write an Critically Appraised Topics

The Impact of Experiential Design Elements on the Attendee Experience

A. Introduction As an aspiring event professional, it is important to stay up- to- date with the latest event industry trends. As I approach graduation and begin the process of searching for full-time positions in the events industry, employers are more likely to seek out candidates that have at least some familiarity or experience with the latest industry trends. Recently, there is a growing trend for the incorporation of ‘design thinking’ or experiential design elements into event production, particularly amongst in trade shows. Incorporation of experiential design elements is important to both internal and external event stakeholders. For organizations and event planners, there is a consideration of whether incorporating experiential design elements is necessary for event success. While for event attendees, experiential design elements have the potential to enhance an event experience and create an overall more memorable event experience. But what is known in the scientific literature about the impact of experiential design elements on attendees’ event experience.

 Research Question: Does incorporation of experiential design elements have a positive impact on the attendee experience?

 Sub-Question: What are considered experiential design elements?

B. Search Description

PICOC Population Event attendees Intervention Incorporation of experiential design elements Comparison Lack of experiential design elements Outcome Improved attendee experience Contex t Trade shows, special events, sports events

Inclusion Criteria ◊ Date: Published between 1980-2016

Commented [LDJP1]: Two things here Lindsay: It would have been good to have an explanation or short description of what experiential design elements would entail according to you before you conduct the CAT! Second, you need a claim about the relationship between experiential design and event experience to test before you create your question. This is missing here

◊ Language: English ◊ Type: Empirical, mixed method approach, literature reviews, and

theoretical frameworks ◊ Measure: Studies where the effect of experiential design elements

was measured against reports on the attendee experience ◊ Outcome: Feedback on the attendee experience as a result of usage

of experiential design elements ◊ Context: Trade shows, special events, sports events, other

miscellaneous events Ex clusion Criteria

◊ Impacts of experiential design elements that do not relate to the attendee experience

◊ Discussion or evaluation of experiential design or design thinking approaches throughout an organization generally

Search Strategy The following databases were used to identify relevant studies: ABI/INFORM, Business Source Complete, Leisure Tourism (CABI), and the Journal of Convention & Event Tourism. When conducting my search for relevant studies, the following filters were applied:

 Published: Between January 1, 1980-December 31, 2016  Language: English  Source: Scholarly, peer-reviewed articles

In conducting my search, I used a combination of search terms including: “experiential design*”, “design think*”, “design* and element*”, attendee* or visitor* or guest* or tourist* or consumer* or customer*, impact* or metric* or measure* or assess*, and experienc*. When looking for relevant studies within the Journal of Convention & Event Tourism, I only used the search term “impact of design on attendee experience” because the journal would not allow entry of multiple search terms at once. Search Details

Search Terms ABI INFORM

Business Source Complete (EBSCO)

Leisure Tourism (CABI)

J ournal of Convention & Event Tourism

S1 Noft(“ ex periential design*” )

38 7 4 -

S2 Noft(“ ex periential design*” ) AND noft (attendee* or visitor* or guest* or tourist* or consumer* or customer*)

7 4 3 -

S3 Noft(“ design think*” ) AND noft(attendee* or visitor* or guest* or tourist* or consumer* or customer*)

72 34 1 -

S4 Noft(“ design think*” ) AND (attendee* or visitor* or guest* or tourist* or consumer* or customer*) AND noft(ex perienc*)

27 15 1 -

S5 Noft(“ design think*” ) AND noft (impact* or metric* or measure* or assess*) AND noft(ex perienc*)

38 8 0 -

S6 Ti(design* and element*) AND noft(attendee* or visitor* or guest* or tourist* or consumer* or customer*) AND noft (impact* or metric* or measur* or assess*)

20 7 0 -

S7 “ impact of design on attendee ex perience”

- - - 383

Study Selection The selection of relevant studies took place over two phases. First, I filtered through the titles and abstracts of all articles that populated in all seven searches. In case of doubt, the study was included, and duplicate publications were removed. The first screening resulted in the identification of seven studies that were relevant to experiential design elements or the concept of design thinking. Secondly, I read through all seven studies to determine which provided explicit information concerning the effects of experiential design elements on the attendee experience, as it relates to some type of event. This resulted in only two studies: 1 literature review and 1 case study. Data Ex traction Author & Year

Sector/Population Design & Sample Size

Main Findings Effect Size

Limitations Level

Kathleen Beard Nelson (2009)

Review of three theoretical frameworks

Literature review of three theoretical frameworks on the

Three theories are proposed that discuss the many different

N/a Theoretical perspective with no empirical evidence

E

Commented [LDJP2]: Well explained!

