




































AGORA International Journal of Economical Sciences, http://univagora.ro/jour/index.php/aijes 

ISSN 2067-3310, E-ISSN 2067-7669 

Vol. 18, No. 2 (2024), pp. 28-34 

 

28 

 

HOW IMPORTANT IS SUSTAINABILITY FOR VISITORS OF ROCK 

AND POP FESTIVALS? INSIGHTS FROM A BROAD AUDIENCE 

ANALYSIS IN GERMANY 

 

M. J. BAUER, T. NABER, L. S. MICHEL 

 

Matthias Johannes Bauer1, Tom Naber2, Lea Sophie Michel3 
1 2 3IST University of Applied Sciences, Germany,  
1  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6050-5612, E-mail: mjbauer@ist-hochschule.de   
2 https://orcid.org/0009-0001-8954-2695, E-mail: tnaber@ist-hochschule.de  
3 E-mail: lsm0312@aol.com  

 

Abstract: The study examines the significance of sustainability among festival attendees 

(N = 3,503), revealing that a substantial majority of 90.4% do not consider it a primary factor 

in their festival experience. The analysis highlights demographic influences, indicating that 

factors such as age, gender, and educational background have minimal impact on the 

perceived importance of sustainability. The paper synthesizes these findings, concluding that 

sustainability is not a central aspect of the festival experience for most visitors. Why is this the 

case? The answer lies in a key aspect of the experience that guests seek at festivals: escapism. 

The study suggests that traditional approaches, such as strict regulations on non-sustainable 

practices, may be counterproductive. Instead, it advocates for the development of innovative 

nudging strategies that promote sustainable behaviors while preserving the escapist nature of 

festivals. By fostering a culture of engagement rather than prohibition, event organizers can 

enhance the integration of sustainability into the festival experience, ultimately encouraging 

more responsible participation among attendees. 

Keywords: festivals, sustainability, escapism, nudging strategies 

 

1. INTRODUCTION 

According to a 2010 study, large music festivals leave a CO2 footprint on a single 

weekend that is equivalent to that of a small town for the whole year. (Bottrill et al., 2010) 

Depending on the type of festival and its organization, the main factors responsible for this 

high environmental impact are transport (including logistics), food and high-emission energy 

production. (Aßmann, 2022) Festivals therefore have a special role to play when it comes to 

environmental sustainability within the event industry. However, the interplay between the 

individual protagonists influencing the sustainability of a festival is complex. 

Legislation has already intervened in individual areas: One example is the so-called 

'plastic ban', which has been in force throughout the EU since 2021 and prohibits single-use 

plastic products such as disposable cutlery, tableware and plastic drinking straws. (Aßmann, 

2022). However, the main responsibility for sustainability lies in the hands of festival 

organizers and festival visitors. While the former—supported by associations, agencies and 

non-profit organizations—are already taking more and more measures, festival guests remain 

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6050-5612
mailto:mjbauer@ist-hochschule.de
https://orcid.org/0009-0001-8954-2695
mailto:tnaber@ist-hochschule.de
mailto:lsm0312@aol.com


Matthias Johannes BAUER, Tom NABER, Lea Sophie MICHEL 

29 

 

an uncontrollable factor in this equation. Why is this the case? The answer lies in a key aspect 

of the experience that guests seek at festivals: escapism. (Kirchner, 2011; Taylor, 2016). The 

term refers to the perceived escape from reality—or to put it simply: an escape from everyday 

life. Escapism manifests as actions of avoidance tactics, unconscious or conscious, through 

which societal objectives and accepted norms are rejected. (Stangl, 2024) This phenomenon 

suggests that even people who are strongly sustainability-oriented in their everyday lives do 

not place any increased value on sustainability when attending a festival. The following 

explanations examine this hypothesis on the basis of a survey of festival visitors in Germany. 

