Tourism Management Perspectives 14 (2015) 1–2

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Tourism Management Perspectives

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tmp

Research note

Can a sport mega-event support hosting city's economic, socio-cultural

and political development?
Rosa Caiazza a,⁎, David Audretsch b,c
a
Parthenope University of Naples, Italy
b
Indiana University, United States
c
WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management, Germany

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Sport mega-events have been shown to affect the hosting city in many ways. Hosting this kind of event can
Received 5 December 2014 elevate city's global image and accelerate its economical, socio-cultural and political development. The aim of
Accepted 11 January 2015 this article is to investigate the pre- and post-perceptions of positive and negative aspects of a sport mega-
Available online xxxx
event for resident of Naples. Face-to-face interviews were conducted to analyze residents' perceptions of positive
and negative aspects of hosting a sport mega-event. Statistically significant differences were found between pre-
Keywords:
Tourism
and post-event perceptions concerning economical, socio-cultural and political factors. Empirical results of this
Management study can be used as a theoretical base for explaining how a sporting mega-event can support social
Sport mega-events development.
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Sport mega-events “Giro d'Italia”. Responses to the items were measured on 7-point Likert-
type. Paired t-tests were computed to confirm the factor's internal
Sport mega-events are exceptional sporting events with an interna- consistency and to identify differences between positive and negative
tional scale that are hosted in a particular city. The literature identifies items and residents' opinions between the two sets of data.
economic, socio-cultural and political benefits of hosting a sport mega-
event for both the city and its residents. Many authors indicate that the
3. The Giro d'Italia
immediate success of a sport mega-event can be evident through its per-
ception by local residents (Lindberg & Johnson, 1997). Residents' expecta-
The Giro d'Italia is an annual stage bicycle race held in Italy. In order
tions are likely to be derived from their own knowledge and value system
to evaluate the success of the event, we collected data regarding the
as the social representation theory suggests (Kim, Gursoy, & Lee, 2006).
expectations and perceptions of economic, socio-cultural and political
However, their perception can be influenced by the combined marketing
effects of the event. The data concerning the demographic profile of
activities of local actors such as the media, government agencies and pol-
our study's respondents indicated that most of the people interested
icy makers. Consequently, initial expectations serve as a reference point
in the race were male (61% and 58%), aged 19–29 (38% and 37%), and
for the evaluation of the event (Snaith & Haley, 1999). Residents evaluate
students (39% and 40%) mostly of college (75% and 73%).
the event after it has passed. Marketing activities can affect disparity
To examine the dimensions underlying the positive and negative im-
between pre- and post-event perceptions, modifying resident percep-
pact scales, a component factor analysis was undertaken (Table 1). The
tions of mega-events and their behavior for the future (Tosun, 2002). If
items related to positive and negative aspects were factor analyzed sepa-
outcomes fall below the reference points of residents, then the mega-
rately. Then paired t-tests were performed to identify if respondents' per-
event will generate negative perceptions, while outcomes above the
ceptions of positive and negative impact factors were different than their
reference points of residents generate positive perceptions (Fig. 1).
expectations (Table 2). Paired t-tests were computed to confirm the

2. Analysis Before Sport mega-event Post

The population of interest in this research is residents in Naples. Eighty Marketing

questionnaires were submitted to residents of Naples before and after Resident Cost Resident
Expectation Benefit Perception
⁎ Corresponding author at: PhD Professor at Parthenope University of Naples, via
Generale Parisi 13, Napoli 80132, Italy. Tel.: +39 340362793.
E-mail address: rosa.caizza@uniparthenope.it (R. Caiazza). Fig. 1. Residents' expectations and perceptions of sport mega-events.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2015.01.001
2211-9736/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
2 R. Caiazza, D. Audretsch / Tourism Management Perspectives 14 (2015) 1–2

