Media Presentations of Olympic Victories and Nation-Related Identification Among Viewers: The Influence of Emotions Induced by Sportscasts

in International Journal of Sport Communication

Click name to view affiliation

Michael Mutz Institute of Sport Science, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Kugelberg, Giessen, Germany

Search for other papers by Michael Mutz in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
*
and
Markus Gerke Institute of Sport Science, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Kugelberg, Giessen, Germany

Search for other papers by Markus Gerke in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed Close
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsc.2021-0103
Keywords:
Olympic games; nationalism; national pride; mega sport events
First Published Online:
14 Feb 2022
In Print:
Volume 15: Issue 2
Page Range:
117–126
Restricted access

This study uses experimental methods to assess the causal effect of media presentations on viewer’s emotions, national identification, and nation-related values. In three experiments covering marginal sports disciplines, viewers watched broadcasts of compatriots winning an Olympic gold medal, either featuring emotional and partisan reporting styles or a neutral audio commentary. Findings show that those exposed to the partisan commentary experienced heightened emotions; identified more strongly with their nation; exhibited more patriotism and nationalism; and ascribed positive values (e.g., achievement, diligence) more strongly to their home country than did viewers in the control group. These results suggest that the broadcasting styles influence viewers’ emotions, attitudes, and collective identifications beyond the effects of the sporting competition itself.

Gerke https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8938-7456

Gerke is now with the Department of Sociology, Middlebury College, VT, USA.

  • Collapse
  • Expand

International Journal of Sport Communication

Cover International Journal of Sport Communication

  • Angelini, J.R., Billings, A.C., & MacArthur, P.J. (2012). The nationalistic revolution will be televised: The 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games on NBC. International Journal of Sport Communication, 5(2), 193–209. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijsc.5.2.193

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Angelini, J.R., MacArthur, P.J., Reichart Smith, L., & Billings, A.C. (2017). Nationalism in the United States and Canadian primetime broadcast coverage of the 2014 Winter Olympics. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 52(7), 779–800. https://doi.org/10.1177/1012690215619205

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Atwell, S.A., Ma, R., Iles, I., McCloskey, T., & Parry-Giles, S. (2017). “This is who we are!” National identity construction and the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Communication & Sport, 5(4), 428–447. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167479516636638

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Bie, B., & Billings, A.C. (2015). “Too good to be true?” US and Chinese media coverage of Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen in the 2012 Olympic Games. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 50(7), 785–803. https://doi.org/10.1177/1012690213495746

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Billig, M. (1995). Banal Nationalism. Sage.

  • Billings, A., Angelini, J., MacArthur, P., Reichart Smith, L., & Vincent, J. (2014). Fanfare for the American: NBC’s prime-time broadcast of the 2012 London Olympiad. Electronic News, 8(2), 101–119. https://doi.org/10.1177/1931243114546447

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Billings, A.C., & Angelini, J.R. (2007). Packaging the Games for viewer consumption: Gender, ethnicity, and nationality in NBC’s coverage of the 2004 Summer Olympics. Communication Quarterly, 55(1), 95–111. https://doi.org/10.1080/01463370600998731

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Billings, A.C., Xu, Q., Angelini, J.A., & MacArthur, P.J. (2018). Lost in translation—And transmission: Contrasting Chinese and U.S. gymnastics television coverage in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. Communication Reports, 31(3), 159–173. https://doi.org/10.1080/08934215.2018.1434554

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Blank, T., & Schmidt, P. (2003). National identity in a united Germany: Nationalism or patriotism? An empirical test with representative data. Political Psychology, 24(2), 289–312. https://doi.org/10.1111/0162-895X.00329

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Bradshaw, S., & Kenski, K. (2019). Social identity and group emotion: Media effects and support for military intervention. International Journal of Communication, 13, 2535–2555.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Choi, Y.T. (2010). Media exposure on WBC, perception of the Japanese national team, and purchasing attitude on Japanese products. Korean Journal of Broadcasting, 24, 293–333.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Cui, X. (2013). Media events are still alive: The opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics as a media ritual. International Journal of Communication, 7, 1220–1235.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • D’Angelo, P. (2002). News framing as a multiparadigmatic research program: A response to Entman. Journal of Communication, 52(4), 870–888.

