– To translate theory into a practical tool, the purpose of this paper is to provide a conceptual framework for the development of social marketing strategies to modify event attendee behaviour in a sustainable direction.
– Consumer value is synthesised with social marketing and consumer behaviour theory to develop the framework. A major problem for festivals (throwaway tents) and current pro-environmental practices are used to determine the framework's applicability.
– The conceptual framework suggests that achieving desired behaviour(s) within an audience requires consideration of the added value at the downstream level, strategies that recognise offsite/onsite behaviour settings, engagement of upstream advocacy and more attention to the evaluation of success.
– A single low-involvement behaviour example is used to validate the conceptual framework suggesting further work is needed to widen tests of its applicability.
– This paper synthesises theory into a framework that has significant potential as a tool to develop behavioural change strategies at events.