Formatted Table

relationship of experiential design elements and event experience

elements of experiential design. These elements can be physical, visual, auditory, and ambient and if implemented can help to overcome a consumer’s innate bias and can provide organizations a competitive advantage.

Heekyung Sung & Woojin Lee (2015)

Attendees at the International City/County Management Association Convention at the Phoenix Convention Center in October 2012

Quantitative experiment. Case study that issued a self- administered questionnaire to 400 attendees that generated 217 useable

Basic and excitement services were both show to positively influence the attendee’s individual experiential value while performance services were shown to

Small Only a single sample of attendees’ perspective on individual consumption value and satisfaction was measured; service elements of the

B Commented [LDJP3]: no Commented [LDJP4R3]: t sure why the table appeared like this…In any cases, good information in it.

survey responses.

have no significant impact. Individual consumption value had an impact on raising an attendee’s overall satisfaction.

convention center were used to evaluate individual’s satisfaction with the event

C. Critical Appraisal After a critical appraisal of the seven studies deemed relevant, only two were included. This is because most of the studies found did not directly discuss the effects of experiential design elements on the attendee’s experience and rather focused on general implications and effects of implementation of design thinking proponents throughout an organization or on the implementation of design thinking proponents as it relates to the service experience, an environment where the consumer interacts with an organization’s personnel and product for purchase. The overall quality of the studies included were low. Of the two studies deemed relevant, one study only surveyed a single sample, and the other study consisted of mere theories on what experiential design elements are considered and listed potential implications of these elements, with no empirical evidence to support these claims. Because these studies survey such limited sample populations, the results have very little validity or reliability and therefore are not very trustworthy. Additionally, neither of the two studies included the most preferred methodological approaches for cause and effect research questions. However, the studies did provide good insight as to what are experiential design elements.

Commented [LDJP5]: Indeed!

D. Results Definitions In looking to define experiential design elements, there were three theories that were referenced, which were Goffman’s dramaturgy theory (1959), Kotler’s atmospheric theory (1973), and Bitner’s servicescape theory (1992). Dramaturgy is centered around all things theatrical and themed and include elements related to the event setting or environment (Nelson, 2009). Atmospherics are defined as “elements of the service environment that influence affective reaction to place” that includes visual, aural, olfactory, and tactile elements. (Nelson, 2009). Lastly, servicescapes focus on the “relationship of physical complexity to action performance” that includes ambient conditions, elements of spacial functionality, and visual signs, symbols, and artifacts (Nelson, 2009). Convention services are defined as services provided by the convention facility including both tangible and intangible services that research has shown can impact an attendee’s experiential consumer value and overall event satisfaction (Sung, Lee, 2015). For the purpose of this study, convention services were divided into three types: basic services, performance services, and excitement services. Basic services are an attendee’s minimum requirements from a facility that cause dissatisfaction if not fulfilled including maintenance of facilities and comfort of seating in meeting rooms (Sung, Lee, 2015). Performance services are directly linked to an attendee’s need and desires including convenience of parking and local food & beverage facilities (Sung, Lee, 2015). Lastly, excitement services are services that increase attendee satisfaction if provided but do not negatively impact attendee satisfaction if not provided such as unique architecture design of the facility or organic food availability (Sung, Lee, 2015). Main Findings The presence of basic and excitement services were shown to positively impact an attendee’s experiential consumption value, but performance

Commented [LDJP6]: Music to my ears! See where theories are great explanatory tools??? 

