values associated to each type of these cultures differ, being Masculinity related with assertiveness and achievement, while, Femininity is associated with caring and preference for relationships (Hofstede, 1984). This dimension addresses the social allocation of an individual, in a society, with basis on its gender (Hofstede, 1984). Thus festivals might be seen differently in Masculine and Feminine cultures. Last but not least, the Long-term vs Short-term orientation relates to the location of a festival. Some countries are more suitable to host a new festival generating profit instantly (short-term) while other may not adapt fast enough to a new festival leading to a continuous planning by the organizations (long-term). Furthermore, this dimension differs upon some other characteristics. The Long-term orientation involves persistence, status-based

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relationships, and values personal adaptability. On the other hand, the Short-term orientation is related to leisure time, fast results, and spending (Hofstede, 2001). Therefore the location of a festival is associated with Long-term vs Short-term cultural dimension.

Accordingly to Getz et al. (2010, p.55), "a country comparison enables to find similarities and differences among countries, which show that festivals are shaped by their type of ownership and environment". Therefore the presence of a cultural component in festivals is clear, but the degree of its embeddedness in this area is still not so obvious.

Hence, in what way should music festival's organizers take account of the national preferences of festival attendees when planning their events? This is the research question for this study which is going to be answered in the end of it.

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3. Theoretical Framework

Within national culture several factors of analysis may be assessed but in order to accomplish this study, only four will be used. The choice is based upon the suitability of each one with the research question and will be presented as follows:

3.1. Uncertainty Avoidance (UA)

One of Hofstede's cultural dimensions "it's the degree to which the members of a society feel uncomfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity" (Hofstede, 1984, pp. 83-84). Societies with a strong level of uncertainty avoidance are strict and behave through rigid codes of belief. Are unwilling to change and dislike novelty (Hofstede, 1984). Examples of countries with this level of uncertainty avoidance are: Greece, Portugal, Belgium, Japan, Argentina, France, Spain, etc. (Exhibit 1).

On the other hand, a low level of uncertainty avoidance is characterized by more relaxed societies where the unknown is not frightening and the surprising is welcome. Examples of countries with this level of uncertainty avoidance are: United States, India, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Sweden, Denmark, Singapore, etc. (Exhibit 1).

Accordingly to Hofstede (1984, p. 84) "the fundamental issue addressed by this dimension is how a society reacts on the fact that time only runs one way and that the future is unknown: whether it tries to control the future or to let it happen." This is the main reason which turns this dimension interesting to include in this research. The willingness to go to a music festival by individuals is certainly different among countries. Therefore it can be related to the level of uncertainty avoidance of each one, drawing on conclusions about the influence of this dimension on the valorisation of music festivals by the attendees. This results in the following propositions:

P1a When a country presents a high score for attended by its citizens is small

P1b When a country presents a low score for first edition of a music festival.

P1c When a country presents a high score for festivals where they already went.

Exhibit 1: Un

3.2. Individualism vs Collectivism

Another cultural dimension presented by Hofstede individuals are integrated into

a person should be treated

cultures are: United States, Australia, United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Italy, etc (Exhibit 2). 0 20 40 60 80 100 120

Uncertainty Avoidance Index

Source: Hofst

P1a When a country presents a high score for UA, the number of music festivals is small.

1b When a country presents a low score for UA, its citizens are willing to attend the first edition of a music festival.

P1c When a country presents a high score for UA, its citizens prefer attend festivals where they already went.

Exhibit 1: Uncertainty Avoidance Index by country

Individualism vs Collectivism (IDV)

Another cultural dimension presented by Hofstede, which relates to the degree

into groups. Individualism refers to the standards for the way a person should be treated is the same for everybody. Examples of individualistic cultures are: United States, Australia, United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Italy, etc

Uncertainty Avoidance Index

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Source: Hofstede, G. (1984, p. 85)

, the number of music festivals

willing to attend the

, its citizens prefer attending music

which relates to the degree to which the standards for the way . Examples of individualistic cultures are: United States, Australia, United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Italy, etc.

