Factors Influencing Exhibitor Satisfaction and Loyalty: A Meta-Analysis on the Chinese Exhibition Market

ABSTRACT

With the exhibition sector becoming increasingly important for the hospitality and tourism industry, it is critical to understand what drives the success of an exhibition. Through a comprehensive literature review, we first identified two broad categories of factors, namely exhibition attributes and exhibitor perceptions, that influence exhibitor satisfaction and loyalty. Next, a meta-analysis was conducted based on 26 empirical papers studying the Chinese exhibition market to quantitatively evaluate these relationships. The results show that among the exhibition attributes, booth management, service personnel, and exhibition environment are the most important factors affecting exhibitor satisfaction, while exhibition brand is the most important factor affecting loyalty. Among exhibitor perceptions, service quality is more important for satisfaction, while perceived value is more meaningful to loyalty. This study offers insights into strategies for exhibition organizers to cultivate long-term relationships, and to better cope with the challenges of emerging forces such as the Internet.