Virtual vs. Live Conferences: Measuring the Participants Memorable Conference Experience

Dora Rašan – University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Primorska 42, Opatija, Croatia

Marina Laškarin Ažić – University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Primorska 42, Opatija, Croatia

Abstract: Due to Croatian government measures to prevent the spread of COVID – 19, Croatian citizens have been in several lockdowns, which caus­ally affected the normal function of society as a whole. One of the most common consequences of such restrictions was the reduction in social con­tacts and reliance on virtual contacts in the online environment. The scien­tific community and any other sphere of business had to change its process­es, particularly in organizing conferences. Virtual conferences from “rescue solution” became “pleasant with the useful solution” for organizing commit­tees but also for participants. The purpose of this study is to detect the dif­ferences in the memorable experiences of participants concerning different quality elements in virtual and online environments. Furthermore, the aim is to detect predictors of behavioural intentions for both virtual and live con­ferences. For the purpose of this research, the authors have created a ques­tionnaire, which was distributed online and onsite. The T-test and regression analysis were conducted on a sample of 256 respondents. Results confirmed significant differences between virtual and live conferences in ten variables. Furthermore, regression results revealed that only “Memorable experience” is the common predictor for both virtual and live conferences.

8th International Scientific ERAZ Conference – ERAZ 2022 – Selected Papers: KNOWLEDGE BASED SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, Online-Virtual (Prague, Czech Republic), May 26, 2022

ERAZ Selected Papers published by: Association of Economists and Managers of the Balkans – Belgrade, Serbia

ERAZ conference partners: Faculty of Economics and Business, Mediterranean University, Montenegro; University of National and World Economy – Sofia, Bulgaria; Faculty of Commercial and Business Studies – Celje, Slovenia; AMBIS University, Prague – Czech Republic; Faculty of Applied Management, Economics and Finance – Belgrade, Serbia

ERAZ Conference 2022 Selected Papers: ISBN 978-86-80194-61-5, ISSN 2683-5568, DOI: https://doi.org/10.31410/ERAZ.S.P.2022

Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission. 

Sugested citation

Rašan, D., & Laškarin Ažić, M. (2022). Virtual vs. Live Conferences: Measuring the Participants Memorable Conference Experience. In V. Bevanda (Ed.), ERAZ Conference – Knowlegde Based Sustainable Development: Vol 8. Selected Papers (pp. 97-106). Association of Economists and Managers of the Balkans. https://doi.org/10.31410/ERAZ.S.P.2022.97

References

Anić, Š., Klaić, N., & Domović, Ž. (2002). Rječnik stranih riječi-Tuđice, posuđenice, izrazi, kratice i fraze. Zagreb: Sani-plus.

Baggio, R., & Klobas, J. (2011). Quantitative methods in tourism: A handbook. Bristol: Chan­nel View Publications.

Cambridge Dictionary (nd.) Conference. In Cambridge Dictionary (online). Available at https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/conference [02 November 2021].

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience-steps toward en­hancing the quality of life. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics.

Chatzigeorgiou, C., Christou, E., & Simeli, I. (2017). Delegate satisfaction from conference service quality and its impact on future behavioural intentions. In C. Sarmaniotis, G. Wright (Ed.), Proceedings of ICCMI 2017. Presented at 5th ICCMI 2017, Thessaloniki, Greece, 21-23 June 2017 (pp. 532-544). Thessaloniki: Alexander Technological Institute of Thessaloniki.

Coudounaris, D., & Sthapit, E. (2017). Antecedents of memorable tourism experience related to behavioral intentions. Psychology of Marketing, 34, 1084-1093.

Gunawardena, C. N., & Zittle, F. J. (1997). Social presence as a predictor of satisfaction with­in a computer‐mediated conferencing environment. American journal of distance educa­tion, 11(3), 8-26.

Gračan, D., & Rudančić Lugarić, A. (2011). Business tourism–Modern form for improvement of the competitiveness of Croatian tourism. Ekonomska misao i praksa, 5(2), 579-590.

