In environmental psychology literature, an individual's perception of the surroundings leads to subsequent behaviors. In this regard, small-scale sport events (SSE) have been used as a marketing tool for tourism development. However, how SSEs are leveraged to improve destination image (DI) for tourists has not been fully understood. Building on Mehrabian-Russell's environmental psychology model, this study examined the relationship between the SSE environmental stimuli and revisit intentions through the sequential mediation of cognitive and affective DI. Data from the 423 respondents were collected from 2023 Wuxi Marathon held in Wuxi, China. Structural equation modeling was employed to analyze the hypothesized framework. The results indicated that the SSE environmental stimuli were positively associated with both cognitive and affective DI, which were positively correlated with revisit intentions. The applicability of the serial mediation of cognitive and affective DI within the relationship was confirmed. This study contributes to the sport and tourism literature by extending the applicability of Mehrabian and Russell's model to SSE settings and identifying the serial mediating effects of cognitive and affective DI.
Background: Regular physical activity is an effective means to enhance university students’ subjective well-being. However, current research needs to understand how physical activity enhances the subjective well-being of Chinese university students. Therefore, the study investigated the mechanism of physical activity’s impact on university students’ subjective well-being and the mediating roles of cognitive reappraisal and resilience in this mechanism. Methods: The physical activity scale, subjective well-being scale, cognitive reappraisal scale and resilience scale were used to investigate 1350 university students, and the relationship between physical activity, cognitive reappraisal, resilience and university students’ subjective well-being was verified through correlation analysis, regression analysis and a Bootstrap method. Results: (1) There is a significant positive correlation between physical activity, cognitive reappraisal, resilience and university students’ subjective well-being (p < 0.01); (2) physical activity, cognitive reappraisal and resilience all have a significant positive effects on university students’ subjective well-being (p < 0.01); (3) cognitive reappraisal and resilience have significant mediating roles in the process of physical activity affecting university students’ well-being, with mediating-effect values of 0.052 and 0.285; (4) the chain-mediating role of cognitive reappraisal and resilience in the process of physical activity affecting university students’ well-being is significant, with the chain-mediating effect value of 0.062. Conclusion: Promoting university students’ participation in physical activity not only directly enhances university students’ subjective well-being but also indirectly improves university students’ subjective well-being through cognitive reappraisal and resilience.
4 July 2023 in International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship
Purpose: Building on the social leverage model (SLM), this study aims to examine the influence of event-related attributes on residents' perceived social impact of a major sport event, as mediated by event involvement. It also investigates the moderating effect of event rights holders' credibility on the relationship between event involvement and perceived social impact.Design/methodology/approach: Using a two-wave, time-lagged survey, data were collected from 220 residents of a Super Bowl host city. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM).Findings: High celebratory atmosphere, social camaraderie and social responsibility as perceived before the event were associated with residents' perceptions of the social impact of the Super Bowl. Moreover, the association between social camaraderie and perceived social impact was mediated by event involvement. When appraising the rights holder as credible, involved residents reported an increased level of perceived social impact.Originality/value: This study contributes to research on the SLM by demonstrating its application among indirect participants of major sport events. Additionally, it suggests the imperative role of rights holders' credibility in promoting the perceived social impact among involved residents.
31 October 2025 in Frontiers in Sports and Active Living
Introduction: Prior research has demonstrated that residents' perceptions of environmental legacy (PEL) following large-scale events yield several positive outcomes, such as subjective well-being and support of future events. However, the role of PEL in shaping residents' pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs) remains underexplored. Drawing on the Norm Activation Model, this study investigated how PEL is associated with PEBs through the mediation of perceived fit (PFT) and the moderation of authenticity evaluation (AUTH). Methods: Data were collected via an online survey administered to 823 residents of Hangzhou, one year after the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games. Structural equation modeling revealed that PFT fully mediated the relationship between PEL and PEBs. Results: Latent moderated structural modeling showed that AUTH strengthened the direct relationship between PEL and PEBs. Discussion: The study advances event legacy literature by identifying the psychological pathways associated with the activation of PEBs, which are mediated by PFT and moderated by AUTH. For policymakers and event organizers, the findings underscore the importance of designing environmental legacies that are both authentic and culturally resonant to maximize long-term behavioral impacts. To enhance residents' PEBs, stakeholders in large-scale sports events should prioritize the authenticity and value-fit of their environmental strategies.
Since the Olympic Agenda 2020, legacy has been widely used as a justification for hosting the Olympic Games, through which sustainable development can be achieved for both events and host cities. To date, no universal definition of legacy has been established, which presents challenges for legacy-related international knowledge transfer among host cities. To address this gap, a multilingual systematic review of the literature regarding the concept of legacy was conducted in French, Japanese, Chinese, and English. Using English literature as a baseline, points of convergence and divergence among the languages were identified. While all four languages value the concept of legacy as an important facet of mega-events, significant differences were found within each language. This finding highlights the importance of strategies that align different cultures when promoting sustainable development of some global movements such as the Olympic legacy. Sport management is replete with international topics, such as international events and sport for development, and each topic is studied simultaneously in several languages and with potentially differing frameworks and perspectives. Thus, literature reviews that examine the English literature, exclusively, are innately limited in scope. The development of partnerships and resources that facilitate cross-lingual and cross-cultural consultation and collaboration is an important research agenda. More research is needed on knowledge translation across languages.
About Me
Wu Ji, PhD, has research interests in sports management.
Wu Ji, PhD, has research interests in sports management.