• Korean Association of Arts Management
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• no.54
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• pp.59-93
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• 2020

The development of digital technology has made consumers more knowledgeable about products than ever before. In this regard, experts have defined consumers in the digital age as knowledge seekers and pointed out that they are proficient in acquiring and sharing product knowledge prior to purchase. For service goods such as musicals, product prior knowledge executes strong effect due to such characteristics as intangibility, inseparabilit y,and heterogeneity. Prior studies in the field of performing arts, including musicals, have revealed that the prior knowledge of the audience has a positive effect on the satisfaction of the audience and WOM(word-of-mouth) intention. However, studies in the marketing field argue that consumers' high prior knowledge may have a negative impact on customer satisfaction and product evaluation depending on conditions, as they are more likely to compare, review, and expect products more closely. Therefore, in this study, we tried to identify under what conditions the musical prior knowledge enhances audience satisfaction and WOM intention. According to the results of previous studies, a mediating effect model was established in which the musical prior knowledge enhances the WOM intention through the mediation of the audience satisfaction. Then, Transportation was introduced as a mediation variable and it was verified whether the level changed the audience satisfaction and WOM intention. The reason for the introduction of the transportation construct reflects the results of previous research that the story is important component of musical. The results showed that the musical prior knowledge has a significant effect on WOM intention through the mediation of audience satisfaction. The moderating effect of transport was also significant on the relationship between musical prior knowledge and audience satisfaction. Lastly, through moderated-mediation analysis, it was confirmed that transportation moderates the mediating effect that prior knowledge affects on the WOM intention through audience satisfaction. Based on the results, we demonstrated that a musical story is fairly important to satisfy audiences with high prior knowledge. This study could contribute to the related filed in that it introduced the transportation construct for the first time, thereby broadening the understanding of the musical audiences in the era of smart consumers.