International Journal of Intercultural Relations 35 (2011) 296306

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International Journal of Intercultural Relations
j our nal homepage: www. el sevi er . com/ l ocat e/ i j i nt r el
One world, One dream? Intergroup consequences of the
2008 Beijing Olympics
Shirley Y.Y. Cheng
a,
, Jennifer L. Rosner
a
, Melody Manchi Chao
a,1
, Siqing Peng
b
,
Xia Chen
c,2
, Yanmei Li
d
, Jessica Y.Y. Kwong
e
, Ying-yi Hong
a,f
, Chi-yue Chiu
a,f
a
Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 61820, United States
b
Guanghua School of Management, Peking University, Beijing, China
c
Department of Psychology, Peking University, Beijing, China
d
Institute of Social and Economic Behaviors, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
e
Department of Marketing, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
f
Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Accepted 17 July 2010
Keywords:
Olympics
Globalization
Identity
Culture and self
Culture and cognition
a b s t r a c t
Despite deliberate efforts to promote the ideal of One world, One dream, the 2008 Bei-
jing Olympics appears to have exaggerated Mainland Chinese perception of Chinese and
Western cultural differences and increased low ingroup identiers ingroup favoring emo-
tions and perceptions. In Study 1, we measured Beijing Chineses perceptions of Chinese
and Western values before and after the Olympics. The results showed that, after the
Olympics, encountering the Beijing Olympic icon increased perceived value differences
between Western and Chinese cultures. Study 2 showed that in Mainland China, individu-
als whoidentiedstronglywithChinese culture favoredChinese (vs. American) commercial
brands more bothat the beginning andtowardthe endof the Olympics. Moreover, although
individuals with low levels of Chinese cultural identication did not display signicant
ingroup favoritism at the beginning of the Olympics, they did so toward the end of the
Games. Together, the results suggest that the Olympics had widened the cultural divide
between China and the Western world.
2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
Major international events such as the Olympic Games typically bring nations together. On the one hand, these events
couldpromoteglobal harmonybycreatingopportunities for transnational cooperation. Ontheother hand, theseevents could
also invite intergroup comparisons, which when fueled by intergroup competition could magnify the perceived differences
and worsen tensions between countries (Gries, Crowson, & Sandel, 2010; Rosner, Li, Chao, & Hong, 2010). As epitomized in
the slogan One world, One dream, the ofcial agenda of the 2008 Beijing Olympics was to promote unity and harmony
among people all over the world. Yet, the news coverage of the Olympics in both China and the United States consistently
emphasized competition between the two countries. For example, on the opening day of the Beijing Olympics, USA Today
printed the headline: Quest to become the worlds best pits East against West. The story opened with the prediction that

Corresponding author. Present address: Department of Marketing, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China. Tel.: +852 3411 7526;
fax: +852 3411 5586.
E-mail addresses: syycheng@hkbu.edu.hk (S.Y.Y. Cheng), CYChiu@ntu.edu.sg (C.-y. Chiu).
1
Present address: Department of Management, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China.
2
Present address: Institute of Arts and Humanities, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
0147-1767/$ see front matter 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijintrel.2010.07.005
S.Y.Y. Cheng et al. / International Journal of Intercultural Relations 35 (2011) 296306 297
A newEast-West sports rivalry will take shape here during the next 2 weeks, with China probably emerging as a real threat
to the USAs Summer Olympics dominance of the past 12 years. This message was circulated widely in the news media and
on the Internet before and during the Olympics (e.g., www.BBC Chinese.com, www.Zhidao.baidu.com).
How do major international events such as the Olympics shape peoples reactions to other countries and cultures?
Aside from its practical relevance for international relations and businesses, the answer to this question contributes
to building psychological theories of globalization (Liu & Hong, 2010). In this article, we report two studies that
revealed the psychological processes through which major international events inuence peoples reactions to foreign
cultures.
1.1. Perceived value differences between cultures
As a result of globalization, symbols of ones own culture and other cultures often occupy the same space at the same time
(Alter & Kwan, 2009). According to the dual culture activation theory of globalization (Chiu & Cheng, 2007; Chiu, Mallorie,
Keh, & Law, 2009), placing representations of two cultures in cognitive juxtaposition enhances the perception of differences
between the two cultures and invites attribution of essential qualities to both cultures. Consistent with this theory, there is
evidence that encountering two cultures at the same time and in the same space enhances awareness of cultural differences.
For instance, the Chinese who live in urban cities (vs. rural towns) have greater exposure to culturally mixed environments
and are more aware of the value differences between Chinese and Western cultures (Chen & Chiu, 2010). After having
been exposed to multicultural experiences in a short-term study aboard program, students become more aware of cultural
differences (Jackson, 2008). Finally, temporary exposure to symbols of Chinese and Western cultures simultaneously in an
experiment increases Americans (Chineses) tendency to attribute individualist (collectivist) values to American (Chinese)
culture (Chiu et al., 2009).
