Experience Logic: The New Challenge for Trade Fairs

The present chapter applies the experience logic to the trade show (TS) sector by analyzing the role of the different stakeholders’ categories (exhibitors, organizers, visitors) in the transformation of trade shows into interactive and experiential platforms. Based on the complexity and the multiple facets characterizing the phenomenon of TSs, the starting objective of this work is to outline, through a review process, the main trends emerging from the recent (2010–2017) business and management international literature devoted to trade shows (TSs) and trade fairs (TFs). In the second part of the chapter, attention is focused on one of the trends identified in the literature review (i.e., the growing importance of the entertainment and experiential component in the TS management), and the main tasks, performed by the different categories of TS actors, are explored by discussing the review’s outcomes. The results of this work make different contributions to TS literature (identification of recent trade show papers, systematization of their main research focuses, and construction of a possible framework of synthesis) and to business management (identification of the main roles and tasks each category of TS participants is called to play in order to stage the trade fair experience).