Measuring the dramaturgical quality of the entertainment event experience in shopping centres.

Abstract

The purpose of this study is threefold: i) identify the dramaturgical quality elements relevant for measuring the shopping centre entertainment event experience; ii) examine the interrelationships amongst those dramaturgical quality elements; and iii) determine the effect of those dramaturgical quality elements on shoppers' behaviours. Four dramaturgical quality elements are identified to constitute the entertainment event experience in a shopping centre and are labelled as "setting", "performer", "crowd", and "behavioural response". These four dramaturgical quality elements, albeit distinctive, are positively related. In particular, the "behavioural response" is a function of the "setting", "performer", and "crowd" and each with varied degree of relationship strength. These findings were based on a self-completion survey administered to 280 participants at two varied family-oriented entertainment events. Implications and limitations of this study are also discussed.