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In contrast to this, Collectivism concerns the standards for the way a person should be treated depends on the group/category to which this person belongs. Examples of collectivistic cultures are: Brazil, Greece, Hong Kong, Colombia, Portugal, etc. (Exhibit 2).

"The fundamental issue addressed by this dimension is the degree of interdependence a society maintains among individuals" (Hofstede, 1984, p. 83). This dimension is related to music festivals in such way that in different countries the treatment and awareness of each one is not linear. For some, the presence of unlikely attendees may cause some surprise and daze while other do not care about this issue and "accept" everyone, no matter the difference (gender, age, ethnicity, etc.) between them. This results in the following propositions:

P2a When the level of Individualism in a country is high, its citizens do not go to a music festival just for socialization.

P2b When the level of IDV in a country is low, its citizens feel uncomfortable in a music festival where the attendance's age group it is different from theirs.

P2c When the level of IDV in a country is low, its citizens do not go to a music festival alone.

Exhibit 2: Individualism Index by country

Regarding the other Hofstede's cultural dimensions Femininity, and Long-term vs Short

since their importance to the Firstly, Power Distance does attendees' national preferences

only provide a music festival's scope based o some ethical issues. Finally,

the location choice, which is used in this study, could or duplicate the results) taken out of that variable.

the five dimensions are significant for the study of any national culture.

3.3. Cultural Identity

Cultural identity can be defined as " sustaining connections between

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Source: Hofstede, G. (1984, p. 85)

Exhibit 2: Individualism Index by country

Regarding the other Hofstede's cultural dimensions, (Power Distance, Masculinity vs term vs Short-term orientation) they are not going to be used

to the research question in study is not sufficiently relevant. es not show a relevant relation with the music festivals national preferences. On the other hand, Masculinity vs Femininity

music festival's scope based on the attendee's gender, which

ethical issues. Finally, Long-term vs Short-term orientation by being related with the location choice, which is used in this study, could influence the results

taken out of that variable. Nonetheless, it is noteworthy that all the five dimensions are significant for the study of any national culture.

Cultural identity can be defined as "local, autonomous, distinct and well

sustaining connections between the geographical place and the cultural experience

Individualism Index

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Source: Hofstede, G. (1984, p. 85)

istance, Masculinity vs they are not going to be used

ly relevant. the music festivals inity vs Femininity would n the attendee's gender, which could raise

being related with the results (i.e.: distort

it is noteworthy that all

nct and well-defined cultural experience"

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(Tomlinson, 2003, p. 269). In addition, it reflects on customs, traditions, beliefs, and the world's perception of each individual (Stankova & Vassenska, 2015). Lastly, despite being passed from one generation to the following through inheritance or long dwelling, it requires protection and preservation.

To define one’s identity it is necessary to find the elements that make people different from each other; in other words, the elements that make each person unique (Gil, 2009). In addition, this concept is "multidimensional in many ways. On the one side, in order to define someone’s identity it is necessary to consider a whole diversity of factors (for example, name, age, place of birth, mother language, occupation, etc.); on the other side, this concept comprehends a variety of typologies that goes from the individual, to the regional and the national" (Gil, 2009, p. 121).

Accordingly to Williams, R. (1989), “culture is ordinary, in every society and in every mind” (Eley, G., 1995, p. 19). Furthermore, it is unique in each individual and, “used in two senses, to mean a whole way of life and/or to mean processes of discovery and creative effort” (Eley, G., 1995, p. 19).

Regarding to music festivals, cultural identities lead to a sense of place, represent an important vehicle to share interests, aspirations and provide a distinctive identifier of the environment and the attendees (Derrett, R., 2003). Moreover, “the actual place and space used by each of the festivals in each destination plays an influential role in program choices, reflects the heritage of settlement, and provides boundaries between residential areas, commercial outlets, and public space” (Derrett, R., 2003, p.56). Therefore, it is perceivable that cultural identity is related to several aspects and controls many variables within a music festival. It is crucial for the organizers to be aware of it, in order to prevent social conflicts and harm to the host community. This results in the following proposition:

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P3 When Cultural Identity is truly important for a country, its citizens prefer to attend music festivals where the attendance shares a similar background with them.