In the context of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, due to frequent exposure to Chinese and Western cultures over the course
of the event, Beijing Chinese should perceive increasingly larger difference between Chinese and Western cultures. Because
these perceptual consequences are linked to peoples experiences with the Olympics, reminding Beijing Chinese of the
Olympics should evoke this heightened perception of cultural differences (Rosner et al., 2010). Specically, for Beijing Chi-
nese, encountering the Olympic icon before the Games should have no effect on the perceptions of Chinese and Western
cultures. However, following the Games, once Beijing Chinese have learned to associate the Olympics with cultural differ-
ences, merely seeing the Olympic icon should enlarge the perceived differences between Chinese and Western cultures. We
tested this hypothesis in Study 1. Consistent with this prediction, Rosner et al. (2010) reported that several months after the
2008 Olympics, Beijing college students perceived greater differences between Chinese and Western cultures when they
were subtly reminded of the Olympics Games than when they were not, and this effect was more pronounced among those
who believed more strongly in a xed world. Study 1 provided a more rigorous test of our hypothesis by comparing Beijing
Chineses perceptions of value differences across cultures following an incidental exposure to the Olympics logo before and
after the Olympics.
1.2. Ingroup favoring emotions and perceptions
Exposure to intercultural contacts and global competition may have different intercultural and psychological conse-
quences (Berry, 2008). For example, prolonged and cumulative intercultural experiences can lead to the evolution of an
intercultural, cosmopolitan identity, characterized by strong commitment to individuation and universalistic values (Kim,
2008). However, globalization could also evoke fear of erosion of the local heritage culture, elicit defensive responses to
protect the integrity and purity of the heritage culture, and foster exclusionary and xenophobic reactions toward foreign
cultural inuence (Salzman, 2008). An important research question in the psychology of globalization is to explain when
globalization would produce defensive reactions.
According to the dual culture activation theory of globalization (Chiu, 2007; Chiu & Cheng, 2007, in press; Chiu, Wan,
Cheng, Kim, & Yang, in press), a critical factor that determines how people would respond to foreign cultural difference
is the individuals intercultural mindset. Research has shown that when people have an intercultural learning mindset
and are motivated to learn from a foreign culture, multicultural experiences would lead to appreciation of foreign cultural
ideas, increase the motivation to synthesize seemingly incompatible ideas from different cultures, and improve creative
performance (Leung & Chiu, in press; Leung, Maddux, Galinsky, & Chiu, 2008; Maddux, Adam, & Galinsky, 2010). However,
when people adopt a competitive mindset, they perceive unbridgeable gaps between cultures and tend to attribute negative
qualities to the outgroupculture (Chiu, 2007). This idea has support froma classic eldexperiment onthe role of competition
in intergroup relations (Sherif, Harvey, White, Hood, & Sherif, 1961; Sherif & Sherif, 1953), which showed that when two
groups of boys in a summer camp were placed against each other in competitive games, they quickly developed strong
outgroup antagonism. In the case of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the medias repeated emphasis on a U.S.China rivalry may
have promoted ingroup favoring emotions and perceptions.
The social identity theory (Turner, Oakes, Haslam, & McGarty, 1994) also predicts that intergroup competition can affect
intergroup emotions and perceptions. The theory posits that individuals seek positive distinctiveness for the self by identify-
ing with positively evaluated ingroups. Moreover, once their social identity is activated, people seek positive distinctiveness
298 S.Y.Y. Cheng et al. / International Journal of Intercultural Relations 35 (2011) 296306
by attributing negative qualities to the outgroup and positive qualities of the ingroup. This process allows the ingroup to
appear as a coherent and distinct entity with clear boundaries, separate from and better than the outgroup.
One way to test the idea that frequent exposures to global competition would increase intercultural tension is to examine
whether such exposure would lead to ingroup favoritism even among those with relatively low levels of ingroup cultural
identication. The Olympic Games provided an appropriate context for testing this idea. Shortly after the 2008 Olympics,
Rosner et al. (2010) surveyed American and Beijing Chinese respondents perceptions of the Olympics. The investigators
asked their respondents to rate on a scale from1 to 5 howstrongly the Beijing Olympics logo was associated with each of the
following meanings: (a) Chinese national pride, (b) unfair news coverage, (c) One world, One dream, (d) globalizing China,
(e) China becoming Western, (e) the West becoming Chinese, (f) rise of China as a superpower, (g) Chinese competitiveness,
(h) China attempting to appeal to the West, and (i) Chinas attempting to imitate Hollywood. Among Americans, the itemthat
received the highest rating was Chinese competitiveness, followed by Chinese national pride, and China attempting to
appeal to the West. Among the Chinese, One world, One dream received the second highest rating, which is not surprising
given that One world, One dream was the ofcial slogan of the Beijing Olympics. Despite this, China becoming Western
and the West becoming Chinese received the lowest ratings from the Chinese, indicating that the Chinese did not see the
Olympics as a symbol of cultural accommodation or convergence. In fact, the items that received the highest ratings from
the Chinese were China attempting to appeal to the West, Chinese national pride, Chinese competitiveness and rise
of China as a superpower. These results suggest that for both Americans and the Chinese, the Olympics is a symbol of
intercultural competition (see Gries et al., 2010).
