Filming Location, Fan Cultural Capital and Loyalty: The Case of a Unique Game of Thrones Event

Abstract

This paper tests a model based on hypothesized relationships between program event, place attachment, participants' fan cultural capital and event satisfaction as antecedents of behavioral intentions. The relationships are explored among a sample of people attending Cáceres: City of Dragons, a unique event for fans of the A Song of Ice and Fire universe (n = 352). The structural model indicated that the attributes that make the event unique (the combination of the convention program and the visit to a key filming location) and the participants' fan cultural capital have a positive effect on satisfaction with the event, which in turn has a direct positive effect on loyalty. This suggests that strategies to capitalize on and monetize resources to continue attracting film tourists to a filming location in the long term should include events offering highly specialized activities specifically targeting fans of the film or series in question.

This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and the Spanish State Research Agency [project Qualitative and quantitative analysis of tourism-inducing factors of audiovisual fiction, and their effects on audiences and potential tourists. PID2020-112668GB I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033].