The Study On General Audiences' Motivation For Attending Large-scale ACG Exhibitions

The anime,comic and games(ACG)industry has been regarded more and more important by national governments as a new trend in cultural industry with huge potentials;organising ACG exhibitions are viewed as an effective means to promote creativity and innovation,as well as to upgrade city image.As an important component of the exhibition industry,ACG exhibitions are inevitable products and the result of the development of the ACG industry.In general,ACG exhibitions play the similar function as other exhibitions,which is to provide a platform for the exchange of industrial resources and information.China's ACG industry is experiencing a boom with an increasing number of ACG exhibitions launched every year,bringing not only opportunities but also challenges for ACG companies and organizations to attract and retain audiences under intense competitions.Creating additional value to increase attractiveness has become a major concern when marketing for ACG exhibition organizers.This paper investigated the motivations of the general public attending ACG exhibitions.It aimed to improve the theories of motivation by examining the validity of different motivators and provides insights for its applications in marketing.Questions investigated in this research are listed as follows: a)the content and structure of audience motivation in attending ACG exhibitions,b)the influences of different demographic factors on attending ACG exhibitions,and c)the characteristic differences of audiences with different demographic features.This research adopted the motivation theory and a questionnaire survey method,providing a comprehensive analysis to improve and systemize the motivation index that indicates the most significant motivators of general public attending ACG exhibitions.Data analysis was conducted using SPSS 18.0.The result highlighted five key factors,listed as follows according to their mean values: curiosity,product,interest,information and extrinsic factor.Using single factor analysis of variance to investigate independent sample T indicated no significant differences in motivations of different demographic groups attending ACG exhibitions;however,the impact of interest factor was found weakening with age.The number of visits contributed significantly to the four factors except extrinsic factor.Based on the five factors,general audiences attending ACG exhibitions in China were divided into three groups: product-oriented,fuzzy-motives and multi-motives.Discussions in this paper were designed to provide practical insights for ACG exhibition organizers in China.It is suggested: a)ACG exhibition organizers to have a clear view of the features expected by targeted audiences and carry out precision marketing strategies;b)ACG exhibition organizersto enhance interactions with targeted audiences and to integrate online and offline events Build brand,manifesting unique and refreshing features through brand positioning and to achieve a wider brand-recognition.