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CEIR Releases New Report Organization Size: What Really Matters

DALLAS, 12 February 2014 – Today the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) releases a new report, Organization Size: What Really Matters, which focuses on how an organization’s size influences attendee preferences at exhibitions.

This report provides insights to assist exhibition organizers and marketers in understanding the shared and unique preferences of professionals by the size of their organization. The study addresses motivations for attending exhibitions, resources relied upon when searching for exhibitions and factors considered when evaluating whether to attend an exhibition for the first time.

Several key findings of note:

  • Attendees from mid-sized and large-sized organizations are more likely to want to achieve a greater number of shopping objectives when visiting an exhibition than attendees from small-sized organizations. In addition to shared, top-ranked important shopping objectives such as interest in seeing and interacting with new products and technology, attendees also place higher importance on the ability to compare brands, find solutions to existing problems and meet with other product users.
  • Attendees from medium- and large-sized organizations assign higher importance to multiple shopping reasons when it comes to factors which influence the decision to attend an exhibition.
  • Word-of-mouth resources and emails from colleagues are the primary information resources of choice, regardless of an attendee’s organization size; however, there are differences examined in the report.

CEIR Research Director Nancy Drapeau, PRC says, “Whether an exhibition organizer or exhibitor is striving to ramp up success of marketing to attendees working for small organizations or the largest, this report is an invaluable resource. It provides insights on how to attract and retain attendees from small-, medium- and large-sized organizations.”

Dr. Jeff Tanner of Baylor University further notes, “We can’t assume that all attendees go with the same needs, wants and desires. Once again, we see how contextual factors, such as organizational size, influence how attendees select and derive value from their exhibition experience.”

Click here to obtain the full report. IAEE members can access the CEIR library and reports at no cost – a benefit of IAEE membership.

About the Study
This study was conducted by Dr. Jeff Tanner, Professor of Marketing at Baylor University, and CEIR Reseach Director Nancy Drapeau, PRC using a panel of exhibition attendees provided by ResearchNow and with a grant from CEIR. The sample consisted of 421 respondents from fourteen industries.

About CEIR
CEIR serves to advance the growth, awareness and value of exhibitions and other face-to-face marketing events by producing and delivering knowledge-based research tools that enable stakeholder organizations to enhance their ability to meet current and emerging customer needs, improve their business performance and strengthen their competitive position. For additional information, visit www.ceir.org.

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Media Inquiries:
Mary Tucker
+1 (972) 687-9226
mtucker@ceir.org