Accidents? Not me: The impact of optimism bias on visitor perceptions in cultural festivals

Abstract This research examines the impact of the festival attendee’s optimism bias on their perceived risk management, perceived attractiveness, the need for risk control, recommendations, and behavioral intentions. The study also scrutinizes the gender differences on the variables. The research model was tested based on 508 survey responses gathered through an on-site survey. The recorded optimism bias variable was classified into high optimism bias groups (N = 303) and low optimism bias groups (N = 205). The research findings indicate that the festival attendee’s need for risk control, recommendations, and behavioral intentions may vary depending on the degree of their optimism bias. For gender, females show higher variations on the variables between low and high optimism bias groups compared to males. In addition, it appears that there are significant interaction effects between optimism bias and gender. The research findings provide meaningful insights into festival risk management by understanding attendees’ levels of optimism bias.