ABSTRACT
The 2018 Taichung World Flora Exposition was the largest international tourism event hosted in Taiwan. Hosting governments aim to improve the well-being of residents and gain their support by hosting megaevents. However, few studies have examined the mediating role of subjective well-being by surveying the same group of residents before and after a megaevent. On the basis of social exchange and stakeholder theories, this study investigated the effect of residents’ perceived benefits and costs on subjective well-being and support for megaevents. Furthermore, changes in the perceptions and attitudes of residents before and after the event were assessed. Pre-event and postevent questionnaires were collected from 262 residents. The findings indicated that the effects of social benefits on subjective well-being were strengthened and the effect of social cost on subjective well-being was weakened as the event progressed. Moreover, subjective well-being mediated the relationship between perceived benefits and support for megaevents. This research extends current knowledge on event tourism and revealed changes in resident perceptions and attitudes before and after a megaevent. These findings could help governments and destination managers host megaevents and promote tourism development.
Acknowledgement
This research was supported by Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan (R.O.C.) (Program No: MOST 108-2410-H-025-001).
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).