A brand’s presence at a concert, festival or sporting event can carry through into the decisions attendees make after interacting with it. In The Live Effect 2026 study, published by AEG Global Partnerships, 74% of respondents said they had made a purchase decision after interacting with a brand at a live event. A broader indicator of audience response comes from the finding that 87% took some form of action following brand exposure at an event. These two figures describe different outcomes: a purchase decision and a wider range of responses to a brand’s presence.
For advertisers, how much their presence stands out in such an environment also matters. According to respondents, 58% find brands at live events easier to notice than advertising elsewhere, while 56% feel that brands associated with these events are more likely to stay in their memory. The findings thus connect sponsorship visibility with recall, rather than reducing the value of a brand’s presence to attendance figures alone.
Part of the explanation lies in the value audiences place on the experience itself. Four in five respondents, or 80%, believe that an event’s atmosphere can only be experienced in person, while 78% say live events have left them with lasting memories. For brands investing in sponsorships, this offers an opportunity to be associated with an experience audiences want to remember.
Spending, meanwhile, begins before entering the event and encompasses much more than the ticket. More than half of attendees’ total event-related spending goes towards travel, food and drink, accommodation and merchandise. At the same time, 77% of respondents consider the money spent on their most recent event to have been well spent, while 79% would make the same purchase again. This gives sponsors opportunities to connect with audiences through the services associated with attending an event.
Paul Samuels, President, Global Partnerships at AEG International, emphasises precisely this investment of time, attention and money that accompanies event attendance. According to him, brands that enhance the experience can achieve stronger recall, greater audience affinity and a stronger influence on consumer behaviour.
The new edition expands on research that focused on the UK market in 2025. The survey was conducted in August 2026 among 12,098 adults from the US, UK, France and Germany who had attended a live event in the previous 12 months.
