Segmentation of the Special Events̕ Market Based on Visitors̕ Motivations

The event industry, including festivals, conferences, exhibitions and meetings is developing rapidly and has an important role in developing tourism related activities. The development of special events would be important from different aspects such as improving the residents’ quality of life and influencing sustainable development of region. Therefore, according to the importance of market segmentation as an essential tool for identifying and understanding the features of each segment based on their motivation, the main goal of this research is to segment the market of one of the cultural events in Iran. The sample size has been equal to 287 and the factor analysis of motivational dimensions delineated six main factors. Then, cluster analysis was conducted through the two methods of hierarchical clustering and K-means which illustrates three clusters including “supporters of community, culture and family”, “enthusiasts of Golghaltan and fans of cultural heritage”, and “seekers of novelty and culture for interaction" as the main segments of Golghaltan festival. The clusters have a similar pattern in terms of geographic variable (place of residence). On the contrary, they have significant differences in terms of socio-demographic (gender, age, education, and marital status), psychological (satisfaction), and behavioral variables. These differences demonstrate the necessity of selecting diverse and appropriate marketing strategies for each segment.