If among the Mainland Chinese, the Olympics is strongly associated with intercultural competition and national pride, the
Olympics, as a huge social event, can be considered an environmental prime. Thus, for the Mainland Chinese, the Olympics
experience should activate international competitiveness and collective self-esteem, strengthening ingroup favoritism, even
among those who have relatively lowlevels of Chinese cultural identication. Thus, we hypothesize that repeated activation
of intergroup competitiveness through the Olympics experience would lead to ingroup favoring emotions and perceptions
among people low levels of ingroup identication.
In Study 2, we tested this hypothesis by examining how the 2008 Beijing Olympics have affected Mainland Chineses
reactions to Chinese and American cultures. Shortly before and on the last fewdays of the Olympics, we conducted a survey
with Mainland Chinese on their emotional and perceptual responses toward iconic Chinese brands and iconic American
brands. According to the social identity theory, shortly before the Olympics (before the Chinese were frequently exposed to
the Olympics prime), participants with stronger Chinese cultural identication would experience stronger ingroup favoring
emotions and have more pronounced ingroup favoring perceptions. Toward the end of the Olympics (after frequent expo-
sure to the Olympics prime), participants with relatively strong Chinese cultural identication should continue to report
strong ingroup favoring emotions and perceptions. In contrast, participants with relatively low levels of Chinese cultural
identication should not display ingroup favoritism at the beginning of the Olympics. However, due to frequent activation
of intercultural competitiveness and national pride during the Olympics, at the end of the Olympics, these individuals would
also exhibit signicant ingroup favoring emotions and perceptions.
2. Study 1
The goal of Study 1 was to test the idea that, for Beijing Chinese, the Olympic Games would become associated with
cultural differences as a result of extensive simultaneous exposure to Chinese and Western cultures during the Games. Thus,
following the Olympics, being exposed to (vs. not being exposed to) the Olympic icon should evoke larger perceived value
differences between Chinese and Western cultures.
2.1. Method
2.1.1. Participants and design
The present study adopted a 2 (Time: Before vs. After the Olympics) 2 (Olympic salience: Icon exposure vs. No icon
exposure) between-subjects design. Data were collected in July, 2008 (a month before the Olympics) and November, 2008 (3
months after theOlympics). TheJulysampleconsistedof 94undergraduates fromBeijing(70women; meanage =20.90years,
SD=0.92) and the November sample consisted of 125 participants from the same population (82 women; mean age =22.43
years, SD=1.46). There were no gender differences in the demographic variables and the dependent measures. Therefore, we
did not consider gender in the subsequent analysis. The participants completed a survey of social and economic behaviors
conducted by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. To manipulate the salience of the Olympics, we had half of the partic-
ipants complete a survey that had a small Beijing Olympic icon at the bottomright corner of each page of the questionnaire.
The remaining participants (the control group) completed an identical survey without the Beijing Olympic icon.
2.1.2. Measures
The participants were presented with a list of ve Chinese values (obedience, modesty, collectivism, obligation, and
harmony) and ve Western values (assertiveness, uniqueness, individuality, autonomy, and freedom). Past studies (Fu et
al., 2007) have shown that the Chinese (Western) values on the list can spontaneously activate Chinese (Western) cultural
associations. The values were presented in a randomized order. For each value, the participants rated on a continuous analog
S.Y.Y. Cheng et al. / International Journal of Intercultural Relations 35 (2011) 296306 299
Fig. 1. Perceived associations of Chinese and Western values with Chinese and Western cultures before and after the Olympics.
line scale (from the left end of a line =not at all characteristic to 16cm from the left end of the line =highly characteristic) (a)
the extent to whichthe value was characteristic of Chinese culture, and(b) the extent to whichthe value was characteristic of
Westernculture. Weaggregatedtheratings across respectivevalues for eachValueType(Chineseor WesternValues) Target
Culture (Chinese or Western culture) combination to form4 value perception measures: (a) perceived association of Chinese
values with Chinese culture (=.72), (b) perceived association of Chinese values with Western culture (=.52), (c) perceived
association of Western values with Chinese culture (=.59), and (d) perceived association of Western values with Western
culture (=.70).
2.1.3. Analyses of data
We hypothesize that the participants would perceive Chinese values to be more characteristic of Chinese culture than
Western culture, and Western values to be more characteristic of Western culture than Chinese culture. To test our hypoth-
esis, we rst conducted a Value Type Target Culture Time mixed design analysis of variance (ANOVA) on the each of
the four value perception measures and predicted a signicant Value Type Target Culture interaction, such that the par-
ticipants would perceive stronger associations of Chinese values with Chinese culture than Western culture, and stronger
associations of Western values with Western culture than Chinese culture.
We further hypothesize that the perceived differences in cultural values described above would be larger after the
Olympics than before it. That is, in the ANOVA described in the previous paragraph, the Value Type Target Culture inter-
action would be qualied by a signicant Value Type Target Culture Time interaction.
