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The purpose of this paper is to explore the perceptions of the residents of Beijing for the improvement of the tourist infrastructure after the Olympic Games. The study identifies factors affecting the inhabitants' perceptions about the tourist impact of the Olympic Games, and the development of special tourist types.

A group of 1,000 urban Beijing residents from different districts are personally interviewed on their perceptions about Beijing as a tourist destination. Their perceptions are measured on the basis of infrastructure improvements made for the Olympic Games, and the impact these improvements will have in Beijing as a post Olympic city.

The Olympic Games improve tourist infrastructure according to Beijing residents. Infrastructure for the Olympic Games affects the economic development of the Olympic city, as well as the touristic development of the city. The above mentioned factors lead to three clusters of residents, namely the eco tourism supporters, the linked tourism supporters, and the mainstream tourism supporters. These three groups with different characteristics are responsible for tourist improvement, additionally to the development of new tourist models mostly related to the Olympic Games infrastructure.

The improvement of tourist infrastructure in an Olympic City will attract different types of tourists who are not attached only to sports. Tourists interested in culture, in eco‐tourism, in linked tourism, and in mainstream tourism will also be attracted by an Olympic City. The outcomes of the study can be used by future Olympic cities in order to improve their image as a tourist destination.

There is limited research related to the impacts of the Olympic Games into the tourist industry. The present study identifies the impact of the Olympic infrastructure to different types of tourism. Different clusters of residents will provide valuable insights related to tourism stemming from the Olympic infrastructure.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and describe the key driving forces in international sponsorship during the years preceding the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

A “means‐objectives model” is applied, thereby linking sponsorship to brand equity factors and to strategic aims. Co‐branding, revenue streams and new customers are identified as means factors. The objective factors are presented in three dimensions: product, corporation and region. The analysis is based on 492 advertisements, articles and press releases collected from Chinese newspapers and Chinese official web pages covering the period 2001‐2007.

Analysis sees seven dominant means‐objectives combinations in sponsorship leading to different pattern of sponsor advertising strategies depending on the lead time to the Olympic Games. First, sponsors mainly focus on co‐branding marketing efforts. In the second stage, global Olympic sponsors link co‐branding with corporation image, Chinese brands are focusing on product/corporation image and new customers. In the third stage global Olympic sponsors focus more on local markets and customers in advertising. Chinese brands tend to keep an activation strategy based on revenue and product. Only a few local sponsors place emphasis on leveraging their sponsorship investment toward creating an international image.

Data collection is limited to a period of altogether three months in 2006 and 2007, focusing on Chinese print media available in Beijing and Shanghai universities' libraries. Given the size of the Chinese media market the data therefore consist only of a random selection of advertisements. Further, the sample does not cover different marketing channels, like TV, radio etc., which might also be part of the sponsor's advertising strategy.

In addition to providing further understanding of Olympic sponsor advertising behavior and sponsorship in an emerging market context, this paper provides insights into how the strategic aims related to sponsorship depended on the level of internationalization of the firm.

The aim of this research was to identify and describe driving forces of importance in sponsorship during the seven years preceding a mega-sporting event like the Olympic Games 2008 in Beijing. This was done through the development of a conceptual 'meansobjectives model' linking sponsorship to brand equity factors and to objectives. The proposed model enables matching with real data consisting of 200 randomly chosen advertisements, articles and press releases from Chinese newspapers and the internet, revealing six types of means-objectives in sponsorship.

The purpose of this paper is to describe and explain the advertising behavior seen as an activation strategy performed by Olympic sponsors in an emerging market context. It provides insights into the strategic goals related to sponsorship.

The longitudinal approach taken opens the possibility to explore the dynamics of the strategies of Chinese as well as foreign firms in China. Theories on how sponsorship works cannot assist in explaining outcomes of sponsor-linked marketing, and since the actors involved rarely divulge their genuine intentions or their reciprocal contractual arrangements with the sponsored property, a new methodology has to be developed. A means-objective framework of sponsoring consists of six factors, which were applied to analyze 739 advertisements, articles and press releases collected from Chinese newspapers and Chinese official web pages covering a period of eight years (2001-2008) prior to the Olympic Games in Beijing. Based on a qualitative content analysis and nine means-objectives combinations in sponsorship patterns the authors discovered four dominant advertising strategies.