3.4. Location Choice - CAGE Model

Pankaj Ghemawat developed a framework to help managers identify and assess the impact of distance in various industries. The distance dimensions are divided in Cultural, Administrative, Geographic, and Economic (Ghemawat, 2001). Through this model, it is possible to assess several factors of a specific location and thereby be useful in this study about national culture. Despite the framework being composed by four different types of distance, for the location choice of a music festival, neither Cultural distance nor Administrative distances are going to be used. The former because it is created by different cultural identities that are part of the analysis of the previous factor, and the latter because it was not seen as a relevant distance for this specific research. Although the location is chosen with basis to the higher chances to obtain higher returns (Agarwal & Ramaswami, 1992), it is also important to consider Geographic distance. “The farther from a country the harder it is to conduct a business in that country” (Ghemawat, 2001, p. 144). Geographic distance is not just physical distance but also includes the size of a country, the distance to the borders, the access to borders, communications infrastructures, transportation within the country, and topography. Furthermore, it has a dampening effect on investment and trade flows. Therefore, it is important to consider both (information networks and transportation infrastructures) when assessing the geographic component for cross-border activities (Ghemawat, 2001). When choosing the location to build a festival, it is important to guarantee the feasibility and suitability of it, thereafter it is important to consider not only the aspects from the Geographic dimension but also, the Economic distance which is created by the

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different levels of income and wealth of consumers (Ghemawat, 2001). Thus is crucial to have some knowledge about the host country's economy upon the location choice of a music festival. Furthermore, the quality and costs of the host country's resources have to be considered, in order to be sure that it presents the necessary conditions for the event. In the end, it is possible to assume that the location choice is a highly important variable to analyze when preparing an event of this type and one of the most important in building the festival’s success and reputation. This results in the following propositions:

P4a When there is a big Geographic distance to other countries, the location choice of a music festival is an important factor to consider.

P4b When there is a big Economic distance to other countries, the location choice of a music festival is an important factor to consider.

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4. Research Design

This research focuses on a specific topic that was chosen by its interest and lack of analysis within the music festivals' context. The relationship between the value that people attribute to a music festival and their national culture is what is pretended to be determined in this study. Furthermore, being a relationship with little-known phenomena the outcome may bring some surprise and a variation of the common-sense assumptions (Tracy, 2010).

In what way should music festival's organizers take account of the national preferences of festival attendees when planning their events? This research question was built either on the gap presented above and on the contribution that this research may have in the future for some people in the music festivals' industry. Accordingly to Gephart (2004, pp. 455), "qualitative research addresses questions about how social experience is created and given meaning and produces representations of the world that make the world visible" therefore this study is defined as a qualitative research aimed to give meaning and representation to the national culture of seven countries within the music festivals' context. In addition, the approach taken to answer this question is an inductive one since the main goal is the development of theories based on the data collected, from different respondents.

This research follows a multiple case study, each one represented by a country. This way it is possible to assess each one through their characteristics and perform a cross-cultural analysis of them. An exploratory research is the most suited type of research for this problem, since it will allow being concise on the value that each country gives to a music festival, and in the end clarify the awareness that a music festival organizer should have, relatively to the music festival's host country culture.

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Concerning the respondents, they are selected through their nationality being seven different nationalities covered (American, British, Dutch, Indian, Italian, German, and Portuguese). The choice of the countries will provide a rich cross-cultural analysis since each culture presents various different characteristics. Thus, the festivals' organizers will dispose of a varied assessment of cultures, which will accurately define the main concerns they would have when building a music festival in those countries. Regarding the sampling, the respondents are selected in two different ways. At an early stage, a purposive sampling is used based on the nationality of the respondent. If it matches to one of the countries studied, that respondent is selected and in a second stage, a snowball sampling is used to get more respondents of that nationality. Furthermore, the only requirements of the respondents are their nationality matching to one of the case studies and their age being above 18 years old, which is the age limit for most of music festivals. Thereby respondents have a broader view/experience of music festivals. Dwyer et al. (2000) develop a framework for different impacts on events and conventions where they also foster the development of questionnaires, which yield the type of information necessary for credible impact assessment of different events, in different locations and held at different times. Thus, this research is going to be conducted through the elaboration of questionnaires. Additionally, structured interviews are going to be performed since the one-on-one experience might bring extra data to this study. For the questionnaires, the data collection will be through an online link where each respondent can access and answer it. These are mostly multiple-choice questions in order to be simple and less time consuming for the respondent. Regarding the interviews, the same set of questions is going to be made but the answers are open. The number of respondents for each type of data collection procedure is not certain, being this based on the availability and location of the respondent. However, it is aimed to get

