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1. Introduction
The growth of the special event sector over the last few decades has been phenomenal ([20] Jago, 1998; [1] Allen et al. , 2008). Additionally, academic research in this context has burgeoned (see [38] Silvers et al. , 2006). Special events including mega-events, hallmark events, exhibitions and festivals are one-off occurrences and limited in duration ([15] Getz, 2005). All kinds of special events, such as sporting, cultural, political, historical, religious or commercial/business events ([34] Roche, 1994), provide opportunities for attendees to have memorable experiences ([15] Getz, 2005), communities to build social capital ([4] Chalip, 2006), and for governments to induce new income into their economies though increased tourism and business activities ([3] Carlsen et al. , 2008).
Special events are unique market offerings with characteristics that are different to other market offerings. For example, special events may be offered in one or many sites; variable in terms of lead times and duration; held in permanent and/or temporary infrastructure; owner-operated or franchised; ticketed and/or non- ticketed; have single or multiple sites; or have commercial or non-profit objectives. Marketing communications have been identified as a key factor for the success of special events ([15] Getz, 2005; [29] Masterman and Wood, 2005). As such, the diversity of this market offering would appear to present challenges for event organisers as they develop marketing communications strategies.
Considerable interest has been directed towards understanding the role of special events as a marketing communications tool particularly in relation to sponsorship (see, for example, [26] McDonald, 1991; [7] Crompton, 1994, [8] 1995; [2] Amis et al. , 1999; [33] Quester and Thompson, 2001; [6] Close et al. , 2006). Very little attention has, however, been directed towards examining marketing communications for special events. The purpose of this paper is to address this gap in knowledge. As the essence of effective marketing communications relies on both the sender and receiver being involved in the process of communication ([36] Shimp, 1993; [23] Kitchen and de Pelsmacker, 2004), research questions that emerge from this gap are:
RQ1. How do special event organisers approach marketing communications?
RQ2. Do consumers consider the information they receive about special events, and the way they receive that information to be effective?
RQ3. What information would consumers prefer to...