Effects of Sport Event Media on Destination Image and Intention to Visit

Abstract

The effect of destination advertising and sport event media (advertising and telecast) were compared experimentally on nine dimensions of destination image and on intention to visit the host destination. Participants' images of Australia's Gold Coast were collected in the United States (long-haul market) and New Zealand (short-haul market) following exposure to one of eight media conditions. The event telecast, event advertising, and destination advertising each affected different dimensions of destination image. There was a wider array of effects in the American market than in the New Zealand market. Some effects of each form of media were negative, with event media having a negative impact on participants' image of the destination's natural environment. Destination image was significantly related to intention to visit the host destination, but the dimensions that affected intention to visit were different for the two countries. Among the New Zealand sample, the dimensions of destination image affected by event media and the destination advertisement were not those impacting intention to visit.