Finally, we hypothesize that the participants would perceive Chinese and Western cultures to be more different after
(vs. before) the Olympics, particularly when we made Olympics salient in the judgment context, To test this hypothesis,
we constructed a measure of perceived cultural differences in terms of the 10 cultural values, with higher scores on this
measure indicating greater perceived differences between cultures. We performed a Time Olympic Salience between-
subjects ANOVA on this perceived cultural difference measure and predicted a signicant interaction: Perceived cultural
difference would be most pronounced in the Olympics salient contexts after the Olympics.
2.2. Results and discussion
As an overview, the participants perceived Chinese values to be more characteristic of Chinese culture than Western
culture, andWesternvalues tobe more characteristic of Westernculture thanChinese culture. As predicted, Olympic salience
had no effect on the perceived cultural differences in either type of set of values before the Olympics. However, 3 months
after the Games, Olympic salience increased the perceived cultural difference in values.
A Value Type Target Culture Time mixed design analysis of variance (ANOVA) performed on the four value perception
measures revealed a signicant Value Type Target Culture interaction, F(1, 218) =791.50, p<.001,
2
p
= .781. As illustrated
in Fig. 1, the participants perceived Chinese values to be more characteristic of Chinese culture than Western culture,
t(219) =27.00, p<.001, and Western values to be more characteristic of Western culture than Chinese culture, t(219) =18.14,
p<.001.
Furthermore, the predicted three-way interaction was signicant, F(1, 218) =8.25, p=.004,
2
p
= .036.
3
The perceived
association of Chinese values with Chinese culture [F(1, 218) =29.93, p<.001] and that of Western values with Western cul-
3
There was also a signicant main effect of target culture, F(1, 218) =34.14, p<.001,
2
p
= .135, and a signicant main effect of time, F(1, 218) =24.04,
p<.001,
2
p
= .099. These effects should be interpreted in the context of the higher-order interactions.
300 S.Y.Y. Cheng et al. / International Journal of Intercultural Relations 35 (2011) 296306
Fig. 2. Effects of Olympics salience on perceived cultural differences in values before and after the Olympics.
ture [F(1, 224) =17.62, p<.001] were signicantly stronger after (vs. before) the Games, suggesting that perceiveddifferences
in cultural values had enlarged after the Olympics. The time difference in the perceived association of Chinese values with
Western culture and that of Western values with Chinese culture was not signicant, F <1.40, ps >.24.
Next, to form a measure of perceived cultural differences in values, for each value, we computed the absolute difference
between its association with Chinese and Western cultures, and took the average of the 10 absolute difference scores
(=.75). To examine the effects of time and Olympic salience on the perceived difference in cultural values, we performed
a Time Olympic Salience between-subjects ANOVA on the perceived cultural difference measure. The main effect of time
was signicant, F(1, 215) =11.05, p=.001,
2
p
= .049: The perceived difference in cultural values was more pronounced
after the Olympics (M
after
=5.98, SD=2.15 vs. M
before
=5.05, SD=1.95). The predicted Time Olympic Salience interaction
was signicant, F(1, 215) =4.27, p=.04,
2
p
= .019. As shown in Fig. 2, 3 months after the Olympics, seeing the Olympic
icon signicantly enlarged the perceived cultural differences in values (M
Olympics Salient
=6.46, SD=2.11 vs. M
Control
=5.50,
SD=2.09), F(1, 123) =6.44, p=.01,
2
p
= .050. However, 1 month before the Olympics, seeing the Olympic icon did not affect
perceived cultural differences in values (M
Olympics Salient
=4.95, SD=1.94 vs. M
Control
=5.15, SD=1.98), F(1, 92) =0.25, p=.62.
In short, consistent with the prediction of the dual culture activation theory, following the Olympic, reminding Beijing
undergraduates of the Olympics enlarged the perceived cultural differences in values.
3. Study 2
In the present study, we tested the effects of intercultural competitiveness priming through the Olympics experience
on intercultural relations in Mainland China. According to the social identity theory (Turner et al., 1994), individuals with
stronger ingroup cultural identication should display stronger ingroup favoritism. Accordingly, we hypothesize that before
the Olympics began, the more the Mainland Chinese identied with Chinese culture, the more likely they would dis-
play ingroup favoritism. That is, individuals who identied strongly with Chinese culture would show signicant ingroup
favoritism and those who did not identify with Chinese culture would not. The social identity theory also predicts that the
Mainland Chinese who strongly identied with Chinese culture would continue to display ingroup favoritism toward the
end of the Olympic Games. In addition to these predictions derived directly from the social identity theory, we predict that
due to frequent activation of an intercultural competitiveness mindset through the Olympics experience, at the end of the
Olympics, the Mainland Chinese who had relatively lowlevels of Chinese cultural identication would also showsignicant
ingroup favoritism.
In the present study, we measured ingroup favoritism through the participants reactions to Mainland and American
commercial brands to obscure the connection of the measure with intergroup emotions and perceptions. Nonetheless, to
protect the validity of the measure as one concerning intergroup emotions and perceptions, we chose brands that had strong
associations with China or the U.S. (see below).
