Did Olympic Games Influence the Image of South Korea?: Destination Image

Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Jeeyeon Hahm,  Asli D.A. Tasci,  Deborah Breiter Terry  

Attention to mega sports events has been on the rise due to their potential economic, technical, physical, social, cultural, psychological, and political benefits for host destinations (Marris, 1987). Researchers are in consensus on the potential impacts of mega events on destination image due to enhanced media coverage of such events (Echtner & Ritchie, 1993; Florek & Insch, 2011; Gallarza, Saura, & Garcı́a, 2002; Tasci & Gartner, 2007). Many studies have been conducted to test the bidirectional influences among mega event image, destination image, and country image (e.g., Deng & Li, 2013; Florek, Breitbarth, & Conejo, 2008; Hahm, Tasci, & Breiter Terry, 2018; Kaplanidou & Gibson, 2010; Martínez & Alvarez, 2010). Few studies have measured image change due to mega events (e.g., Ritchie & Smith, 1991; King, Chen, & Funk, 2015; Li & Vogelsong, 2006; Suh, 1996); however, the image change and its stability due to large-scale events has not been substantiated with systematic and longitudinal studies. The current study tracked the image change in South Korea’s country image and destination due to hosting the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang. A quasi-experimental design was conducted with five groups with very similar characteristics in an online platform. Using Qualtrics, a structured survey was designed to investigate country image, destination image, and the Olympics image before and after the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea. The last round of measurement is currently underway. The results will be shared at the conference.