 

2. QUANTITATIVE SURVEY 

2.1 Survey procedure 

For this study, data was subjected to a secondary analysis. The data was collected in 

2023 as part of a study on the determinants of festival loyalty based on a quantitative 

investigation of visitor satisfaction and loyalty and the derivation of recommendations for 

action for rock and pop festivals in Germany. (Michel, 2024; Bauer et al., in print) The survey 

was conducted using an online questionnaire. The data collection took place from January 2, 

2023 to February 24, 2023. The quantitative data analysis was carried out using SPSS. (Michel, 

2024). A total of 6,411 people took part in the survey for this study. Of these, 2,514 people 

(39.21%) dropped out of the survey, therefore their responses could not be included in the data 

analysis. Of the remaining 3,897 participants, 394 people (10.11%) answered “never” to the 

introductory question “How often have you been to music festivals of the pop or rock genre in 

Germany?”. These 394 people therefore did not belong to the population described and defined 

above and were therefore not included in the data analysis. The evaluable sample size after 

adjustment therefore ultimately comprised N = 3503. (Michel, 2024). 35.5 % of respondents 

were male, 63.3 % female, 0.8 % identified as diverse and 0.4 % did not specify their gender. 

(Michel, 2024) 

 

2.2 Survey instrument  

The questionnaire, which was created for the original study, was in German only an 

consisted of a total of 58 items in a largely closed format. In order to answer the secondary 

analysis carried out here, item 5 (“Which aspects are particularly important to you at a 

festival?”, 26 predefined aspects and one free field) and the demographic questions of items 6 

to 9 (gender, age, relationship status and highest level of education) are of particular interest. 

(Michel, 2024) 

In addition, items 19 (agreement with the statement “The festival site was clean [there 

was no garbage lying around on the site]”), 31 (“Public transport to the festival site was 

sufficient”), 47 (“Waste disposal on the festival site was well organized”) and 48 (“At the 

festival, attention was visibly paid to sustainability [e.g. deposit system for cups, no single-use 

plastic]”) were also considered. (Michel, 2024) 

From question 12 onwards, the items of the questionnaire were to be rated on a five-

point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly 

agree). When designing the questionnaire, the items were formulated exclusively positively in 

terms of language and content (Porst, 2014, pp. 106-107). (Michel, 2024) 



HOW IMPORTANT IS SUSTAINABILITY FOR VISITORS OF ROCK AND POP 

FESTIVALS? INSIGHTS FROM A BROAD AUDIENCE ANALYSIS IN GERMANY 

30 

 

2.3 Method of secondary analysis of the survey 

For this secondary analysis, only descriptive statistical methods were used to describe 

the data in terms of its frequency distributions and to gain a comprehensive understanding of 

the relevant characteristics examined. The methods used include, in particular, the calculation 

of mean values and the presentation of cross-tabulations. As this is a secondary analysis, 

inferential statistical methods were deliberately avoided. (Gisske, 2021) 

 

3. RESULTS 

3.1 Sustainability as an (un)important aspect 

This analysis (item 5, see above) sheds light on the importance festival fans attach to 

the aspect of sustainability when attending a festival. It also examines whether demographic 

differences such as age, gender, relationship status and level of education have an influence on 

the relevance of sustainability to the participants 

 

3.1.1 Results on sustainability and gender distribution 

Only 9.6% of respondents stated that sustainability is important to them at a festival, 

while 90.4% did not consider this to be a priority. However, this does not necessarily mean that 

sustainability is completely irrelevant to the majority—nevertheless, the topic of sustainability 

was not important enough to mark it as one of the maximum six most important aspects of a 

festival in the survey.  

The gender distribution shows that sustainability is considered important to 10.14% of 

women compared to 8.69% of men. Despite the slight difference between the genders, 

however, this result was not statistically significant. Respondents who indicated their gender 

as diverse and those who did not indicate their gender tended to find sustainability even less 

important, but these groups are so small overall that they are not meaningful here. 

 

3.1.2 Differences between age groups 

A comparison of the age groups shows that Generation Y (millennials) and Generation 

Z in particular rated the aspect of sustainability as less important (92.24% and 89.42% 

respectively). Surprisingly, this proportion is lowest among Baby Boomers, although 83.33% 

of them also stated that they considered sustainability to be less important. At 86.26%, 

Generation X occupies a middle position within the groups. Overall, it can be observed that 

younger generations such as Gen Z, contrary to common assumptions about their higher 

environmental awareness, do not consider sustainability to be significantly more important than 

older generations. 

 

3.1.3 Marital status and the importance of sustainability 

Marital status also has little influence on the prioritization of sustainability. 100% of 

widowed respondents, whose share of the total is extremely low (less than 1%), did not cite 

sustainability as an important factor. The relevance of this aspect is equally low for divorced 

people (94.47%; also less than 1% overall) and for participants in a relationship (91.45%). 

Married respondents (91.06%) and single respondents (89.3%) follow this trend, albeit to a 

lesser extent.  



