Sustainable touring: exploring value creation through social marketing

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the social marketing-based approach to live performance adopted by Jack Johnson and its potential as the basis of a developmental model for sustainable touring. Design/methodology/approach – Musician Jack Johnson has been recognised as a leader in his approach to sustainable touring. The research approach uses stakeholder interviews to examine his “Sleep Through the Static” tour from a phenomenological perspective. Findings – The activities adopted during the global tour provide “upstream” contributions to social change agendas as well as “downstream” contributions to change behaviour. “Downstream” contribution leans towards closed behaviour settings for the corporate community and open behaviour settings for the social community. Limitations are the extent of resources required; better understanding of audience targets and their perceived value of behaviour change. Research limitations/implications – The use of a single example means that consideration of the success of this model is limited to one approach when others might offer other options. However, the phenomenological approach is sufficient to begin to understand the value creation process at work here. Practical implications – A range of performers in different cultural areas might consider the potential of this approach as a means to contribute to sustainable touring goals. Originality/value – Much of the literature available for event managers focuses on environmental concerns to the neglect of other dimensions of sustainability. This work highlights how the social marketing of sustainable development offers a wider scope to touring performers.