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Dayan, D., & Katz, E. (2009). Media events: The live broadcasting of history. Harvard University Press. (Original work published 1992)

  • Durkheim, E. (1995). The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. (E. K. Fields, Trans.). Free Press. (Original work published 1912)

  • Elling, A., van Hilvoorde, I., & van den Dool, R. (2014). Creating or awakening national pride through sporting success: A longitudinal study on macro effects in the Netherlands. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 49(2), 129–151. https://doi.org/10.1177/1012690212455961

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Fan, M., Billings, A., Zhu, X., & Yu, P. (2020). Twitter-based BIRGing: Big data analysis of English national team fans during the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Communication & Sport, 8(3), 317–345. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167479519834348

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Gassmann, F., Haut, J., & Emrich, E. (2019). The effect of the 2014 and 2018 FIFA World Cup tournaments on German national pride. A natural experiment. Applied Economics Letters, 27(19), 1541–1545. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2019.1696448

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Gross, K. (2008). Framing persuasive appeals: Episodic and thematic framing, emotional response, and policy opinion. Political Psychology, 29(2), 169–192. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9221.2008.00622.x

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Gross, K., & D’Ambrosio, L. (2004). Framing emotional response. Political Psychology, 25(1), 1–29. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9221.2004.00354.x

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Hartmann, T., Stuke, D., & Daschmann, G. (2008). Positive parasocial relationships with drivers affect suspense in racing sport spectators. Journal of Media Psychology, 20(1), 24–34. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-1105.20.1.24

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Hatfield, E., Cacioppo, J.T., & Rapson, R.L. (1994). Emotional contagion. Cambridge University Press.

  • Hayashi, K., Curran, J., Kwak, S., Esser, F., Hallin, D.C., & Lee, C.-C. (2016). Pride and prejudice: A five-nation comparative study of television news coverage of the Olympics. Journalism Studies, 17(8), 935–951. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2015.1019550

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Hess, U., & Fischer, A. (2013). Emotional mimicry as social regulation. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 17(2), 142–157. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868312472607

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Horne, J. (2007). The four “knowns” of sports mega-events. Leisure Studies, 26(1), 81–96. https://doi.org/10.1080/02614360500504628

  • Inglehart, R., & Welzel, C. (2005). Modernization, cultural change, and democracy: The human development sequence. Cambridge University Press.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Ismer, S. (2011). Embodying the nation: Football, emotions, and the construction of collective identity. Nationalities Papers, 39(4), 547–565. https://doi.org/10.1080/00905992.2011.582864

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Ismer, S. (2016). Wie der Fußball Deutsche macht. [How soccer creates the German]. Campus.

  • Jacoby, W.G. (2000). Issue framing and public opinion on government spending. American Journal of Political Science, 44(4), 750–767. https://doi.org/10.2307/2669279

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Jones, M.V., Coffee, P., Sheffield, D., Yangüez, M., & Barker, J.B. (2012). Just a game? Changes in English and Spanish soccer fans’ emotions in the 2010 World Cup. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 13(2), 162–169. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2011.10.008

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Kepplinger, H.M., Geiss, S., & Siebert, S. (2012). Framing scandals: Cognitive and emotional media effects. Journal of Communication, 62(4), 659–681. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2012.01653.x

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Kim, H.J., & Cameron, G.T. (2011). Emotions matter in crisis: The role of anger and sadness in the publics’ response to crisis news framing and corporate crisis response. Communication Research, 38(6), 826–855. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650210385813

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Kunovich, R.M. (2009). The sources and consequences of national identification. American Sociological Review, 74(4), 573–593. https://doi.org/10.1177/000312240907400404

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Lecheler, S., Bos, L., & Vliegenthart, R. (2015). The mediating role of emotions: News framing effects on opinions about immigration. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 92(4), 812–838. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077699015596338

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Lecheler, S., Schuck, A.R.T., & de Vreese, C.H. (2013). Dealing with feelings: Positive and negative discrete emotions as mediators of framing effects. Communications, 38(2), 189–209. https://doi.org/10.1515/commun-2013-0011

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Lee, M., Lim, C.H., Yeo, I.-S., & Pedersen, P.M. (2015). The marketing of an international match in Asia: The effects of sport commentary and nationalistic sentiments on framing, priming, and consumer behavior. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 24, 235–245.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Lewis, N., & Weaver, A.J. (2015). More than a game: Sports media framing effects on attitudes, intentions, and enjoyment. Communication & Sport, 3(2), 219–242. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167479513508273

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Ličen, S., & Billings, A. (2012). Affirming nationality in transnational circumstances: Slovenian coverage of continental franchise sports competitions. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 48(8), 751–767. https://doi.org/10.1177/1012690212446821

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Meier, H.E., & Mutz, M. (2016). Sport-related national pride in East and West Germany, 1992–2008: Persistent differences or trends toward convergence? SAGE Open, 6(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244016665893