Halim, A. H. A., & Mokhtar, A. R. M. (2016). Creating memorable visitor experiences by as­sessing the satisfaction level and behavioural consequences of attendees. Procedia Eco­nomics and Finance, 37(1), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2212-5671(16)30084-3

Larsen, S. (2007). Aspects of a psychology of the tourist experience. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, 7(1), 7-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/15022250701226014

Lian Chan, J. K., Baum, T. (2007). Ecotourists’ Perception of Ecotourism Experience in Low­er Kinabatangan, Sabah, Malaysia. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 15(5), 574–590. doi:10.2167/jost679.0

Marušić, Z., Čorak, S., Ivandić, N., Beroš, I., & Ambrušec, I. (2019). Stavovi i potrošnja turista u Hrvatskoj -TOMAS istraživanje. Zagreb: Institut za turizam.

Oh, H., Fiore, A. M., & Jeoung, M. (2007). Measuring experience economy con­cepts: Tourism applications. Journal of travel research, 46(2), 119-132. https://doi. org/10.1177/0047287507304039

Opić, S. (2011). Testiranje normalnosti distribucije u istraživanjima odgoja i obrazovanja. Školski vjesnik, 60, 181-197.

Oppermann, M., & Chon, K. S. (1997). Convention participation decision-making process. An­nals of tourism Research, 24(1), 178-191. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0160-7383(96)00049-7

Pacchioni, G. (2020). Virtual conferences get real. Nature Reviews Materials, 5(1), 167-168.

Price, C. (1993). An empirical study of the value of professional association meetings from the perspective of attendees, In doctoral dissertation. Virginia: Virginia Polytechnic and State University.

Raspor, S. (2012). Multivarijatna statistička analiza zadovoljstva klijenata u hotelskoj industri­ji. In Doktorska disertacija. Opatija: Fakultet za menadžment u turizmu i ugostiteljstvu.

Rašan, D. & Laškarin Ažić, M. (2021). Measuring student’s memorable conference experience and behavioural intentions. In R. Alkier, S. Marković, M. Perić (Ed.), ToSEE – Smart, Ex­perience, Excellence & ToFEEL – Feelings, Excitement, Education, Leisure. Presented at 6th International Scientific Conference ToSSE 2021, Opatija, 30 June – 02 July, 2021 (pp. 657-672). Opatija: Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management, University of Rijeka. https://doi.org/10.20867/tosee.06.44

Riper, C., Riper, C., Kyle, G. T., & Lee, M. E. (2013). Understanding how social networking in­fluences perceived satisfaction with conference experiences. Annals of Leisure Research, 16(1),104–114.

Rogers, T. (1998). Conference: A twenty-first century industry. Boston: Addison Wesley Long­man Publishing.

Severt, D., Wang, Y., Chen, P.-J., & Breiter, D. (2007). Examining the motivation, perceived performance, and behavioral intentions of convention attendees: Evidence from a region­al conference. Tourism Management, 28(1), 399–408.

Sthapit, E., Del Chiappa, G., Coudounaris, D., & Björk, P. (2019). Tourism experiences, memo­rability. Tourism Review, 75(3), 533-558. https://doi.org/10.1108/TR-03-2019-0102

Štetić, S. (2007). Posebni oblici turizma. Beograd: Forma B.

Šušić, V., & Mojić, J. (2014). Congress tourism as a market niche of business tourism. Econom­ic Themes, 52(4), 513-530.

Zhang, H. Q., Leung, V., & Qu, H. (2007). A refined model of factors affecting convention partic­ipation decision-making. Tourism Management, 28(4), 1123-1127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. tourman.2006.07.008

Yu, C., Chang, W.-C., & Ramanpong, J. (2019). Assessing Visitors’ Memorable Tourism Expe­riences (MTEs) in Forest Recreation Destination: A Case Study in Xitou Nature Educa­tion Area. Forests, 10, 1-15.