Prof. Dr. John Drury and his team have been commissioned by Live Nation to investigate how post-COVID behavioural change can be explained, and what an event organizer can do to encourage self-reliant and self-correcting behaviour among eventgoers. In a webinar initiated by ESI on June 20, 2023, John and his co-researcher Harry Lewis presented their first findings.
After the reopening of society post-COVID, several reports have come in about changes in the behaviour among eventgoers. These messages came from a diversity of events, like concerts, comedy, theater and football. Reports included disrespectful behaviour of patrons, excessive use of telephones, objects being thrown, people entering (parts of) the premises or the venue, and harassment of staff.
The research group of Prof. John Drury of the University of Sussex is conducting research into these phenomena on request by concert organizer Live Nation. In this study, they not only try to find out more about the supposed ‘negative’ behaviours, but also examples of measures that have a positive influence on behaviours. At the time of the webinar, they had conducted a survey and eight in-depth interviews.
Reasons for changed behaviour
It is difficult to prove whether and why exactly behaviour has changed after COVID, but a number of conclusions are plausible. First, the events industry has lost many trained and experienced employees, which has an impact on the identification, management and de-escalation of undesirable behaviours at an event. In addition, a large group of young people that goes to events is new and unfamiliar with the prevailing norms at events. Nevertheless, part of the group of experienced eventgoers may also be ‘out of practice’ after a period without events.
More speculative, but possible factors that could explain the changing behaviour, are the changes in mental health and increased tensions in society. Social media influences also must be taken into consideration, because videos are currently circulating about breaking into events or making fake tickets, for example. Furthermore, people’s expectations of events seem to be getting higher and higher: everything has to be perfect, otherwise visitors will not be satisfied.
Group standards
The researchers observed that at smaller homogeneous events with a strong group norm, there seems to be less disruptive group behaviour than at larger events, where there are often several subgroups with potentially conflicting norms. Group norms arise from a shared identity. Think of ‘festival goers’ or ‘fans’ of a certain genre. This creates a sense of “us” as a group, with the associated standards. How you should behave in a moshpit is part of this: from a distance this looks very dangerous, but the unwritten norm is that everyone helps each other up when you fall.
Identities and norms diverge more quickly when there are many ‘casual’ fans who have no relationship with the artist or the event, when the range of genres is very diverse, or when there is a large generation gap in your crowd. However, if this is the case at your event, it is not necessarily doomed for misbehaviour. Use your communication and your employees to stimulate the sense of ‘we, the crowd’. Address your patrons with a name that fits their character, pronounce do’s and don’ts in the we-form and be in contact with your audience.
Prof. Dr. John Drury
Self-regulatory capacity of visitors
Most organizers (unconsciously) already assume that an eventgoer has self-regulating/solving capacity, because the staff cannot micro-manage when it comes to good behaviour at an event. It is important for this capacity that visitors have a shared identity and that everyone has the feeling that others in the crowd recognize disruptive behaviour and stand up for each other. The more people respect each other’s norms and values, the faster they will stand up for each other.
Staff’s social skills
In addition to identifying deviant behaviours and de-escalating incidents, there are four other factors in the field of Crowd Psychology that can contribute to the feeling of safety within the crowd. Patrons quickly expect the staff to be of service to the organization rather than be of service to the crowd itself. Therefore, be the first to show involvement by showing that you are listening and make a connection. As a business professional, you are also part of the ‘festival goers’ or ‘fans’ (ingroup) and more accessible. Provide information about the situation and explain the choices being made. Finally, you can show that you recognize the feelings of misunderstanding, sadness or anger within your crowd.
Good behaviour at your event!
Developing new standards or changing existing standards is a very long and sustainable process. This is not necessary everywhere and all the time, because at most events, patrons behave properly and the right standards are already in place. At these events, the main question is: how do you transfer the existing standards to those that are new in this crowd? In the case of new events or a new genre with a lot of young people, common standards may need to be formed more proactively. The organizer of the event has a role in promoting the right norms or removing problematic norms by responding to the (existing) group norm, the self-regulatory capacity of the crowd and by increasing the staff’s social skills. That is already a great step in the right direction! More research results from the research project are expected in a few months.
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