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Mills, B., & Rosentraub, M. (2013). Hosting mega-events: A guide to the evaluation of development effects in integrated metropolitan regions. Tourism Management, 34(1), 238–246. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2012.03.011

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Müller, M. (2015). What makes an event a mega-event? Definitions and sizes. Leisure Studies, 34(6), 627–642. https://doi.org/10.1080/02614367.2014.993333

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Mulligan, K., & Scherer, K.R. (2012). Toward a working definition of emotion. Emotion Review, 4(4), 345–357. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073912445818

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Mutz, M., & Gerke, M. (2018). Major sporting events and national identification: The moderating effect of emotional involvement and the role of the media. Communication & Sport, 6(5), 605–626. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167479517733447

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Mutz, M., & Gerke, M. (2019). Fußball und Nationalstolz in Deutschland [Soccer and national pride in Germany]. Springer VS.

  • Nabi, R.L. (2003). Exploring the framing effects of emotion. Communication Research, 30(2), 224–247. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650202250881

  • Nee, R.C. (2015). Gatekeeping the 2012 Olympic Games: Did #NBCfail the social media audience? Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 92(1), 77–98. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077699014560517

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Reeves, B., Yeykelis, L., & Cummings, J.J. (2016). The use of media in media psychology. Media Psychology, 19(1), 49–71. https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2015.1030083

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Russell, J. (1980). A circumplex model of affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39(6), 1161–1178. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0077714

  • Scott, O., Billings, A., Xu, Q., Sharpe S., & Lewis, M. (2019). Relaying Rio through an Australian gaze. Australian nationalistic broadcast focus in the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. Communication & Sport, 7(2), 198–220.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Shoemaker, P.J., Eichholz, M., Kim, E., & Wrigley, B. (2001). Individual and routine forces in gatekeeping. Journalism and Mass Communication Quaterly, 78(2), 233–246. https://doi.org/10.1177/107769900107800202

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Shoemaker, P.J., & Vos, T. (2009). Gatekeeping Theory (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203931653

  • Skey, M. (2006). Carnivals of surplus emotions? Toward an understanding of the significance of ecstatic nationalism in a globalising world. Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism, 6(2), 143–161. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1754-9469.2006.tb00154.x

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Tewksbury, D., & Scheufele, D. (2009). News framing theory and research. In J. Bryant & M.B. Oliver (Eds.), Media effects: Advances in theory and research (pp. 17–33). Routledge.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Valkenburg, P.M., Semetko, H.A., & de Vreese, C.H. (1999). The effects of news frames on readers’ thoughts and recall. Communication Research, 26(5), 550–569. https://doi.org/10.1177/009365099026005002

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Van Hilvoorde, I., Elling, A., & Stokvis, R. (2010). How to influence national pride? The Olympic medal index as a unifying narrative. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 45(1), 87–102. https://doi.org/10.1177/1012690209356989

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Vincent, J., Hill, J.S., Billings, A., Harris, J., & Massey, C.D. (2018). We are GREAT Britain: British newspaper narratives during the London 2012 Olympic Games. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 53(8), 895–923. https://doi.org/10.1177/1012690217690345

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Von Scheve, C., Beyer, M., Ismer, S., Kozlowska, M., & Morawetz, C. (2014). Emotional entrainment, national symbols, and identification: A naturalistic study around the men’s Football World Cup. Current Sociology, 62(1), 3–23. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011392113507463

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Von Scheve, C., Ismer, S., Kozłowska, M., & Solms-Baruth, C. (2017). Rituals, emotional entrainment and national identification. Comparative Sociology, 16(5), 585–612. https://doi.org/10.1163/15691330-12341439

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Wann, D.L., Grieve, F.G., Zapalac, R.K., & Pease, D. (2008). Motivational profiles of sport fans of different sports. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 17(1), 6–19.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Watson, R. (2011). Go USA, go world: Nationalist and internationalist priming effects through Olympic telecasts [PhD Dissertation]. University of Missouri-Columbia.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Weiss, H., & Reinprecht, C. (1998). Demokratischer Patriotismus oder ethnischer Nationalismus in Ost-Mitteleuropa? [Democratic patriotism or ethnic nationalism in East-Middle-Europe?]. Böhlau.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Xu, Q., & Billings, A.C. (2020). The medal war in peacetime: Examining nationalistic notions embedded in CCTV’s coverage of gymnastics in the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics. Journal of Global Sport Management, 5(3), 243–261. https://doi.org/10.1080/24704067.2018.1493358

    • Crossref
    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
All Time Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 3319 1261 18
Full Text Views 191 160 21
PDF Downloads 57 15 1