Professor Emma Wood, Professor

Professor Emma Wood

Professor

Emma Wood is Professor in Events and Experiential Marketing. Her current research is in emotions, shared memory and wellbeing. Her specialist areas are event tourism, event marketing and the impact of events and festivals on social change within communities.

Emma’s expertise in event tourism, event marketing and the impact of events and festivals on social change within communities is unique within the field. It advances the marketing element of event management into the less researched but highly important area of socio-psychology, progressing the theoretical debates in collective consumer experience and the related areas of emotion, memory and behaviour. This fits equally well within the related tourism and hospitality sectors, as the core product of all three areas is based upon the consumer experience.

Emma’s current research uses a range of methods including emotion-sensing technology, paired interviews, storytelling and memory work to provide a deeper understanding of the process by which art and music event experiences affect future attitudes, behaviour and wellbeing. Her research also enhances the wider field of consumer psychology, bringing a focus on shared memories and emotion relating to past leisure experiences.

Emma leads the 'futurETHinking' project which seeks to enable greater engagement with longer term future planning within the Events, Tourism and Hospitality sectors.

Current Teaching

  • Consumer Behaviour
  • Experiential Marketing

Research Interests

Emma's current research explores how people are driven to create shared memories (real or otherwise) in order to feel a sense of belonging. Agreeing on a memory enables us to feel wellbeing in the present and gain pleasure from remembering the past with others. This has implications for the design of memorable experiences in Tourism, Events and Hospitality and on how those experiences are leveraged afterwards for maximum social benefit.

Emma's work has informed the development of craft events to combat loneliness in older women, and our understanding of the lasting personal and social benefits of shared emotional experiences more generally.

Professor Emma Wood, Professor

Ask Me About

  1. Memory
  2. Emotions
  3. Community
  4. Consumers
  5. Culture
  6. Events
  7. Festivals
  8. Marketing
  9. Psychology
  10. Tourism
  11. Wellbeing

Selected Outputs

  • Wood EH; Dashper K (2022) “Purposeful togetherness”: Theorising gender and ageing through creative events. In: Events and Sustainability. Routledge, pp. 270-286.

  • Wood EH (2017) The value of events and festivals in the age of austerity. In: Andersson TD; Getz D; Lundberg E; Armbrecht J ed. The Value of Events. Taylor & Francis,

  • Wood EH; Long P (2009) Great Yorkshire Shows: Event Tourism in Yorkshire. In: Thomas R ed. Managing Regional Tourism: A case study of Yorkshire England. Bradford: Great Northern Books,

  • Wood EH; Thomas R (2008) Festivals and tourism in rural economies. In: Ali-McKnight J; Robertson M; Fyall A; Lakin A ed. International Perspectives on Festivals and Events: Paradigms and Analysis. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann,

  • Wood EH; Kornilaki M (2010) Then and now: The changing landscape of local authority events. In: Global Events Congress.

  • Wood EH (2010) Event Sustainability: The host community perspective. In: European Cities Marketing.

  • Wood EH; Kenyon A (2017) Exploring the festival lived experience: A basis for social marketing interventions promoting responsible alcohol consumption.

  • Wood EH; Kenyon A; Moss J (2012) Researching Gen Y in their natural habitat: Experience and emotion, music and drink.

  • Wood EH (2010) This is how I feel, this is how I felt: Experience sampling at promotional events.

  • Wood EH; Kinnunen M; Moss J; Li Y (2023) Shared Festival Tourism Experiences: The Power and Purpose of Remembering Together. Journal of Travel Research, pp. 1-19.

    https://doi.org/10.1177/00472875231158591

  • Kinnunen M; Wood E; Li Y; Moss J (2022) Self-recorded conversations in tourism memory research. Annals of Tourism Research, 96

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2022.103457

  • Wood EH; Yaning Li N; Thomas R (2017) Innovation implementation: harmony and conflict in Chinese modern music festivals. Tourism Management, 63 pp. 87-99.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2017.06.009

  • Thomas R; Wood E (2015) The absorptive capacity of tourism organisations. Annals of Tourism Research, 54 pp. 84-99.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2015.06.004

  • Wood EH; Moss J (2015) Capturing emotions: experience sampling at live music events. Arts and the Market, 5 (1), pp. 45-72.

    https://doi.org/10.1108/AM-02-2013-0002

  • Li YN; Wood EH (2014) Music festival motivation in China: free the mind. Leisure Studies, 35 (3), pp. 332-351.

    https://doi.org/10.1080/02614367.2014.962588

  • Thomas R; Wood E (2014) Innovation in tourism: Re-conceptualising and measuring the absorptive capacity of the hotel sector. Tourism Management, 45 pp. 39-48.

    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2014.03.012

  • Wood EH (2009) An impact evaluation framework: Local government community festivals. Event Management, 12 (3-4), pp. 171-185.

    https://doi.org/10.3727/152599509789659768

  • Wood EH (2009) Evaluating Event Marketing: Experience or outcome?. Journal of Promotion Management: innovations in planning and applied research, 15 (1), pp. 247-268.

  • Wood EH (2009) The Potential Impacts of Community Festivals: An evaluation framework. Event Management: an international journal, 12 (3), pp. 171-185.

  • Kenvon AJ; Wood EH; Parsons A (2008) Exploring the audience's role: A decoding model for the 21st century. Journal of Advertising Research, 48 (2),

    http://www.jar.warc.com/ArticleCenter/default.asp?ID=88096&Type=Article

  • Kenyon AJ; Wood EH; Parsons A (2008) Exploring the Audience's Role: A decoding model for the 21st century. , 48 (2), pp. 276-286.

  • Wood EH (2006) The internal predictors of business performance in small firms. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 13 (3), pp. 441-453.

    https://doi.org/10.1108/14626000610680299

  • Wood EH (2005) Measuring the economic and social impacts of local authority events. International Journal of Public Sector Management, 18 (1), pp. 37-53.

    https://doi.org/10.1108/09513550510576143

  • Wood EH; Pugh C (2004) The Strategic Use of Events within Local Government: A Study of London Borough Councils. Event Management: an international journal, 9 (1), pp. 61-71.

  • Slater A; Wood EH eds. Wood EH; slater A (2015) The Festival and Event Experience. Publication 127 Esatbourne: Leisure Studies Association.

  • Masterman G; Wood E (2012) Innovative Marketing Communications. Routledge.

  • Hoffman KD; Bateson JEG; Wood EH; Kenyon A (2010) Services Marketing: Concepts, Strategies & Cases. London: Cengage Learning.