Lead-time is a key concept when analyzing sponsor advertising strategies. The authors conclude from the longitudinal data that the time gap between signing the contract and the dates of the event influences the strategy of the sponsoring corporations. The authors also observe that the advertising content changes over time and the sponsors craft different “advertising strategies” in different periods. Within this context the authors categorized two different advertising strategies. The sponsors are assumed to conduct a “Short Advertising Strategy” different from the “Long Advertising Strategy.” Both are examples of activation strategies.

Advertising strategies and activation seems to be dependent on the lead-time to the Olympic Games and the level of internationalization of the sponsoring firm.

Over the past decade, the Olympic Movement has become increasingly dependent upon financial support provided by corporate sponsors. This study explores the evolution of the Olympic sponsorship programme, presents current and future marketing strategies employed by sponsors, and discusses major challenges within the programme.

Based on the work of Parent (2008) on mega sports events, this paper explores the relationships among events stakeholders in Olympic Games host/bid city marketing. It outlines research questions, identifies a theoretical framework to better understand Olympic city marketing, presents four essays related to issues within this framework, and provides conclusions and suggestions for future research.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the views of residents and foreigners of the Olympics and the host country before and after the mega‐event within the context of marketing theory on country image effects and psychology theories attribution.

This is achieved by studying the views of American and Chinese respondents of China and the Olympics before and after the Beijing Olympics. Samples of Chinese and Americans were surveyed before and after the Beijing Summer Olympics concerning their images of the Olympics, China and its people, and China as a vacation destination. Cross‐national and pre‐post comparisons are made and interaction effects are noted using MANOVA.

Significant cross‐national and time differences and several interaction effects are found across all three focal objects of image measurements. Large country differences are found. Despite how technically successful the Games might have looked, post‐event assessments are overwhelmingly lower. Additional differences in views and interaction effects are discussed in terms of the intended and unintended impacts of the event on local and foreign respondents.

Only one location in China and one foreign country are surveyed.

The paper has important implications for both the effects of mega‐events on country images and the effects of the host country on the event brand image. These issues have relevance for countries seeking to host mega‐events and those who manage these events and make decision about where they will be held.

This is the first cross‐national study of the Olympics and their effects using before‐and‐after event measures. It also combines analyses of both the event and the place images from the perspectives of both those who live in the country and residents of other countries. Attribution theory is a useful reference theory for mega‐event assessments.

The purpose of this paper is to delineate shifts in environmental sustainability leadership in the Olympic Movement through a historical narrative.

A systematic literature review was conducted and data were analyzed chronologically.

Four eras are identified, distinguished by different leadership and levels of commitment toward the natural environment: public-driven environmental sustainability, host city-driven environmental sustainability, International Olympic Committee-mandated environmental sustainability and environmental regression.

This paper is limited to secondary data collected through a systematic literature review.

The findings inform a list of best practices for Olympic environmental sustainability, grounded in evidence of past successes and lessons learned from environmentally insensitive events.

This is the first historical narrative and synthesis of environmental leadership in the Olympic Movement, a topic previously covered in studies focused solely on the institutions responsible for hosting the event, ignoring external parties and the deep history of environmentalism dating back to the 1930s, or focusing just on actions, ignoring the actors who drove the environmental movement.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a scale to measure the legacy of psychic income associated with the Olympic Games.

Using the 2008 Beijing Games as an example, data were collected from Beijing residents through structured questionnaires. A scale of measuring psychic income (SPI) was developed through conducting a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) based on a sample of 375.

In the CFA estimation, a seven-factor SPI was identified with 24 pertinent items retained. This seven-factor model displays good fit to the data, construct validity, and reliability.

Despite the importance of psychic income widely recognized in the existing literature, there has been a lack of valid scales to measure major sports events psychic income in general and Olympic psychic income in particular. This paper develops a multidimensional scale from the host community perspective, which can provide academics and local organizers with a reliable and valid tool to assess Olympic psychic income.

This case study examines the interactive marketing initiatives of Coca-Cola China Company for one of its marquee Olympic properties, the Olympic Torch Relay. It provides insights into building increased brand interaction by adding an online interactive component to an age-old concept in Olympic activations.