Identity and Image: Basic Measures

Pride

National and civic pride are particularly important in times of economic uncertainty and help to reinforce our resilience.1  Events are often cited by event organisers and promoters as catalysts for improving local residents' self-image of the community in which they live and for making a positive contribution to their quality of life.  Research has shown that hosting a major event can have a significant impact on national pride.2

Pride - Event Attendees

If civic/national pride is an important outcome to event organisers then, at a basic level, we recommend that the evaluation of pride should focus specifically on event attendees (e.g. spectators) residing in the host area and/or nation. This can be expressed in terms of the percentage of such attendees who report that an event has:

It is relatively straightforward to capture the data required for these indicators using either a face-to-face survey of attendees during an event or via a post event survey should contact details of attendees be available to organisers.     

As part of the research undertaken with spectators at seven UK Sport funded sports events in 2014 which utilised a face-to-face survey, local attendees were asked whether they felt proud that the event was being staged in the host area.  Responses to the statement "I feel proud that [the host area] is staging [the event]" were captured on a five point scale (strongly agree - agree - disagree - strongly disagree - don't know).  Civic pride was subsequently measured in terms of the proportion of strongly agree/agree responses.  At these events, UK spectators (including those residing in the host area) were also asked if they felt proud about the event being held in the UK.  The table below illustrates that the vast majority of local and UK respondents reported a sense of pride.

Civic and national pride statistics from selected sports events (% of local/UK respondents who reported that they felt proud about the event being held in the host area/UK)

Source: SIRC/UK Sport

Enhanced Image/Reputation

This dimension of the identity and image theme relates to impact that an event has on enhancing the image or reputation of a place from the perspective of people residing outside the host area/nation.  This may occur as a result of people visiting the host area/nation to attend an event, or as a consequence of an event being broadcast to audiences in domestic and overseas territories.  The latter is particularly relevant to large scale events where host areas and venues receive considerable media exposure.

Enhanced Image/Reputation - Event Attendees

Assuming that enhancing the image of a place is important to event stakeholders, data from event attendees can be collected at or following an event in order to quantify the proportion of non-local people who report that an event:

• had a positive effect on their perception of the host area;
• has had a positive effect on their decision to re-visit the host area and recommend the place to others; and/or
• enhanced their perception of the host area as a good area to live, visit and do business.

Some recommended sample questions to pose to event attendees from outside the host area for assessing these indicators are outlined below.  The questions can be customised to reflect the location in which an event is held and the aspects of interest to event stakeholders.

• Have your experiences of this event left you with a more positive perception of the HOST AREA (e.g. city, region, country) as an EVENT / VISITOR destination?
• Based on your experiences of this event, how likely are you to return to the HOST AREA for a short break or for leisure in the NEXT YEAR?
• Based on your experiences of this event, how likely are you to recommend the HOST AREA as a PLACE TO VISIT to friends and family?

Questions relating to someone's intention to revisit a host area within a certain timeframe after an event's conclusion have been well used at major sports events.  For example, spectator surveys undertaken at The Ryder Cup 2014 found that:

• Some 68% of spectators visiting Scotland were likely to return in the next year for a short break or leisure, based on experiences during their trip to The Ryder Cup. 
• 84% of visitors to Scotland would recommend Scotland to friends and family as a visitor destination.

Similar questions were also asked by the Commonwealth Games 2014 Visitor Impact Study survey, according to which3:

• 57% of visitors who lived outside Glasgow stated that they would ‘definitely’ return to the city in the next 5 years.
• 32% of visitors who had not been to Glasgow stated that they would definitely return to the city in the next 5 years.

Data from some major events in London at which questions linked to image/reputation have been employed is shown in the table below.  The relevant questions at these events were presented as a series of statements and respondents residing outside London were asked to express their level of agreement/disagreement with each statement.

Percentage who strongly agreed or agreed with the statement about each indicator

Source: SIRC / UK Sport

Some of these indicators provide an insight into the potential longer term impacts of an event on tourism.  Whether or not such visits materialise requires longitudinal follow-up research.  This is not recommended for small or medium sized events but is something that stakeholders associated with larger events might perhaps be interested in.

1. http://www.gov.scot/Topics/ArtsCultureSport/Sport/MajorEvents/Glasgow-2014/Commonwealth-games/Indicators/C9

2. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167487009001214

3. http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0048/00482151.pdf