While obtaining leads or sealing a big deal remains important for tradeshow attendees, they also want to enhance their personal skills and knowledge base, a new report from the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) concludes.
Results published in the report entitled “What Attendees Want From Trade 
Exhibitions” come from a study originally conducted 10 years ago and provide valuable up-to-date insights into what attendees are looking to achieve when they visit business-to-business exhibitions. Dr. Jeff Tanner, professor of marketing, Baylor University, and Nancy Drapeau, research director, CEIR, led the latest research effort.
“This study confirms the importance of exhibitions in organizational buying,” said Tanner. “While new channels of marketing communications seem to spring up every day, exhibitions continue to deliver value and meet the needs of today’s business professional.”
Key results profiled in the report include:
• Many attendees have dual agendas when they visit exhibitions, looking to serve organizational needs, 69 percent, and personal needs, 66 percent.
• The top-ranked important reasons cited for attending exhibitions are to see new technology, have the chance to talk to experts and gain industry insights.
• Exhibitions are doing well in meeting the needs of attendees, with more than a majority of attendees saying their top-ranked important needs are met.
• There are areas of opportunity for exhibitors and organizers to further ramp up the value of exhibitions in meeting shopping needs as they relate to current problems and purchase decisions.
Insights were obtained from a recent focus group comprised of exhibition attendees provided by ResearchNow. The study was made possible by a grant from the CEIR Foundation and is available online at www.ceir.org.
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.