For several reasons, we also included a sample of Hong Kong Chinese as a comparison group in the present study. First,
we argue that the predicted shifts in brand evaluations among the Mainland Chinese with low levels of Chinese cultural
identication during the Olympics was due to repeated activations of competitiveness between the ingroup (Mainland
China) and the outgroup (the U.S.) through the Olympics experience. If this is indeed the case, the Hong Kong Chinese
are unlikely to display such shifts. Although the sovereignty of Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997, Hong Kong still
enjoyed a high level of political autonomy. There is consistent evidence most Hong Kong Chinese do not perceive Mainland
Chinese as an ingroup (Fu, Lee, Chiu, & Hong, 1999; Hong et al., 2006; Lam, Lau, Chiu, Hong, & Peng, 1999; Tong, Hong, Lee,
& Chiu, 1999). If the predicted shifts in brand evaluations among the Mainland Chinese with relatively low levels of Chinese
cultural identication were indeed due to repeated priming of competition between the ingroup and the outgroup, such
effects should be considerably weaker among the Hong Kong Chinese who do not see Mainland China as an ingroup.
Second, it could be argued that the change in the evaluations of national and foreign brands during the Olympics was the
result some incidental factors (e.g., change in the marketing strategies of some American and Mainland brands during the
S.Y.Y. Cheng et al. / International Journal of Intercultural Relations 35 (2011) 296306 301
Table 1
Scale reliabilitiesaggregating across brands.
Scale items Scale reliabilities
U.S. brands Chinese brands
Positive emotions
Happiness, pleasure, admiration, and envy
Mainland sample .91 .92
Hong Kong sample .89 .92
Negative emotions
Disgust, sympathy, anger, and fear
Mainland sample .92 .95
Hong Kong sample .90 .89
Brand perceptions
Trustworthy, wise, superior quality, industry leader, friendly, cooperate with other brands, enthusiastic, respect
customers, socially responsible, popular
Mainland sample .97 .96
Hong Kong sample .96 .97
Notes. For the Mainland sample, the s of individual emotion items across brands were >.74 for the Mainland brands
and >.74 for the U.S. brands, and the s of individual evaluative attributes across brands were >.71 for the Mainland
brands and >.68 for the U.S. brands. For the Hong Kong sample, the s of individual emotion items across brands
were >.74 for the Mainland brands and >.56 for the U.S. brands, and the s of the individual evaluative attributes
were >.62 for the Mainland brands and >.64 for the U.S. brands.
Olympics or the performance of Chinas Olympic Team). Including a Hong Kong sample can help to address this alternative
explanation. Because the Hong Kong Chinese were also exposed to many of these incidental factors, if these factors were the
reasons behind the shifts in brand evaluations, we should observe similar patterns of results in both Mainland China and
Hong Kong.
Finally, researchhas shownthat Hong Kong Chinese have lower levels of Chinese cultural identicationthandidMainland
Chinese (Hong et al., 2006). In the present study, when asked to evaluate the relative importance of the Hong Kong identity
and the Chinese identity, 70.3% of the Hong Kong participants replied that the Hong Kong identity was more important to
them. Thus, we predict that the Hong Kong Chinese would be less likely than the Mainland Chinese to favor Chinese versus
American brands. Nonetheless, among the Hong Kong Chinese, those who identied more strongly with Chinese culture
should have more favorable evaluations of Mainland Chinese brands than American brands. In short, including a Hong Kong
sample in the current study helped to pin down the causal mechanism behind the predicted shifts in brand evaluations in
MainlandChina, eliminatesomealternativeexplanations, andcontextualizetheeffects of Olympics onintercultural relations.
3.1. Method
3.1.1. Participants
We surveyed Mainland Chinese fromAugust 4, 2008 (4 days before the start of the Olympics) to August 8, 2008 (Opening
Day), and from August 21, 2008 (4 days before the closing day) to August 25, 2008 (1 day after the last day of the Games). In
July 2008, we sent e-mails to students in several universities in Mainland China and Hong Kong to invite themto participate
in a marketing survey. An incentive was offered to the participants for completing the survey. In Mainland China, those
who completed the survey were entered into a lottery for souvenirs. In Hong Kong, the incentive was a cash compensation
of HK$50 (about US$6.50). Interested students sent e-mail replies to a research assistant, who assigned the participants to
complete an online survey on a randomly selected survey day. The nal sample consisted of 401 participants fromMainland
China (195 women; mean age =23.55 years, SD=3.28), and 232 participants fromHong Kong (141 women; mean age =20.75
years, SD=1.59).
3.1.2. Measures
3.1.2.1. Responses to iconic brands. To obscure our research objectives, we presented the survey to the participants as an
online marketing study and did not mention the Olympics in the survey. In the survey, the participants saw a list of
commercial brands that are symbols of Mainland China and the U.S. (see Appendix A). The brands were chosen based on
nominations from local marketing experts, and the selected Mainland and U.S. brands were matched in product categories.
We chose different brands for the Mainland and Hong Kong samples to ensure that the chosen brands were familiar and
seen as representative of their respective cultures in Mainland China and Hong Kong. Because we used different brands in
Mainland China and Hong Kong, we analyzed the data from the two samples separately.
