A longitudinal study of Olympic Games’ impact on the image of a host country

ABSTRACT

This study tracked the change in Brazil’s image due to hosting a mega event. The authors measured perceptions of Brazil before and at three points in time after the 2016 Summer Olympics. The findings revealed some differences in the country image but no significant changes in destination image or Olympics image over time. This may indicate how difficult it is to change people’s perceptions positively in a world filled with negative media coverage, such as what Brazil received leading up to and during the Olympics. For DMOs, controlling the media narrative is more important than ever when forming the destination image.

KEYWORDS:

• Olympic Games
• destination image
• country image
• mega event image
• image change
• sports events

Acknowledgments

The authors owe special thanks to the Rosen College of Hospitality Management for the Research Grant that made this study possible.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Rosen College of Hospitality Management [N/A].