The Power of Reputation: A Case Study on Artistic Directors of Austria's Music Festivals

Reputation represents the standing of a person or organisation in the public field and illustrates/marks their contribution towards the implementation of collectively shared values and goals. From a business point of view, reputation belongs to the intangible assets of a company and is therefore part of the goodwill. Especially, the leader of an organisation—particularly in a cultural enterprise—shapes the external public image of the organisation, studies the impact of the image on the public consciousness by assessing public opinion about the organisation's achievements and consequently also gauges the economic and/or artistic success of the organisation.

Based on the statements of experts about music festivals of high culture in Austria alongside the big players such as Salzburg or Bregenz Festival, the aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship between reputation of artistic directors (ADs) and the performance of cultural enterprises. It will also be demonstrated how the reputation of these individuals has an impact on tourism, hospitality and trade in the vicinity of cultural enterprises.