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at least 15 respondents for each case study. Furthermore, the topics of the questions are based on four factors of analysis within national culture, namely, Uncertainty Avoidance (UA), Individualism vs Collectivism (IDV), Location Choice, and Cultural Identity, which were chosen with basis on the suitability of each one with the research question. Both the questionnaires and interviews are composed by the same 12 questions being the latter recorded and transcribed to the Appendices section afterwards. It was chosen to build a short set of questions in order to keep it simple, direct, and not exhaustive for the respondents.

Concerning the validity and reliability of the study, the snowball sampling reduces the bias within the respondents; the transcription of the interviews ensures the answers of each respondent; and the same set of questions is asked for each case study, which ensures the coherence of the study. Furthermore, a multiple case study with different countries will allow an interesting cross-cultural analysis however, a superior number of countries' analysis and respondents, would provide a more accurate conclusion about the different cultures in the world. Nevertheless, the countries chosen will provide a broad cultural perspective and minimize the bias.

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5. Results

In this section, the data findings will be presented for each case study. Each one of them will be deeply analyzed within the four cultural factors presented before.

The data collection gathered 114 respondents whereas 93 answered a questionnaire, and the other 21 respondents were interviewed. Nonetheless, both methods followed the same set of questions.

5.1. Germany

In this case, data was obtained from 16 respondents, which four were interviewed. The majority of German respondents attend a short number of festivals per year (between 0 and 3) which may tell that they present a high level of UA regarding music festivals. On the other hand, 13 respondents stated that they would attend the first edition of a music festival thu, they are not actually concerned about the surprise, unknown and novel. Furthermore, they are somewhat divided about whether they prefer attending music festivals where they already went or music festivals where they have never been. Nevertheless, 50% of the respondents say they do not have any preference, and just like to attend both types.

Although they do not restrain the desire for new environments, the short number of music festivals attended per year might be interpreted in a way that they are not certain if it is worth going to more festivals.

"(...) it's a kind of a secret where the parties are and those things... I find it very attractive." (Interview 6, October 13, 2016)

In addition, the majority do not have any preference regarding the types of music festivals to attend, whether those already known or those where they have never been. Thus, it can be concluded that German respondents have an intermediate level of UA.

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It was obtained a high response rate for people that would attend a music festival only for socialisation. This suggests a low level of IDV since people seem to be totally willing to attend a music festival just to be with their friends and/or family. Moreover, German respondents also state that they either feel quite uncomfortable in an environment where the age group it is not the same as theirs, or that they do not care about the other people's age group, which suggest to an intermediate level of IDV. "Hum... I don't like much when they are much younger than me or much less so I don't feel comfortable." (Interview 3, October 13, 2016)

"I mean, I would be more comfortable with my age group but, I would not mind if younger people were there, or older. (...) I don't really care." (Interview 5, October 18, 2016)

Last but not least, 75% of the respondents would not go to a music festival alone. Hence, it is concluded that German respondents present a low score on IDV dimension. Concerning the exact location of a music festival, 69% of the respondents would not mind to attend these events without knowing the venue where it was going to be held. Therefore, they do not find the location choice of a music festival important, and they feel a small Geographic distance to other countries. Nonetheless, this answer is a bit contradictory to the level of UA found for this country, since going to a music festival without knowing its exact location it is going to the unknown. But, since they show desire for the unknown at the same time that they do not attend many music festivals per year, it is wiser to conclude that German respondents have an intermediate level of UA.

Regarding Economic distance, the majority of the respondents are willing to pay between 50€ and 80€ for a one-day ticket at a music festival, which is already a

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considerable amount in this industry. Hence, it can be said that German respondents do not concern much about the ticket price practiced in music festivals.

