TABLE 1: Comparison of 2007, 2011, 2014, and 2017 Irish Fair of Minnesota attendee information sources 2007 (%) 2011 (%) 2014 (%) 2017 (%) Statistics (n=395) (n=532) (n=475) (n=471) χ 2 Sig. Irish community Irish bar/restaurant 8.1 9.8 7.2 5.3 7.34 0.062 Irish Gazette NA 5.8 4.4 2.3 7.51 0.023 * Word of mouth NA 46.6 42.9 48.8 5.37 0.252 Traditional media Pioneer Press ad 9.9 8.5 7.6 3.0 18.29 <0.0005 ** TV 11.9 8.3 11.8 12.3 5.53 0.137 Radio 12.2 6.8 5.9 5.1 18.82 <0.0005 ** Poster/flyer 4.3 5.3 3.8 3.4 2.45 0.485 Online Irish Fair website NA 11.3 12.2 11.7 0.21 0.900 Facebook NA 6.6 9.5 23.4 69.90 <0.0005 ** Other 11.6 25.6 27.6 5.5 110.17 <0.0005 ** * p ≤ .05, ** p ≤ .0005. Attendees across the four years differed in average age, generational composition, gender composition, and income (Table 2). The 2011 Irish Fair respondents were significantly younger than those in 2007 and 2014 ( F =5.31, p <0.005). Attendees’ average age was 43 years old in 2011 and 47 years old in both 2007 and 2014. However, given that respondents are within the same decade, the meaningfulness of this difference is in question. Generation-wise, there was a strong increase in the percentage of millennials ( 2 =64.14, p <0.0005), as they came of age in the past decade. At the same time, there was a sizable decrease in the percentage of baby boomers. Members of Gen X, as well as the Greatest and Silent generations, showed steady percentages for attendance. In 2014 and 2017, more females answered the questionnaire than in 2007 and 2011 ( 2 =9.79, p <0.05). Distribution of attendees in various income categories also differed across the four surveys ( 2 =32.15, p <0.005). In 2017, the number of respondents in the less than $25,000 income category decreased, and the number in the $50,000-99,999 category increased. Meanwhile, the percentage of respondents with Irish heritage stayed at approximately two-thirds of the sample, and the sample was predominately White and non-Hispanic across all four surveys.
2021 NET Conference Proceedings
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