Table 1 Respondents indicated that after the event, the level of interest had
Factor analysis of positive and negative factors. decreased. Before the games, residents held some expectations of the
Positive factors Factor Communalities Mean St.Dev economic, socio-cultural and political benefits for their communities,
loadings although they were aware of the fact that these benefits would come
Economic with a cost.
Increase temporary job 0.55 0.61 5.54 1.35 Even though the perceptions before and after the event are not very
Increase hotel activity 0.81 0.77 5.92 1.26 different, host city residents were more likely to feel that a sporting
Increase shops activity 0.64 0.69 5.69 1.13
event has negative impacts on the economy, socio-cultural and political
Increase restaurant 0.86 0.80 6.14 1.26
activity aspects. In particular, the gap score of economic and socio-cultural prob-
lems indicated that these problems were noticed during the games.
Socio-cultural
However, political issues were the most evident problems during the
Increase interaction 0.69 0.61 4.79 1.31
between cultures Giro. Before the games, residents held the perception that the games
Increase interest in sport 0.56 0.51 4.05 1.25 would result in a large benefit for the community. After the games,
events residents realized that the benefits generated were significantly less
Provide an incentive for 0.46 0.47 5.20 1.17 than they expected. Consequently, residents treated the outcomes as
the preservation of local
losses because they were not significant enough to justify the expense.
beauties
Provide an incentive for 0.71 0.67 5.14 1.15 Although sporting events may make a great contribution to positive
the preservation of local publicity or to the image of Naples, tourism policy-makers should
traditions understand that residents are more concerned about their day-by-day
Political problems related to employment and crime.
Increase political 0.43 0.51 4.23 1.26
attention to realize References
touristic structures
Increase political 0.58 0.52 4.38 1.38 Kim, H. J., Gursoy, D., & Lee, S. -B. (2006). The impact of the 2002 world cup on South
attention to invest in Korea: Comparisons of pre- and post-games. Tourism Management, 27(1), 86–96.
Naples Lindberg, K., & Johnson, R. L. (1997). Modelling resident attitudes toward tourism. Annals
Increase political 0.77 0.52 4.38 1.38 of Tourism Research, 24(2), 402–424.
attention to Snaith, T., & Haley, A. (1999). Residents' opinions of tourism development in the historic
sport-events city of York, England. Tourism Management, 20(1), 595–603.
Tosun, C. (2002). Host perceptions of impacts: A comparative tourism study. Annals of
Improve Naples' 0.66 0.57 4.53 4.31
Tourism Research, 29(1), 231e245.
politicians image
Eigenvalue 2.18 7.70 1.70
Variance explained 9.51 34.3 7.10 Rosa Caiazza is Professor of Management at Parthenope
Reliability coefficient 0.84 0.84 0.80 University of Naples. She was a visiting researcher at
Univeristè Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium) and at Wharton
Negative factors University of Pennsylvania (USA). Her research interests
concern corporate and business strategies, internationaliza-
Economic tion, cross-cultural management, M&A and corporate
Increase the prices 0.85 0.74 2.82 1.46 governance. She won the Best Paper Award 2008 at “The
of services Global Management & Information Technology Research
Increase the prices 0.86 0.75 2.65 1.51 Conference” of New York. She was the chairman of some
of goods “EIASM Workshops on Cross-border M&A: Challenges and
Opportunities in Global Business Environment”. She wrote
Socio-cultural many articles on business strategies, internationalization,
Crime and vandalism 0.72 0.54 4.31 1.44 M&A and corporate governance.
Cultural clash 0.47 0.57 4.11 1.46

Political
David Audretsch is a Distinguished Professor and Ameritech
Traffic problems 0.46 0.57 4.10 1.45 Chair of Economic Development at Indiana University, where
Incorrect use of public 0.71 0.54 4.30 1.44 he also serves as Director of the Institute for Development
founds Strategies. He also is an Honorary Professor of Industrial
Eigenvalue 1.39 1.12 1.11 Economics and Entrepreneurship at the WHU-Otto Beisheim
Variance explained 15.5 12.4 12.3 School of Management in Germany. In addition, he serves as
Reliability coefficient 0.72 0.71 0.70 a Visiting Professor at the King Saud University in Saudi
Arabia, Honorary Professor at the Friedrich Schiller Universi-
ty of Jena in Germany, and is a Research Fellow of the Centre
for Economic Policy Research in London. Audretsch's
research has focused on the links between entrepreneurship,
factor's internal consistency and to identify differences between positive government policy, innovation, economic development and
and negative items and residents' opinions between the two sets of data. global competitiveness. His research has been published in
The findings of this study revealed that residents' expectations and over one hundred scholarly articles in the leading academic
journals. His books include Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth, with Oxford Univer-
perceptions of the impact of the Giro d'Italia are not highly different.
sity Press in 2006 and The Entrepreneurial Society, also with Oxford University Press in
2007. He is co-founder and co-editor of Small Business Economics: An Entrepreneurship
Journal. He was awarded the 2001 Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research by the
Table 2
Swedish Foundation for Small Business Research. In 2008, he received an honorary
Evaluating residents' perceptions. doctorate degree from the University of Augsburg, and in September, 2010 he received
an honorary doctorate degree from Jonkoeping University. He is a member of the Advisory
Positive factors 1st 2nd t-Value P-value
Board to a number of international research and policy institutes, including the Deutsches
Economic 5.81 5.66 2.17 0.031 Institut fuer Wirtschaftsforschung (German Institute for Economic Analysis), the Basque
Socio-cultural 4.72 4.62 1.84 0.068 Institute for Competitiveness, and the Swedish Entrepreneurship Forum.
Political 4.37 4.29 1.02 0.312

Negative factors

Economic 2.58 2.55 0.37 0.713

Socio-cultural 4.18 4.15 0.61 0.560
Political 4.18 4.13 0.59 0.557