Matthias Johannes BAUER, Tom NABER, Lea Sophie MICHEL 

31 

 

3.1.4 Educational background and importance of sustainability 

An analysis of the respondents’ level of education shows that the proportion of those 

who rate sustainability as important varies depending on their level of education, albeit only 

slightly. For example, 87.1% of participants with a bachelor’s degree stated that sustainability 

was not particularly important to them, while this proportion was 95.45% for people with a 

doctorate and even 100% for people with a professorship. In contrast, the figures for the groups 

with secondary school and lower secondary school qualifications were 93.19% and 92.98% 

respectively, indicating that higher academic degrees do not necessarily contribute to greater 

environmental awareness. 

 

3.1.5 Discussion 

The results indicate that sustainability does not play a primary role for the majority of 

festival visitors. Interestingly, the data does not indicate a systematic increase in the importance 

of sustainability with younger generations or higher levels of education, which calls into 

question the assumption of a generally higher level of environmental awareness in these 

groups. These findings may suggest that a targeted nudging (Aßmann, 2022; Bär & Korrmann, 

2020; Bär et al., 2022) is needed from event organizers to make sustainability a more attractive 

and central aspect of the festival experience. Initiatives that communicate more conscious 

sustainability measures and actively involve the commitment of visitors could be effective 

approaches here. 

 

3.2 Other aspects of sustainability and their significance for visitors 

In order to understand the priorities and preferences of festival visitors in more detail, 

they were asked in the survey (also item 5, see above) to rate various aspects of the festival 

experience according to their importance. The results show clear differences in the weighting 

of the factors of cleanliness and waste or transportation options. This provides information 

about which features are important for the positive experience of a festival and how important 

these aspects of sustainability are for visitors. 

 

3.2.1 Cleanliness of the premises 

The aspect of “cleanliness of the site”, which includes the presence of garbage cans and 

the absence of litter lying around, was named as an important factor by 27.4% of respondents. 

This indicates that a certain group of festival-goers certainly value a well-kept and tidy 

environment, which is perceived as a pleasant part of the overall experience. However, 72.6% 

of respondents rated the cleanliness of the site as less important, suggesting that this factor is 

not a priority for the majority of participants. 

 

3.2.2 Transportation to the festival site 

The vast majority of respondents (94.2%) rated transportation to the festival site as 

unimportant and did not select it as a relevant factor. Only 5.8% of respondents stated that this 

aspect was important to them. This low priority could indicate that most visitors either do not 

see any problems with their journey as such—or they prefer alternative means of transportation. 

It is also possible that the accessibility aspect takes a back seat if the festival content and the 

on-site experience are the main motivation for attending the festival. 



HOW IMPORTANT IS SUSTAINABILITY FOR VISITORS OF ROCK AND POP 

FESTIVALS? INSIGHTS FROM A BROAD AUDIENCE ANALYSIS IN GERMANY 

32 

 

3.2.3 Importance of cleanliness and transportation options 

The evaluation shows that the preferences of festival visitors vary greatly with regard 

to the two sustainability factors of site cleanliness and transportation options. Overall, 

cleanliness and transportation options appear to be less important or at least less important than 

other factors. 

 

3.3 Visitors’ perception of sustainability measures 

Although aspects of sustainability are an increasingly discussed topic in event planning, 

the previous results indicate that this aspect does not play a primary role for the majority of 

festival visitors. The analysis of the perception of sustainability measures, cleanliness and 

transportation options by the visitors themselves (items 19, 31, 47 and 48, see above) can be 

contrasted with this.  

 

3.3.1 Perception of sustainability measures 

Overall, 56.9% of respondents agreed or completely agreed with the statement that the 

festival they attended “visibly paid attention to sustainability”, while 26% were neutral and 

17.1% disagreed (item 48). Although this indicates that sustainability measures such as a 

deposit system or the avoidance of single-use plastic are definitely perceived, the other results 

show that this is not a decisive factor for the majority of visitors (see above).  

 

3.3.2 Cleanliness of the festival site 

The answers to the question on the perception of the actual cleanliness of the site (item 

19) show a mixed picture: 28.8% agreed with the statement that the site was clean and only 

8.1% completely agreed. A considerable 31.6% took a neutral stance, with 23.9% disagreeing 

and 7.7% strongly disagreeing. This indicates that although cleanliness is perceived, it is less 

important for the satisfaction and experience of many visitors than other quality features. 

 

3.3.3 Availability of public transportation 

The perception of transportation availability (item 31) is mixed: 15.4% disagreed and 

7.9% strongly disagreed on whether public transportation options to the festival were sufficient. 

A neutral position was taken by 43.9% of respondents. 19.5% agreed and 13.4% completely 

agreed. Transportation options and accessibility of the festival site were not a decisive factor 

for 94.2% of respondents. Only 5.8% of visitors rated this aspect as important (see above). This 

also shows that although many visitors are aware of this aspect, they consider it to be relatively 

irrelevant. 

 

3.3.4 Evaluation of waste disposal 

The statement that waste disposal at the festival site was well organized (item 47) was 

completely disagreed with by 5.8% and disagreed with by 17.7%. 33.0% were neutral. 30.9% 

agreed with the statement and 12.6% completely agreed. This also shows that although waste 

disposal is perceived, its importance is not the focus of visitor interest (see above).  

 



Matthias Johannes BAUER, Tom NABER, Lea Sophie MICHEL 

33 

 

4. CONCLUSIONS ON THE NEED FOR NUDGING STRATEGIES 

This study leads to the conclusion that sustainability is not a central aspect of the 

experience for the majority of festival visitors. Regardless of socio-demographic factors such 

as gender, age or level of education, it is clear that ecological considerations at festivals are of 

little to no importance to many participants. These results reflect the hypothesis mentioned in 

the introduction that festivals offer many people an opportunity to escape from everyday life, 

in which normative ideas and obligations—including the sustainability principles often 

internalized in everyday life—are consciously or unconsciously disregarded. The phenomenon 

of escapism therefore seems to play a central role in this context. (Bennett et al., 2016; 

Kirchner, 2011) Thus, festival organizers need a special approach to promote ecological 

behavior. As the relevance of sustainability for festival visitors is limited, a strategy based on 

restrictive measures, such as a comprehensive ban on non-sustainable products and practices, 

appears to have only limited success. A culture of prohibition aimed at strict adherence to 

sustainability measures would surely meet with resistance and reduce the willingness of visitors 

to comply with such regulations. (Aßmann, 2022) Instead, alternative strategies are needed to 

promote sustainable behavior at festivals without compromising the experience-oriented and 

escapist motivation of participants. One approach that can be used in this context is nudging. 

Nudging (Aßmann, 2022; Bär & Korrmann, 2020; Bär et al., 2022) refers to subtle incentives 

that aim to steer people’s behavior in a certain direction without explicitly forcing them to 

change their behavior. (Stangl, 2024) This approach stems from behavioral economics and 

could make it possible to integrate environmental measures without compromising the event 

experience. By gently ‘nudging’ visitors towards more sustainable choices, it could be possible 

to promote pro-ecological behaviors without visitors feeling coerced. (Aßmann, 2022) 

The use of nudging methods is now well researched and has already shown positive 

results at many festivals. (Aßmann, 2022; Bär & Korrmann, 2020; Bär et al., 2022) Even 

though this study does not focus on specific nudging strategies, the results nevertheless 

underline the relevance of such measures, as they could offer an effective way of influencing 

visitors’ behavior in the long term without restricting their escapism. The results of this study 

make it clear that the sustainable design of festivals requires not only technical or 

organizational solutions, but also a deeper understanding of the motivations and needs of 

festival visitors. The central challenge is to promote sustainable behavior in such a way that it 

contributes to the value of the experience and does not contradict the intention of escaping 

everyday life. Research such as that by Aßmann (2022) and Bär (2022, 2020) investigated 

which nudging measures are particularly suitable for festival settings and how they can be used 

effectively to support environmental behavior change. For example, if vegan food is cheaper 

than non-vegan food, visitors may choose this more sustainable option. If a free train ticket is 

included in the festival ticket, more people may travel by public transport. (Aßmann, 2022) 

In summary, the way to more sustainable festivals is not through restrictive measures, 

but rather through the targeted steering of behavior through positive incentives and subtle 

changes in event design. By integrating innovative nudging approaches, festival organizers 

could not only reduce their environmental impact, but also increase the long-term value of their 

events and thus create a broader awareness of sustainable action in the event industry. Or to 

put it in a nutshell: No sustainable festival without nudging. 



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FESTIVALS? INSIGHTS FROM A BROAD AUDIENCE ANALYSIS IN GERMANY 

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