Inducing Destination Images Among International Audiences: The Differing Effects of Promoting Sport Events on the Destination Image of a City Around the World

in Journal of Sport Management

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Bob Heere University of North Texas

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Henry Wear Deakin University

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Adam Jones University of Brighton

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Tim Breitbarth Swinburne Business School

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Xiaoyan Xing Capital Institute for Physical Education and Sport

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Juan Luis Paramio Salcines Universidad Autonoma de Madrid

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Masayuki Yoshida Hosei University

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Inge Derom Vrije Universiteit Brussel

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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1123/jsm.2018-0101
Keywords:
destination image formation; sport as cultural product; sport leverage
In Print:
Volume 33: Issue 6
Page Range:
506–517
Restricted access

The purpose of this study is to examine how effective the international promotion of a sport event is on changing the destination image prior to the event if the sport event lacks global popularity. The authors conducted a quasi-experimental posttest research design, in which they used promotional information of a Tour de France stage to manipulate the destination image nonvisitors (N = 3,505) from nine different nations have of the hosting city, 5 months prior to the actual event. Results show that treating the international market as a homogeneous entity might be deceptive, as the effect of the event was different from nation to nation, pending on the popularity of the event or sport in the specific nation, and whether the nation itself offered similar events.

Heere is with the University of North Texas, Denton, TX. Wear is with Deakin University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Jones is with the University of Brighton, Brighton, United Kingdom. Breitbarth is with Swinburne Business School, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Xing is with the Capital Institute for Physical Education and Sport, Beijing, China. Paramio Salcines is with Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain. Yoshida is with Hosei University, Machida, Japan. Derom is with Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.

Heere (bob.heere@unt.edu) is corresponding author.
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