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ISSN: 1547-0148 (Print) 1547-0156 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wcet20

Participant-based brand image perceptions

of international sport events: The case of the
Universiade

Dimitra Papadimitriou, Artemisia Apostolopoulou & Kyriaki (KIKI)

Kaplanidou

To cite this article: Dimitra Papadimitriou, Artemisia Apostolopoulou & Kyriaki (KIKI)
Kaplanidou (2016) Participant-based brand image perceptions of international sport events:
The case of the Universiade, Journal of Convention & Event Tourism, 17:1, 1-20

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 JOURNAL OF CONVENTION & EVENT TOURISM
, VOL. , NO. , –
http://dx.doi.org/./..

Participant-based brand image perceptions of international

sport events: The case of the Universiade
Dimitra Papadimitrioua , Artemisia Apostolopouloub , and Kyriaki Kaplanidouc
a
Department of Business Administration, University of Patras, Rio, Greece; b Department of Sport
Management, School of Business, Robert Morris University, Moon Township, Pennsylvania, USA;
c
Department of Tourism, Recreation & Sport Management, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

The purpose of this study was to identify dimensions of brand Received  January 
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image of an international sport event. Athletes and official team Accepted  April 
delegates participating in the 2009 Summer Universiade held in
KEYWORDS
Belgrade, Serbia, were interviewed. Data analysis revealed five Brand associations; brand
core event image dimensions: competition, emotional, social, cul- image; international sport
tural, and organizational. These themes related to past research event; participant
but showed a more balanced interplay between the competi- perceptions; Universiade
tion and socio-cultural images of the event. Implications for event
and tourism marketing include the communication of certain
imageries to key consumer groups as well as the provision of
experiences that reinforce or alter event imagery.

Mega sport events demand tremendous investment of human, financial, and phys-
ical resources in order to deliver expected benefits in various sectors, including
tourism, sport, employment, and services. They are considered catalysts offering
opportunities to leverage media exposure for significant tourism and other eco-
nomic gains for cities, regions, and even countries (McCartney & Osti, 2007; Chalip,
Green, & Hill, 2003). This has directly impacted the value of major events, which is
consistently increasing. According to assessments performed by Forbes, the brand
value of the National Football League’s 2010 Super Bowl reached $420 million, mak-
ing it the most valuable sport event worldwide (Schwartz, 2010). In comparison, the
value of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games was assessed at $230 million and the
value of the 2010 FIFA World Cup at $120 million.
Major events, such as the Super Bowl and the Olympic Games, have tremendous
appeal to mass international audiences because of the exciting cocktail of sports and
entertainment they serve in their host destinations. As they travel from city to city,
multi-faceted campaigns brand these events using attractive slogans (e.g., “Australia
2000: Fun and Games;” “Athens 2004: Welcome Home;” “Beijing 2008: One World
One Dream;” “London 2012: Inspire a Generation”). However, it has been argued

CONTACT Artemisia Apostolopoulou apostolopoulou@rmu.edu School of Business, Robert Morris University,

 University Boulevard, Moon Township, PA .
©  Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
 2 D. PAPADIMITRIOU ET AL.

that the majority of events do not fully appreciate the actual value of their brand
and the benefits of branding practices (Chalip & Costa, 2005).
So far, relevant literature has focused predominantly on profiling the different
types of sport event consumers-spectators and participants (Bull & Lovell, 2007;
McCartney & Osti, 2007), on estimating the economic impact of the event tourism
expenditure (Allan, Dunlop, & Swales, 2007; Desbordes, 2007; Gratton, Shibli, &
Coleman, 2005), and on quantifying the commercial benefits for various stakehold-
ers including sponsors and event organizers (Musante, Milne, & McDonald, 1999).
Yet very few empirical studies have attempted to delineate the network of associa-
tions and meanings underpinning particular sport event brands as a basis for brand
development and exploitation despite the importance of this knowledge for brand-
ing purposes.
Event image perceptions are tied to event branding, which can prove to be chal-
lenging given the number and variety of events in the global market. This matter is
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further complicated by the fact that different stakeholders, such as sanctioning gov-
erning bodies, organizing committees, athletes and coaches, host communities, and
marketing partners, may possess distinct brand image perceptions that influence the
branding of an event. Surprisingly, research focusing on athletes is limited despite
the fact that they are the ones largely producing and benefiting from an event (Chel-
ladurai & Riemer, 1997; Parent & Foreman, 2007). Athletes (and team delegates) are
considered primary consumption stakeholders as they have an intimate and exten-
sive experience with the event and can be significant agents of image formation.
These stakeholders can be influential not only in delivering quality competition but
also in promoting the event in relevant segments and stimulating future consump-
tion both for the event and the destination, especially if their experience is positive.
In their study of the Commonwealth Games, MacIntosh and Nicol (2012)
examined perceptions of athletes about a variety of operational and programmatic
aspects and argued that these stakeholders play a significant role in delivering
a successful event. They further highlighted the importance of soliciting athlete
input that can provide a point of differentiation and ultimately lead to higher levels
of brand equity both for the event and the host destination. The current study
attempts to add to this line of research by examining perceptions of athletes and
team delegates with respect to the image of another mega sporting event. Specif-
ically, the aim of the present study is to explore the brand associations and brand
image components of an international multi-sport event from the perspective of
direct event consumers, namely athletes and official team delegates. Rather than
focusing on hallmark events, such as the Olympics or the Super Bowl, that have
already received much attention from researchers, the brand associations of another
very large yet rather unknown sporting event, the Universiade were explored. Also
called the World University Games, the Universiade is an international multi-sport
and cultural festival staged every 2 years (summer and winter) in a different city
under the patronage of the International University Sports Federation (F.I.S.U.).
The event provides a unique opportunity for university student-athletes to com-
pete in a truly international setting while enjoying time at the host destination. It
 JOURNAL OF CONVENTION & EVENT TOURISM 3