The respondents rated how strongly each brand evoked positive and negative intergroup emotions (positive emotion:
happiness, pleasure, admiration, and envy; negative emotions: disgust, sympathy, anger, and fear; Fiske, Cuddy, & Glick,
2004). Each rating was made on a scale that ranged from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very strong). They also used the scale to rate how
strongly they felt about eachbrand on10 evaluative attributes (see Table 1 for the items and reliability information). For each
sample, we formed a measure of positive emotions, negative emotions, and brand perceptions by aggregating the respective
items. Table 1 shows that reliabilities of the emotion items and evaluative attributes across brands were acceptable.
302 S.Y.Y. Cheng et al. / International Journal of Intercultural Relations 35 (2011) 296306
3.1.2.2. Chinese cultural identication. After completing the marketing survey, participants lled out a 5-item measure of
Chinese cultural identication (e.g., Chinese culture is very important to my identity; Wan, Chiu, Peng, &Tam, 2007), using
a 5-point scale (1=strongly disagree, 3=neutral, 5=strongly agree; =.92 for the Mainland sample and .91 for the Hong Kong
sample).
3.2. Results and discussion
3.2.1. Cultural identication
As expected, the mean level of Chinese cultural identication was signicantly higher in the Mainland sample (M=4.36,
SD=0.78) than in the Hong Kong sample (M=3.52, SD=0.85), t(631) =12.32, p<.001. The mean level of cultural identication
at the beginning and the end of the Olympics did not differ, F(1, 399) =0.15, p=.70 for the Mainland sample, and F(1,
230) =2.51, p=.11 for the Hong Kong sample.
3.2.2. Mainland sample
As an overview, the Mainland participants displayed signicant ingroup favoritism in both brand emotions and brand
perceptions. Consistent with our hypothesis, at the beginning of the Games, ingroup favoritism was more pronounced
amongthosewithstronger Chinesecultural identication. However, as theGames progressed, participants displayedingroup
favoritism irrespective of their level of Chinese cultural identication.
3.2.2.1. Brand emotions. We performed a 2 (Emotion Valence) 2 (Brand Country) 2 (Time: Beginning or End) Cultural
Identication (continuous predictor; mean-centered) General Linear Model (GLM) on the positive and negative brand emo-
tions evoked fromMainland and American brands. Emotion valence and brand country were within-subjects predictors and
time was a between-subjects predictor inthis analysis. The four-way interaction, whichwas critical totesting our hypothesis,
was signicant, F(1, 397) =4.78, p=.03,
2
p
= .012.
To understand the nature of this interaction, we subtracted the negative emotion measure from the positive emotion
measure to form a measure of affect balance, with higher scores on this measure indicating more positive (vs. negative)
emotions toward the brands. Next, we performed a Brand CountryCultural Identication GLMon affect balance separately
for the data collected at the beginning and toward the end of the Olympics. At the beginning of the Olympics, there was a
signicant main effect of brand country, F(1, 200) =57.25, p<.001,
2
p
= .223. As illustrated in Fig. 3a, the participants had
Fig. 3. Cultural identication and affective responses to American and Mainland brands at the beginning and toward the end of the Olympics: (a) Mainland
sample and (b) Hong Kong sample.
S.Y.Y. Cheng et al. / International Journal of Intercultural Relations 35 (2011) 296306 303
Fig. 4. Cultural identication and perceptions of American and Mainland brands at the beginning and toward the end of the Olympics: (a) Mainland sample
and (b) Hong Kong sample.
more positive emotions toward Mainland (vs. American) brands, indicating ingroup favoritism. However, this effect was
qualied by the signicant Brand CountryCultural Identication interaction, F(1, 200) =12.39, p=.001,
2
p
= .058. When
the level of cultural identication was high (at one standard deviation above the mean), ingroup favoritism was signicant
and pronounced, F(1, 200) =59.89, p<.001,
2
p
= .230. When the level of cultural identication was low (at one standard
deviation below the mean), ingroup favoritism was still signicant, but the effect size was much smaller, F(1, 200) =13.08,
p=.001,
2
p
= .061.
Toward the end of the Olympics, the main effect of brand culture was signicant, F(1, 197) =96.49, p=.001,
2
p
= .329,
but the Brand CountryCultural Identication interaction was not, F(1, 200) =0.03, p=.86. At the end of the Games, both
high and low identiers displayed ingroup favoring emotions (predicted value =0.47 for low identiers and 0.49 for high
identiers). Comparing the results across time, high identiers displayed the same amount of ingroup favoring emotions
before and after the Olympic Games (predicted value =0.58 before the Games, and 0.49 after the Games). In contrast, the low
identiers did not display ingroup favoring emotions before the Games (predicted value =0.24), but did so after the Games
(predicted value =0.47).
