Sporting, cultural and business events can become synonymous with the places that stage them, particularly when their relationships extend over many years.
That means public perceptions of an event can strongly influence perceptions of its host – and not just among event visitors or people who are exposed to it through the media: how local residents feel about their community as a place to live and work can be impacted too.
Being able to measure these effects has therefore become increasingly important as local and regional authority support for events has grown and civic pride has become a valuable source of community resilience in uncertain economic times.
What to measure
The primary focus of your efforts to assess the impact of an event on community pride should be residents of the host city, region or nation who attended the event. Relevant measures of outcomes are:
- Percentage of attendees who agree that the event has had a positive impact on their local community
- Percentage of attendees who agree that the event has promoted a sense of pride in how they feel about where they live
- Percentage of attendees who agree that the event has projected a positive image of the place as a good place to live, do business and visit
For larger events with a higher media profile, this evaluation can be widened to include residents of the host city, region or nation who did not attend the event. The OECD and ASIOF recommend using the following measures for this group:
- Percentage of local non-attendees proud of hosting the event (ASOIF reference SO-CE2.2)
- Change in percentage of community residents' reporting a perceived cohesion following the event
- Change in percentage of community residents' reporting a sense of local pride
The OECD considers these impacts to contribute towards the UN SDGs Reduced Inequalities (Goal 10.2) and Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions (Goal16).
Community impact: How to measure it
The indicators recommended above are based on data that can be collected through relatively simple surveys of event attendees and host community residents.
You can survey event attendees at the event or after it if they have agreed to share their contact information. Either method can capture pre-event baseline data by asking respondents how they felt or acted prior to the event. Responses relating to the event itself can be used as baseline data for measuring post-event change in opinion, attitude or behaviour.
Non-attendees can be reached through citizens panels, on social media or via omnibus surveys run by research companies. Going further, it is also possible to value the benefits people perceive they have gained from an event through a survey-based economic technique known as ‘contingent valuation’. This asks respondents how much they would be willing to pay for the benefit being considered, or what sum would they need to be offered to give it up.
Community event impact assessment in action
Case study: 2021 Rugby League World Cup
Case study: 2022 UEFA Women’s European Championships
Case study: 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships