The Effect of Performance Quality and Customer Education on Attitudinal Loyalty: A Cross-Country Study of Opera Festival Attendees

Abstract

Nonprofit arts organizations attracting an international audience should strive to understand how perceptions and intentional behaviors might differ between attendees from different countries. This study investigates the effects of performance quality and customer education (i.e., number of performances attended and self-perceived expertise) on attitudinal loyalty to an opera festival from a cross-country perspective. In addition, it explores the moderating effect of self-perceived expertise on the relationship between performance quality and attitudinal loyalty. Based on a survey of Italian, German, and British attendees ( N = 7,252), the findings reveal that performance quality predicts attitudinal loyalty for all subsamples. The number of performances attended has a significant, but negative, effect on attitudinal loyalty for Italian respondents, while self-perceived expertise has a significant positive effect on attitudinal loyalty for Italian and British respondents, as well as a significant moderating effect for all subsamples. Implications for nonprofit arts managers are discussed.