Furthermore, most of the respondents do not show many concern about other attendees' background (nationality, ethnicity, customs, etc.) within a music festival. Nevertheless, a considerable number of respondents prefer to be surrounded by different backgrounds within a music festival. This shows some disregard for the other's cultural identity, but also a preference for diversity instead of similarity. Last but not least, what they most value in a music festival is the line-up (artists/programme), followed by the environment, being with friends, the location of the festival, and last the attendance. This builds up German respondents' cultural identity regarding music festivals whereas the most important is the festival itself, the artists, the decoration, the size of the stage, etc. On the other side, the surroundings such as the attendance and the location are not that important. Therefore, German respondents within the music festival context show an identity rather focused on the show itself than on the secondary components of it, which represents a deeper connection with the festival experience.

5.2. India

For India, data was obtained from 11 respondents through questionnaires.

All of the respondents attend between 0 and 3 music festivals per year which suggests a high level of UA in this country. In contrast, the majority, about 73% of the respondents, are willing to attend the first edition of a music festival, which means that they have a desire for novel and surprise. Additionally, the majority of the respondents prefer either to attend music festivals where they have never been or both (music festivals where they have never been and music where they already went). This also relates to the desire for novel, surprise, and unknown environments. Despite the short

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number of festivals attended per year, which also can be due to several other reasons, it can be concluded that Indian respondents present a low level of UA.

Moreover, about 64% of Indian respondents would not go to a music festival only to socialise. Additionally, most of them do not care about the other attendees' age, suggesting praise for the standard that a person should be treated as everyone (Hofstede, 1984). On the other hand, they are equally split on whether they would attend or not a festival alone. Thus, it is plausible to say that this subgroup represents an individualistic culture which does not treat people accordingly to the group that each one belongs (Hofstede, 1984).

Furthermore, the majority of people would not be willing to attend a music festival without knowing the venue where it was going to be held; therefore Indian respondents are very concerned about the location choice of these events and present a big Geographic distance to other countries.

Concerning Economic distance, even though being three respondents willing to pay 100€ or more for a one-day ticket of music festivals, the rest of them would not be willing to pay more than 50€. Therefore, it can be concluded that Indian respondents are concerned about the ticket's price of music festivals, and that there is a considerable Economic distance from India to some countries.

Relatively to the attendance background in a music festival, the responses were divided. Six of the respondents simply do not care about the attendance background while five of them prefer to be in a music festival where the other attendees have different backgrounds. This result means that the other's identity, within a music festival context, is not important for this Indian subgroup.

The respondents stated that what they value most in music festivals is the line-up, in second both being with friends and the environment, thirdly the attendance, and lastly

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the location. This ranking translates into the appreciation of the festival experience, however it goes against the IDV level found and the location importance stated above. Nevertheless, it is once again clear that Indian respondents are totally fine to be surrounded by other nationalities and ethnicities.

5.3. Italy

In this case, data was obtained from 16 respondents, which two were interviewed. Italian respondents attend a considerable number of music festivals per year, but still, the majority just goes to 0-3 music festivals per year. This can be explained by an intermediate level of UA. On the other hand, most of the respondents are willing to attend the first edition of a music festival, which suggests a low level of UA. In addition, a considerable number of respondents prefer attending music festivals where they have never been comparing to those where they have already been, while the majority does not have any preference between the two.

"Both, but more those festivals that I have never been to, yes" (Interview 2, October 13, 2016)

Then, it may be concluded that Italian respondents present a low level of UA.

Concerning Individualism vs Collectivism, there were obtained two different results. Firstly, a high level of IDV is suggested by the not willingness to attend a music festival just for socialisation, and by the careless feeling about the other attendees' age group. "No, it doesn't matter to me, no (referring to other attendees' age)." (Interview 2, October 13, 2016)

On the other hand, a low level of IDV can be the cause for not attending a music festival alone since just 25% of the respondents were willing to do it. In sum, there are two results proving a high level of IDV while there is only one that suggests a low level of

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this dimension. Therefore, it is concluded that this sample suggests that Italy is an individualist country.

