Application of Kano model to identification of wine festival satisfaction drivers

Purpose - Practitioners and researchers are persistently trying to identify critical product/service attributes that generate greater customer satisfaction, which in turn yields multiple positive outcomes for the business. However, traditional measuring of attribute performance does not account for a non-linear nature of the relationship between attribute performance and customer satisfaction. The purpose of this paper is to apply an alternative method - penalty-reward contrast analysis (PRCA) grounded in Kano model - to a wine festival setting and to estimate the effects of each attribute on the overall satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach - The aim of the study is to use a self-administered survey distributed to attendees of a large wine festival in the USA, resulting in a sample of 250 festival attendees. Findings - Personnel and entertainment were considered must-be or basic factors for wine festivals. Failing to deliver on these dimensions will lead to attendees' frustration and is likely to outweigh positive impact of other factors. Wine was considered to be a linear, or performance, factor with symmetrical positive and negative impact on satisfaction. Food and facilities were non-significant in predicting customer satisfaction. Practical implications - Given that most wine festivals operate with rather scarce resources in a competitive environment, using an approach that helps determine how limited resources are best deployed to achieve the highest levels of customer satisfaction is beneficial for the industry. The study provides new insights to wine festivals managers as to how drivers of satisfaction may vary according to attributes of both the festival and the attendees. Originality/value - The study adopts the novel approach of the PRCA in its application to wine festivals, making the study unique and noteworthy. It brings new knowledge about quality components of wine festivals and adds support to the new evaluation tool.