If Destination Managers Organizations want to improve city residents’ quality of life, tourism events play a useful role. Particularly, two marketing strategies embedded in a public mega-event have proven to be quite effective: (a) an experiential marketing strategy based on emotions encouraged during the event and (b) a green marketing strategy based on green actions linked to the event. First, these mega-events (such as Fallas de Valencia in Spain or Festival de Aguas Calientes in México) should start by triggering residents’ experiential emotions, particularly in countries such as Spain. Second, for high-context cities, such as México, we recommend using green mega-events, that is, events that also promote an individual ecological orientation among the participants. Consequently, to encourage individual commitment to the environment, we recommend that businesses and public authorities use experiential strategies that lead to care for the environment while enjoying it and thus are easier to remember (i.e., to develop an effective waste collection program in the mega-event).
Public managers need to improve city residents’ quality of life as a first step to boost its tourism development. Marketing strategies can play a useful role, as the city marketing theory states. The present article aims to compare the efficacy of two marketing strategies embedded in a public mega-event: (a) an experiential strategy, based on emotions encourage during the event and (b) a green strategy, based on green actions linked to this event. Furthermore, following Hall’s theory of cultural determination, this article aims to compare these strategies’ efficacy in two alternative cultures: a high-context (Mexico) and a low-context culture (Spain). We contacted 202 and 204 residents in Mexico and Spain during the event. In low-context cultures (Spain), an experiential marketing strategy achieves greater results than a green one; conversely, in high-context cultures (Mexico), a green marketing strategy is more effective.