Furthermore, the majority of the respondents are willing to attend a music festival without knowing the venue where it would be held. Then, the location choice of a music festival is not important for them, and they feel a small Geographic distance toward other countries. Additionally, this result is in conformity with the level of UA stated above, since not knowing where is the event suggests a desire for novelty.

Considering the price for a one-day ticket at a music festival, just 25% of the

respondents are willing to spend more than 60€, which is not a very high amount for the European music festivals. This leads to the conclusion that Italian respondents feel a considerable Economic distance to other countries.

Despite this fact, they prefer to be in music festivals where the attendance has different backgrounds from theirs, leading to the preference for different cultural identities within a music festival. Finally, what Italian respondents value most in a music festival is to be with friends and the location of the event, followed by the line-up, the attendance, and in the end, the environment. This provides a broader perspective about the Italian identity within the music festival's context, where the festival experience is underrated and secondary elements, such as, being with friends are overrated.

5.4. Netherlands

In this case, data was obtained from 15 respondents, which three were interviewed. Dutch respondents attend a medium number of music festivals per year, since there are 53% that attend between 0 and 3 festivals and 47% that attend four or more festivals. Thus, this result suggests an intermediate level of UA. In addition, when asked if they would attend the first edition of a music festival, the majority said they would, but still

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seven of the respondents said either they would not or they were not sure about it. Once again, this infers an intermediate level of UA. Relatively to either which festivals they would prefer to attend, those where they have never been or those where they already went, the answers were varied. The majority says both, while just one respondent prefers music festivals where he has already been, and the rest prefer those where they have never been. In sum, it is concluded that Dutch respondents present an intermediate level of UA.

On the Individualism vs Collectivism side, Dutch respondents represent a collectivistic culture, presenting a low level of IDV. This is explained by the willingness to attend music festivals only for socialisation, and by the not willingness to attend a music festival alone. On the other hand, they are divided between the feelings about the other attendees' age within a music festival.

"I would only be all right if the other attendees were older, I would feel uncomfortable if the other attendees were younger." (Interview 18, October 13, 2016)

"I would feel comfortable, it would be funny though, but I would feel comfortable. It would be funny (with the other attendees' age)." (Interview 19, October 13, 2016)

Notwithstanding, it is possible to conclude that they represent a collectivist culture. This translates into a standard that a person should be treated accordingly to the group/category to which this person belongs (Hofstede, 1984).

Regarding the location choice for a music festival, the respondents showed they care about it, which also demonstrates a significant Geographic distance to other countries. "I want to know where I am going before." (Interview 18, October 13, 2016)

Since the answers were divided, (47% would go to a music festival without knowing where the exact venue was, and 53% would not go) it is also possible to conclude that the Dutch respondents present an intermediate level of UA.

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Furthermore, the music festival's tickets price revealed to be an important factor for the respondents, since the majority would not be willing to pay more than 50€ for a one-day ticket. Comparing with the prices practiced in Europe, this suggests a high Economic distance from the Netherlands to some other countries.

When confronted with the question about the attendance background, most of them stated either that they do not care about it or that they prefer attendees with different backgrounds from theirs.

"Yes, different for sure (referring to the other attendees' background)." (Interview 20, October 13, 2016)

This shows that Dutch respondents are not concerned about the other's cultural identity and that they even prefer to be surrounded by different identities than by similar ones. Finally yet importantly, they value most in a music festival the fact to be able to be with friends, secondly the line-up, followed by the environment, the location, and the attendance. This shows a considerable concern about the festival experience but still, what they value most is to be with friends, which is in harmony with the conclusion that Dutch respondents represent a collectivistic culture.

5.5. Portugal

In this case, data was obtained from 16 respondents, which 11 were interviewed. Portuguese respondents attend a short number of music festivals per year, which suggests a high level of UA. On the other hand, most of them would attend the first edition of a music festival, being a few just willing to do it if they would like the line-up.

"If I would like the line-up, yes" (Interview 7, October 14, 2016) "Of course, if the line-up was good!" (Interview 11, October 12, 2016)

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"Yes, if would like the line-up yes." (Interview 13, October 12, 2016)

This infers a low level of UA (they present a desire for surprise and novelty). When asked if they would prefer to attend music festivals where they had already been or music festivals where they had never been before, the majority showed they do not have any preference.