services are shown to have no effect on experiential consumption value. (Level B) This study revealed there is a direct relationship between the presence of basic and excitement services and an attendee’s experiential consumption value (Sung, Lee, 2015). Essentially, high service quality has a positive impact on experiential value (Sung, Lee, 2015). As it relates to the specific research question posed in this paper, excitement factors could be considered a form of experiential design elements, as excitement factors are not considered critical to an event’s function, but rather add components to simply enhance an attendee’s experience. Therefore, from this finding, one could proclaim advance that in this study experiential design elements were shown to positively add to an attendee’s experiential consumption. However, this finding may be very limited in its reliability as this finding was determined from the analysis of a single case study. An attendee’s perception of service quality is shown to directly impact overall attendee satisfaction. (Level B) This study also revealed that a relationship between an attendee’s evaluation of quality of services provided and the attendee’s overall satisfaction with the event and the convention center. As it relates to the specific research question posed in this paper, one could proclaim that an increase in the attendee’s perception of services, which includes the aforementioned experiential design elements, positively impact the attendee’s experience. However, this finding may be very limited in its reliability as this finding was determined from the analysis of a single case study. E. Conclusion Scientific literature does not support the claim that experiential design elements positively impact an attendee’s experience. This is primarily because there is such littleso few research that was found that specifically illustrates the relationship of experiential design elements on

Commented [LDJP7]: Incredible!

Commented [LDJP8]: Or you could say: may need further confirmation with new studies that would consider….

Commented [LDJP9]: Here is my claim!!!!

the attendee event experience to be able to draw a trustworthy conclusion. F. Limitations As this was intended to be a mini-CAT assignment, concessions were made in both the breadth and depth of the search process. Database searches were aimed to be inclusive yet limited in scope. This conclusion was also reached from the analysis of only two relevant studies, which definitely effected the results. Additionally, of the two relevant studies, neither had the preferred methodological approach and only included the analysis of theories and a single case study. Lack of analysis of studies with more preferred methodological approaches could have also contributed to other relevant findings being missed. Lastly, the main findings are based on such a small sample size that the findings cannot be considered truly trustworthy or generalizable. G. Recommendations & Implications This CAT concludes there is no positive impact on the attendee experience from the incorporation of experiential design elements. This suggests that the growing trend of the incorporation of design thinking is currently perceived as an additional benefit to event attendees but is not yet considered integral for an event’s success. Therefore, the ability to incorporate experiential design elements into the planning and execution phase of an event may still be seen as a bonus feature throughout the industry and not yet a necessary skillset to receive employment. As this trend continues to grow throughout the industry, I believe there will be more research conducted on the relationship between experiential design elements and the attendee experience. Furthermore, I believe there will come a point where event success will be based on the successful incorporation of experiential design elements.

Commented [LDJP10]: Well said1

H. References Calgren, L., Elmquist, M., & Rauth, I. (2016). The Challenges of Using Design Thinking in Industry- Experiences from Five Large Firms. Creativity and Innovation Management. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/caim.12176 [1st phase] Chen, R. (2016). Fuzzy dual experience-based design evaluation model for integrating engineering design into customer responses.10:439. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12008-016-0310-y [1st phase]

Commented [LDJP11]: This section needs a better presentation: it is cluttered!

Cole-Colander, C. (2003). Designing the Customer Experience. Building Research & Information, 31(5),357. https://doi.org/10.1080/0961321032000088025 [1st phase] Lin, C. J., & Cheng, L.-Y. (2015). An integrated model of service experience design improvement. Service Industries Journal, 35(1–2), 62–80. https://doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2014.979407 [1st phase] Nelson, K. (2009). Enhancing the Attendee's Experience through Creative Design of the Event Environment: Applying Goffman's Dramaturgical Perspective. Journal of Convention & Event Tourism. 10:2, 120 -133, DOI: 10.1080/15470140902922023 [2nd phase] Sung, H. & Lee, W.(2015) The Effect of Basic, Performance and Excitement Service Factors of a Convention Center on Attendees' Experiential Value and Satisfaction: A Case Study of the Phoenix Convention Center. Journal of Convention & Event Tourism. 16:3, 175- 199, DOI: 10.1080/15470148.2015.1034908 [2nd phase] Wattanasupachoke, T. (2012). Design thinking, innovativeness and performance: An empirical examination. International Journal of Management and Innovation, 4(1), 1-14. Retrieved from http://proxygw.wrlc.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/10 19286671?accountid=11243 [1st phase]