3.2.2.2. Brand perceptions. We obtained the same result for brand perceptions. We performed a Brand Coun-
tryTime Cultural Identication GLM to the perceptions of Mainland and American brands. The three-way interaction
was signicant, F(1, 397) =4.10, p<.05,
2
p
= .010. To understand the nature of this interaction, we performed separate Brand
CountryCultural Identication GLMs on brand perceptions at the beginning and toward the end of the Olympics. At the
beginning of the Games, the main effect of brand country was signicant, F(1, 200) =41.17, p<.001,
2
p
= .171, such that
the participants perceived Mainland (vs. American) brands more favorably. The Brand CountryCultural Identication was
also signicant, F(1, 200) =18.44, p<.001,
2
p
= .084. As shown in Fig. 4a, when the level of cultural identication was high
(at one standard deviation above the mean), ingroup favoritism in brand perceptions was signicant and pronounced, F(1,
200) =55.09, p<.001,
2
p
= .216. When the level of cultural identication was low (at one standard deviation below the
mean), ingroup favoritism in brand perceptions was not signicant, F(1, 200) =3.58, p=.06,
2
p
= .018.
In comparison, toward the end of the Games, the main effect of brand country was signicant, F(1, 197) =61.52, p<.001,

2
p
= .283, but the interaction of brand country and cultural identication was not, F(1, 197) =1.13, p<.29. In short, high
identiers displayed ingroup favoring perceptions before and after the Olympic Games. In contrast, low identiers did not
display ingroup favoring perceptions before the game, but did so after the Games.
304 S.Y.Y. Cheng et al. / International Journal of Intercultural Relations 35 (2011) 296306
3.2.3. Hong Kong sample
As anoverview, Hong Kong participants withlowlevels of Chinese cultural identicationfavoredAmerican(vs. Mainland)
brands more, whereas those with relatively high levels of Chinese identication had equally positive emotional reactions
toward American and Chinese brands and more favorable perceptions of Mainland (vs. American) brands. This pattern of
results was found both at the beginning and toward the end of the Olympics. This result is consistent with the fact that
compared to their Mainland counterparts, Hong Kong participants identied less strongly with Chinese culture and did not
view Mainland Chinese as an ingroup (Hong et al., 2006).
3.2.3.1. Brand emotions. We performed the same four-way GLM on the brand emotions data from the Hong Kong sample.
The Emotion Valence Brand CountryTime Cultural Identication was not signicant, F(1, 228) =0.99, p=.32, but the
Emotion Valence Brand CountryCultural Identication was signicant, F(1, 228) =18.89, p<.001,
2
p
= .077. This result
indicates that both at the beginning and toward the end of the Olympics, the Hong Kong participants cultural identication
moderated their emotions toward Mainland and American brands. Again, we subtracted the negative emotion measure
from the positive emotion measure to form a measure of affect balance, and performed a Brand CountryCultural Identi-
cation GLM separately for affect balance of the Mainland and American brands at the beginning and toward the end of the
Olympics. The interaction of brand country and cultural identication was signicant both at the beginning of the Games,
F(1, 75) =13.61, p<.001,
2
p
= .154 and toward the end of them, F(1, 153) =6.20, p=.01,
2
p
= .039. When the level of cultural
identication was low (at one standard deviation below the mean), the participants reacted to American (vs. Mainland)
brands more favorably, both at the beginning of the Games, F(1, 75) =15.00, p<.001,
2
p
= .167, and at the end of them, F(1,
153) =4.05, p=.046,
2
p
= .026. However, when the level of cultural identication was high (at one standard deviation above
the mean), favoritismtoward American brands was not signicant both at the beginning of the Games, F(1, 75) =1.54, p=.22,
and toward the end, F(1, 153) =3.13, p=.08.
3.2.3.2. Brand perceptions. Again, we performed a Brand CountryTime Cultural Identication GLM on the perceptions
of American and Mainland brands. The three-way interaction was not signicant, F(1, 228) =0.43, p=.51, but the Brand
CountryCultural Identication interaction was, F(1, 228) =13.99, p<.001,
2
p
= .058, indicating that cultural identication
moderated evaluations of Mainland and American brands both at the beginning and toward the end of the Games. When
the level of cultural identication was low (centered at one standard deviation below the mean), the participants evaluated
American (vs. Mainland) brands more favorably, F(1, 230) =8.70, p=.004,
2
p
= .036. When the level of cultural identication
was high (centered at one standard deviation above the mean), the participants displayed signicant favoritism toward the
Mainland brands, F(1, 230) =4.89, p=.03,
2
p
= .021.
4. General discussion
Researchers have used the Olympics as a natural context for testing major psychological theories of emotions (Gries et al.,
2010; Matsumoto &Willingham, 2006). The present investigation focuses on the intergroup consequences of the experience
of the Olympics, and the results revealed an irony. Despite the deliberate effort to promote the ideal of One world, One
dream, the Olympic experience has, at least for those in Mainland China, widened the perceived cultural gap between
Chinese and Western cultures and produced a uniform tendency to favor Mainland (vs. American) brands, irrespective of
the level of ingroupidentication. InStudy 1, we foundthat the Olympics icon, a symbol that hadlittle intergroupsignicance
before the Olympics, had acquired an association with cultural differences for Beijing Chinese participants. Indeed, 3 months
after the Games, inadvertently encountering the Olympic icon enlarged the perceived differences between Chinese and
Western cultures. In Study 2, we did not mention the Olympics and presented the study as a marketing survey. Yet,
Mainland participants expressed more positive emotions and had more positive perception toward Mainland (vs. American)
toward the end of the Olympics, irrespective of how much they identied with Chinese culture. It should be noted that
immediately before the Olympics began, only Mainland participants with relatively high levels of ingroup identication
exhibited consistent ingroup favoring emotions and perceptions. This result indicates that the Olympic experience could
bolster low identiers ingroup favoring emotions and perceptions.
