TY - JOUR
T1 - A conjoint analysis of attributes influencing attendance of academic conferences
AU - Cavusoglu, Muhittin
AU - Dogan, Seden
AU - Kirant Yozcu, Ozen
AU - Hsu, Meng Jun
AU - Cobanoglu, Cihan
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the relative importance of various attributes (i.e. the total cost of attending, conference organizer, publishing opportunities for an academic career and personal development, reputation as measured by the number of conferences held, location and size) in terms of their ability to impact the decision of attendees in their selection of which academic conference to attend. Design/methodology/approach: Conjoint analysis was used to examine the relative importance of various attributes to impact an attendee’s decision to select an academic conference (i.e. the total cost of attending, conference organizer, publishing opportunities for an academic career and personal development, reputation as measured by the number of conferences held, location and size). Findings: The choice-based conjoint analysis revealed that the most crucial attributes for attending an academic conference were the total cost of attending the conference (28% of relative importance) and the conference organizer (28%). Practical implications: Since the total cost of attending a conference is one of the top two attributes, conference organizers should reduce the costs as much as possible. Recommendations include choosing a university venue instead of a hotel or conference center and offering multiple options for registration passes (i.e. one-day pass). However, organizers should be careful about meals provided during the conference program, as meals have a positive effect on attendees’ decisions. Originality/value: This study introduces to the literature a new indicator for selecting an academic conference – the reputation of the conference as measured by the number of times it had been held. In previous studies, this variable was not considered in the context of selecting an academic conference.
AB - Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the relative importance of various attributes (i.e. the total cost of attending, conference organizer, publishing opportunities for an academic career and personal development, reputation as measured by the number of conferences held, location and size) in terms of their ability to impact the decision of attendees in their selection of which academic conference to attend. Design/methodology/approach: Conjoint analysis was used to examine the relative importance of various attributes to impact an attendee’s decision to select an academic conference (i.e. the total cost of attending, conference organizer, publishing opportunities for an academic career and personal development, reputation as measured by the number of conferences held, location and size). Findings: The choice-based conjoint analysis revealed that the most crucial attributes for attending an academic conference were the total cost of attending the conference (28% of relative importance) and the conference organizer (28%). Practical implications: Since the total cost of attending a conference is one of the top two attributes, conference organizers should reduce the costs as much as possible. Recommendations include choosing a university venue instead of a hotel or conference center and offering multiple options for registration passes (i.e. one-day pass). However, organizers should be careful about meals provided during the conference program, as meals have a positive effect on attendees’ decisions. Originality/value: This study introduces to the literature a new indicator for selecting an academic conference – the reputation of the conference as measured by the number of times it had been held. In previous studies, this variable was not considered in the context of selecting an academic conference.
KW - Conference location
KW - Number of times the conference was held
KW - Organizer
KW - Publication opportunity
KW - Size of the conference
KW - Total cost of conference
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U2 - 10.1108/IJCHM-10-2020-1184
DO - 10.1108/IJCHM-10-2020-1184
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85147200455
SN - 0959-6119
JO - International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management
JF - International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management
ER -