"Good question! I go more for the line-up so, I would say both (when asked about their preference regarding music festivals already attended or music festivals where they had never been before)." (Interview 13, October 12, 2016)

"Both, depending on the line-up (when asked about their preference regarding music festivals already attended or music festivals where they had never been before)." (Interview 14, October 14, 2016)

"(...) both, yes. Honestly I don't have any preference (when asked about their preference regarding music festivals already attended or music festivals where they had never been before)." (Interview 16, October 14, 2016)

By these distinct results, it can be concluded that Portuguese respondents present an intermediate level of UA.

Concerning IDV, they were divided whether they would go to a music festival just for socialisation. In addition, some state conditions in which they would do it:

"It would depend on the tickets' price" (Interview 7, October 14, 2016) "Depends on the price." (Interview 12, October 14, 2016)

Moreover, a slight majority showed they would be uncomfortable within a music festival where the other attendees' age was different from theirs, even some specifying that they are mostly uncomfortable if the other attendees are younger than they are. I think if it was older people would be fine but for younger people it would be weird." (Interview 11, October 12, 2016)

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"For younger people it would be terrible as I already experienced it and I hated it. On the other hand, in the case of older people I would be fine." (Interview 16, October 14, 2016)

On the other hand, almost all of the respondents assert they would not go to a music festival alone.

"Alone, no." (Interview 14, October 14, 2016)

"Hardly, I don't think so." (Interview 16, October 14, 2016)

Therefore, it is possible to conclude that Portuguese respondents represent a slightly more collectivist culture than an individualist one.

Relatively to the location choice, when confronted with the question about whether they would go to a music festival without knowing the exact venue where it was going to be held, the majority replied they would. This leads to the conclusion that location choice is not important, and that they feel a small Geographic distance toward other countries. In addition, this is an indicator of a low level of UA, which contradicts the previous conclusion about this dimension.

On the economic side, the answers were diverse with one respondent even willing to pay 150€ for one-day ticket at a music festival. Nonetheless, there is a considerable number of respondents that are willing to pay between 50€ and 100€ for one-day ticket which leads to conclude that Portuguese respondents are not that concerned about the ticket's price, and consequently that there is not a big Economic distance between Portugal and other countries.

"Depends a lot on the festival, but the maximum would be 80€ (relatively to the ticket's price at a music festival)." (Interview 16, October 14, 2016)

Concerning the background of other attendees, Portuguese respondents either do not care about it or prefer different backgrounds within a music festival.

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"I don't have any preference, it is the same for me (regarding the other attendees' background)." (Interview 7, October 14, 2016)

"I don't know. I think I have never been in any festival where I could notice many different ethnicities so, I'm not sure that I can tell its difference. But from the experience that I have, I guess I prefer festivals with people from different backgrounds."

(Interview 11, October 12, 2016)

"Different, to have a lot of different cultures together (regarding the other attendees' background)." (Interview 15, October 15, 2016)

"The attendees' background does not matter to me." (Interview 17, October 7, 2016) This demonstrates a desire for a mix of identities within the music festival context. "Mixed, so people with the same nationality as me and also people from different backgrounds." (Interview 13, October 12, 2016)

Furthermore, Portuguese respondents value most in a music festival the possibility to be with friends and the location of the event, followed by the line-up, the attendance, and lastly the environment. This supports the conclusion that this subgroup represents a collectivistic culture, but contradicts the importance of the location choice for a music festival. Nevertheless, they considerably value the identity of the attendance as well as, somehow, the festival experience.

5.6. United Kingdom

In this case, data was obtained from 25 respondents in which one was interviewed. British respondents attend a small number of music festivals per year, which suggests a high level of UA. On the other hand, they show a desire for novel, unknown, and surprise by the willingness to attend the first edition of any music festival. Last but not least, they do not express any preference between music festivals where they already

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have been and music festivals where they have never been. Thus, through the different results obtained, it is possible to conclude that British respondents show an intermediate level of UA.