We have taken several cautions to protect the validity of our conclusions. Although the present study is not a longitudinal
study, as participants wererandomlyassignedtocompletethesurveybeforeor towardtheendof theOlympics, self-selection
bias cannot explain our results. Furthermore, the results fromthe Hong Kong sample indicate that the exhibition of ingroup
favoring emotions and perceptions among low ingroup identiers in the Mainland sample was not the result of Team
Chinas good performance in the Olympics. Indeed, the Hong Kong participants also witnessed Team Chinas performance
in the Games. However, among them, those with relatively low Chinese cultural identication felt more positively toward
American brands than Mainland brands, and their Olympic experience did not bolster favorable emotions or perceptions of
Mainland(vs. American) brands. As inpast studies (Fuet al., 1999; Hong et al., 2006; Lamet al., 1999), we foundthat the Hong
Kong participants did not see Mainland Chinese as an ingroup they had relatively lowlevels of identication with Chinese
culture and relatively unfavorable emotions toward Mainland (vs. American) brands. Taken together, the results suggest that
the experience of the Olympics as an ingroupoutgroup contest is necessary for bolstering low ingroup identiers ingroup
favoring emotions and perceptions.
S.Y.Y. Cheng et al. / International Journal of Intercultural Relations 35 (2011) 296306 305
Our results are largely consistent with the social identity theory (Turner et al., 1994). Among the Mainland Chinese, those
who strongly identify with Chinese culture consistently display ingroup favoritism. The Hong Kong Chinese have relatively
low levels of Chinese cultural identication and do not have a consistent preference for the Mainland versus American
brands. Furthermore, in Hong Kong, before and toward the end of the Olympics, those with higher levels of Chinese cultural
identication favored American (vs. Mainland) brands less.
Despite the consistent social identity effects on brand evaluations, the present research shows repeated priming of com-
petitionbetweentheingroupandtheoutgroupthroughtheOlympics experiencecouldevokeingroupfavoritismevenamong
individuals withlowlevels of ingroupcultural identication. Althoughthis nding seems novel, it is consistent withprevious
eld research nding intergroup competition can affect intercultural relations beyond and above social identication effects
(Duckitt & Mphuthing, 1998; Hong et al., 2006; Kessler & Mummedey, 2001).
Our results have several implications. First, the Olympics have drawnMainlandChineses attentiontodifferences between
Chinese and Western cultures and stained these perceptions with an ingroup favoring taint. However, according to dual cul-
ture activation theory, whether such perceptions would improve or worsen Chinas attitudes toward global culture depends
upon the dominant intercultural mindset present in the situation (Chiu, 2007; Chiu & Cheng, 2007). When a competitive
or evaluative mindset is activated, people are motivated to preserve the integrity of the local culture and even engage in
exclusionary practices to limit the inuence of foreign cultures in their own country. However, when a learning mindset is
activated, people may be motivated to learn from a dissimilar foreign culture. This possibility awaits detailed examination
in future research.
Secondly, it would also be interesting to examine the psychological implications of major international events that
promote intercultural learning and collaboration. One example of such events is the Shanghai World Expo held in 2010.
According to dual activation theory, events such as these could motivate attempts to synthesize seemingly incompatible
ideas fromdifferent cultures andfoster creative performance insteadof worsening intergroupattitudes (Leung et al., 2008).
Finally, the present research has focused on Mainland Chineses responses to the Olympic experience. The United States is
consistently Chinas major competitor in the Olympics. How Americans react to their collective memory of the 2008 Beijing
Olympics merits future investigation.
In conclusion, major international events such as the Olympics have important implications for international relations
and global business. They also offer precious opportunities for testing psychological theories of globalization and intergroup
relations in eld settings. We hope that the present research would inspire similar studies in the future.
Acknowledgements
The research reported in this article was funded by research grants awarded by the National Science Foundation (Award
Number: BCS-0743119) and the Nanyang Technological University, and supported by a grant fromNational Natural Science
Foundation of China (70972013) to Siqing Peng. The authors would like to thank Banbi Chan, Karen Cheng, Suki Cheng,
Candy Ho, Lin Li, Luluo Peng, and the IT support team at the Peking University for their invaluable help in data collection.
The authors made equal contributions to this research project.
Appendix A. Commercial brands used in Study 2.
Mainland sample
U.S. brands McDonalds, GE, Pepsi, IBM and Nike
Chinese brands Quan Jude Peking Duck Restaurant, Haier Home Appliances, Wang Ji Herbal Drinks, Lenovo Computing, and LiNing Sportswear
Hong Kong sample
U.S. brands Steven Spielberg movies, Disneyland, ABC, AT&T, Stanley Morgan, and Starbucks
Chinese brands Zhang Yimou movies, Window of the World Theme Park, CCTV, China Mobile, Bank of China, and Meng Niu Dairy Products
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