The core reason is the intention-action gap: people register when attending feels easy and low-cost, but showing up requires a second decision - one that must compete with everything else on their schedule by the time the event arrives.

Why intent decays between registration and the event

At registration, the decision is simple. The attendee clicks a button, fills out a form - maybe a 30-second commitment. There's no immediate trade-off. They're not yet giving up an evening, a lunch break, or attention they could spend elsewhere.

But attendance requires a second decision. When the event date arrives, the attendee has to decide whether this event still deserves time. If the value proposition has faded, if the event isn't in their calendar, if no reminder has surfaced it - the event loses to more urgent priorities.

The most common contributing factors

No calendar block - without a calendar entry, the event is invisible when the person is planning their day. An event in an inbox competes with hundreds of other messages. An event on the calendar competes directly with other scheduled commitments.

Vague or forgotten value - the reason someone signed up may feel remote by the event date. Reminder communications need to re-anchor the original value, not just announce "reminder: event tonight."

Free events - lower friction at signup means lower commitment. The cost of abandoning a free event is zero. Paid events create accountability through sunk cost. Free events need stronger post-registration engagement to compensate.

Long lead times - the longer the gap between registration and the event, the more opportunity for intent to erode. Events booked three months in advance need more nurture than events booked 48 hours ahead.

The fix that works most reliably

Get attendees to add the event to their calendar immediately at the point of registration - before the intent decays. AddEvent's confirmation page and confirmation email include an Add to Calendar button for this exact reason.