Smart Technologies in Festival Experiencescapes: Personalization Receptivity, Anticipated Immersion, and Loyalty Intentions

Abstract

This study examines how festival attendees’ evaluations of smart technologies relate to personalization receptivity, anticipated immersive experience, and technology-contingent loyalty intentions. Using cross-sectional survey data from 338 festival attendees and covariance-based structural equation modeling, the study integrates technology-evaluation and experiencescape perspectives. Perceived usefulness and trust were positively associated with personalization receptivity, which strongly predicted anticipated immersive experience. Both anticipated immersion and personalization receptivity were positively associated with loyalty intentions, and a partial-mediation model fitted the data better than a full-mediation specification. Privacy concerns showed a small positive association with personalization receptivity, contrary to expectations, but this result was sensitive to model specification. The findings extend the experiencescape perspective by showing how technology appraisals, personalization receptivity, and anticipated immersion can operate as interconnected routes to loyalty-related responses. For festival managers, the results suggest that functional, personalized, and immersive technologies should be managed according to the distinct forms of value they are expected to create. Findings represent associations among expectations and intentions rather than causal effects or observed behavior.