More options do not always create perceived variety in life: Attracting new residents with quality- vs. quantity-oriented event portfolios

• Explores event portfolios' impact on perceptions of variety in life.
• Quality portfolios provide more perceived variety in life than quantity portfolios.
• Portfolio effect on likelihood-to-move is mediated by perceived variety in life.
• Portfolio strategy on perceived variety in life is not moderated by type of event.
• Portfolio strategy on perceived variety in life is moderated by city size.

Event portfolios are playing an increasingly important role in shaping and influencing city attractiveness. With competition for talented and qualified residents on the rise, cities can use their event portfolio as a strategic tool to attract new residents by providing them with higher levels of perceived variety in life. The aim of this paper is to empirically explore for the first time the impact different event portfolio strategies can have on perceptions of variety in life and on likelihood-to-move to another city. The findings reveal that quality-oriented event portfolios (i.e., portfolios focusing on few, but primarily international top-events) were more promising for attracting new residents than quantity-oriented portfolios (i.e., portfolios focusing on diverse, but primarily local and non-top-events) by offering them higher levels of perceived variety in life. Furthermore, the superior effect of quality-oriented event portfolios is partially stronger for residents living in large cities, but is not moderated by the type of event offered in the portfolio (i.e., sport vs. culture events).