Thematic Event Relation to Consumer Experience in Custom Cultural Events as a Differentiation Strategy

The aim of this study is to understand the relationship between the thematic choices of event management in an effort to create consumer experience as a form of event differentiation strategy. The variety of event themes at custom cultural events in Indonesia, represented by Indonesian Custom Show (ICS), Kustomfest and House of Customland activities, as research sites from August to November 2022, demonstrates the differentiation of event design in creating unique customer satisfaction. The thematic differences of the event are the main concern in this study as the implementation of a differentiation strategy. A descriptive qualitative research method was chosen to describe the thematic relations of the event with the implementation of a differentiation strategy through interviews, observation and document review. The results of the study show that the thematic variety of events greatly determines the differentiation strategy in event design. An important contribution from this research can be used as a reference for event organizers' managerial policies to design events, sponsorship decisions to carry out partnership strategies, and consumer decisions to process purchasing decisions.