When confronted with the question about whether the respondents would attend any music festival just for socialisation, most of them tell they would. This answer infers a predominant collectivistic culture. In turn, the majority of the respondents do not care about the other attendees' age within a music festival. Furthermore, most of them would not attend a festival alone. Summing up, British respondents represent a collectivist culture.

Concerning the location choice of a music festival, British respondents are not too concerned about it, by most of them being willing to attend a music festival without knowing the venue where it was going to be held. Therefore, the Geographic distance felt toward other countries is small.

On the economic side, a considerable amount of respondents state that they would pay between 60€ and 100€ for a one-day ticket at a music festival, which shows a small Economic distance to other countries.

"A maximum of 100€ (relatively to the ticket's price at a music festival)." (Interview 21, October 16, 2016)

Furthermore, the majority of the respondents do not care about the type of attendees' backgrounds in a music festival while the rest prefer music festivals where the

attendance has different backgrounds. This translates into a small desire for diversity, and at the same time, that cultural identity is underrated. Nonetheless, what they value most is being in a music festival with friends, followed by the line-up, the environment, the location, and the attendance in last. This ranking shows the importance of the festival experience for the British respondents, and that location is not very important

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for them, as found before. Last but not least, the fact that what they value most is to be with friends supports the finding that this British subgroup represent a collectivist culture.

5.7. United States

In this case, data was obtained from 15 respondents through questionnaires.

American respondents attend a short number of music festivals per year, which suggests a high level of UA, in this matter. On the other hand, most of the respondents would attend the first edition of a music festival, and do not have any preference between music festivals where they already have been and music festivals where they have never been. These results, lead to the conclusion that this American subgroup has a low level of UA.

Furthermore, the respondents demonstrate a high collectivism level by the willingness to attend a music festival just for socialisation and by the not willingness to attend one of these events alone. On the other hand, they show an intermediate collectivism by the split answers about how they would feel in a music festival where the age difference was in a high level. Nevertheless, it is possible to conclude that this American sample represents a collectivistic culture.

Regarding the location choice, the respondents were also divided whether they would go to any music festival without knowing where this was going to be held. In the end, they find the location somewhat important and they feel a considerable Geographic distance to other countries.

On the other hand there is a small Economic distance to other countries, since most of the American respondents stated they are willing to pay between 70€ and 150€ for a one-day ticket at a music festival.

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Moreover, they either do not care about the type of attendees' backgrounds in a music festival or prefer music festivals where the attendance has different backgrounds, which shows a disregard for the other identities, and also that they enjoy to be in a music festival where there is a diversity of cultures. Finally, they value most in a music festival its location, secondly being with friends, thirdly the environment, fourthly the line-up, and lastly the attendance. This leads to the conclusion that the American

respondents are not very much interested in the festival experience. In contrast, they are rather more concerned about secondary aspects, such as, the location and being with friends. This also supports the findings about the location choice, as well as, this American subgroup representing a collectivist culture.

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6. Discussion

In the first part of this section the literature found on each country (case study) will be described and compared against the results found through the data collection. Afterwards, the propositions are going to be discussed on its validity, and in the end, a cross-case analysis will be performed. The summarized results of the propositions' validation are presented in the Conclusion section.

In the second part, the limitations of this research are going to be discussed. In the third part, suggestions for future research will be presented.

6.1. Germany

The first case that will be explored is Germany. Accordingly to Hofstede (1984), Germany presents the level of 65 on the Uncertainty Avoidance Index (note that UA and IDV index range is between 1 and 120 points, being 1 representative of the lowest and 120 representative of the highest). This means that Germany's score is on the high end, showing a slight preference for Uncertainty Avoidance. Furthermore, Germany relies strongly on details to create certainty, usually taking deductive approaches based on expertise. In addition, this type of culture is difficult to read emotionally, is highly stressed, anxious, has an urge to be busy, and requires clarity and structure (Hofstede, 2001).

Concerning the data findings about German respondents' UA, it was found that they present an intermediate level on this dimension. This can be explained by the music festival context in which German respondents are not that concerned about the surprise within it. Furthermore, some actually show a desire for this feature.

Hence, the findings of this research partially support the proposition that when UA of a country is high, the number of music festivals attended by its citizens is small. On the