This study aimed to empirically examine how the consistency between local festivals promoted by a local government and local culture influences the formation process of urban brand equity. Previous research on brand equity has accumulated primarily ar...
This study aimed to empirically examine how the consistency between local festivals promoted by a local government and local culture influences the formation process of urban brand equity. Previous research on brand equity has accumulated primarily around the effects and outcomes of key components such as brand awareness, brand image, perceived quality, and loyalty; however, relatively limited research has structurally verified the processes and pathways through which the cultural congruence (consistency) between local culture and festivals is translated into urban brand equity in the context of local festivals. In particular, given that prior studies have tended to explain festival effects mainly in terms of short-term outcomes—such as satisfaction, revisit intention, and economic spillover effects—there is a need to provide empirical evidence on the mechanisms through which culture-based festival policies accumulate into urban brand value. Accordingly, using major local festivals in Uijeongbu City, Gyeonggi Province (e.g., Hoeryong Cultural Festival, Budae-jjigae Festival, and Music Theater Festival), this study integratively tested the structural relationships in which the consistency between local culture and festivals affects urban brand equity through the mediating roles of brand personality and festival performance.
The research model specified the consistency between local culture and festivals as the independent variable, brand personality and festival performance as mediating variables, and urban brand equity as the dependent variable. For data collection, a survey was conducted with festival users in Uijeongbu as well as service providers who participated in the planning, operation, and hosting of the festivals. Measurement items were developed based on prior studies and constructed using a five-point Likert scale to multidimensionally assess the consistency between local culture and festivals, brand personality, festival performance, and urban brand equity. A total of 500 questionnaires were distributed, and 425 responses were retained for the final analysis after excluding insincere responses. Data analysis first involved descriptive statistics and reliability/validity tests using SPSS, followed by path testing through structural equation modeling (SEM) using AMOS; bootstrapping was then employed to examine mediating effects.
The results of hypothesis testing are as follows. First, the consistency between local culture and festivals had significant positive effects on brand personality and festival performance, supporting the relevant hypotheses. This suggests that local cultural identity serves as a key foundation shaping the symbols, images, and emotional atmosphere of festivals, and that greater consistency is likely to strengthen positive performance-related experiences of the festivals. Second, the hypothesis that the consistency between local culture and festivals directly affects urban brand equity was rejected, confirming that cultural congruence alone does not automatically increase urban brand equity. Third, brand personality had significant positive effects on both festival performance and urban brand equity, indicating that brand personality plays a pivotal role in the process through which festival experiences accumulate into urban brand value. In contrast, the effect of festival performance on urban brand equity was found to be limited, implying that the conversion of festival performance into urban brand value requires more than performance experiences alone; it necessitates the formation and strengthening of an identity-based image (brand personality). Fourth, mediation analysis based on a multiple-mediation model showed that the indirect effect through brand personality was significant, whereas the single-mediator effect of festival performance was not salient. In addition, a significant serial (sequential) mediation effect was confirmed, whereby consistency enhances brand personality, which strengthens festival performance, ultimately leading to urban brand equity. These findings can be interpreted as supporting that the key pathway through which consistency is translated into urban brand equity is not festival performance per se, but rather brand personality, which organizes and imbues festival experiences with meaning.
These results provide several policy and practical implications. First, local festivals should be planned as identity-based content reflecting the historicity, symbolism, and everyday cultural resources of local culture, and it should be recognized that event-centered operations alone have limitations in accumulating urban brand equity. Second, an emotional and symbolic branding strategy aimed at strengthening brand personality is required; it is necessary to establish consistent messages and symbolic systems across all touchpoints, including festival slogans, visual design, promotional materials, spatial staging, and experiential programs. Third, evaluation of festival performance should not be confined to short-term economic indicators such as visitor numbers and consumption/spending; rather, it should be advanced into an integrated evaluation framework that includes long-term and qualitative indicators such as changes in brand awareness, image improvement, place attachment, revisit intention, and resident participation—namely, an integrated index combining festival performance and brand performance. Fourth, to secure cultural consistency and festival authenticity, it is necessary to institutionalize a governance structure in which local actors—residents, merchants, and artists—participate substantively, enabling continuous feedback and policy learning throughout the planning–operation–evaluation process.
By introducing the consistency between local culture and festivals as a key variable, this study provides a multi-layered explanation of the formation process of urban brand equity and empirically demonstrates that the effects of consistency operate more strongly through indirect pathways than through direct effects, thereby extending the theoretical foundation for interpreting local festivals from the perspective of urban branding strategy. Nevertheless, this study is limited by its cross-sectional design and its focus on a single case (Uijeongbu City). Future research should strengthen the generalizability and validity of the findings through comparative studies across regions, longitudinal analyses, big-data-based public opinion analysis, and the supplementation of qualitative evidence. Moreover, follow-up studies are warranted to incorporate multidimensional outcomes beyond the economic effects of local festivals, including environmental sustainability, intergenerational cultural transmission, and community resilience.