involves significant public investments and attracts a very high number of interna-
tional student-athlete participants. An in-depth understanding of the event’s brand
associations and resulting image can offer Universiade organizers and marketers a
significant platform from which to launch their communications, promotional, and
sales campaigns, to capitalize on the commercial potential of this event for both
the event and the host destination, and to enhance the event experience offered to
participants and audiences. Additionally, the findings of this study can contribute
to existing research, particularly theory regarding mega sport event branding.

Review of the literature

Brand image and associations

Brand image has been defined as “perceptions about a brand as reflected by the
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brand associations held in consumer memory” (Keller, 1993, p. 3). Da Silva and Alwi
(2008) proposed that corporate brand image is shaped by the values that stakehold-
ers, through their experiences with the organization, attach to the brand. A positive
brand image, that incorporates both functional as well as emotional aspects of the
brand, can offer an advantage over a brand’s competition and lead to increased levels
of customer loyalty (Aaker, 1991; Da Silva & Alwi, 2008).
Brand associations involve everything that comes to mind when one thinks of a
brand, including thoughts, feelings and emotions (Aaker, 1991). They work to form
a brand’s image, which along with brand awareness include the two components
of Keller’s (1993) customer-based brand equity model. Keller (1993) further iden-
tifies three types of brand associations: product and non-product related attributes;
functional, experiential, and symbolic benefits; and attitudes. Brand associations are
commonly measured via qualitative methodologies (e.g., in-depth interviews) and
through the use of free association tasks or projective methods, such as sentence
completion and picture interpretation (Aaker, 1991; Keller, 1993).
Generating strong, favorable, and unique brand associations and subsequently
creating a positive brand image can prove valuable for a brand by providing a point
of differentiation between the brand and its competition, highlighting reasons for
consumers to purchase the brand, and serving as basis for the introduction of brand
extensions (Aaker, 1991). Understanding how consumers view a brand and iden-
tifying favorable and unique brand associations can inform future marketing and
communications campaigns in hopes of developing meaningful differences in favor
of the brand and strengthening its equity.
Brand associations at the team and league level, as well as the broader concept of
brand equity, have been a topic of study in the sport marketing literature (e.g., Bauer,
Stokburger-Sauer, & Exler, 2008; Gladden & Funk, 2002; Gladden & Milne, 1999;
Gladden, Milne, & Sutton, 1998; Kunkel, Funk, & King, 2014; Ross, 2006, 2007; Ross,
Bang, & Lee, 2007; Ross, James, & Vargas, 2006). In fact, there have been at least two
attempts to develop frameworks that capture associations of sport brands: the “Team
Association Model” (by Gladden & Funk, 2002) and the “Team Brand Association
 4 D. PAPADIMITRIOU ET AL.

Scale” (by Ross et al., 2006). In a related research stream, sport management scholars
have examined the concept of brand personality as it applies to sport organizations
(e.g., Braunstein & Ross, 2010; Heere, 2010). The previously mentioned studies point
to the multi-faceted nature of brand associations and their significant influence on
consumer loyalty.

Sport event brand image

The concept of brand image has been applied to sport products and services as well
as destinations (Dolich, 1969; Faircloth, Capella, & Alford, 2001; Gwinner & Eaton,
1999; Hankinson, 2005; Musante et al., 1999). Sport events are considered brands
that embed certain characteristics stemming from their intangible and subjective
nature. Mega sport events in particular can be used by destinations as tourist prod-
ucts that have the potential to enhance destination image components (Jago, Chalip,
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Brown, Mules, & Ali, 2003; MacIntosh & Nicol, 2012; Xing & Chalip, 2006) and
attract more people in an area, resulting in economic, social, and/or environmen-
tal benefits (Hritz & Ross, 2010; Schneider, 2009). Interestingly when sport events
are utilized as tourist attractions, their image can bear similarities with the destina-
tion image concept, which consists of cognitive, affective, and conative character-
istics that can have functional, psychological, and unique components (Echtner &
Ritchie, 1991, 1993; Gartner, 1993; Tasci & Gartner, 2007). In his editorial, Weed
(2010) underlines the importance of and relationship between the brand image of
an event and the image of the host destination. Along the same lines, Yu, Wang, and
Seo (2012) examined the concept of strategic and cultural fit between an event brand
and the host destination brand (measured as suitability of the destination to host the
event, mutual benefits for both event and destination, infrastructure, and media)
and found that it can positively influence tourists’ perceptions of both brands.
The exploratory empirical works on brand associations and brand image related
to major sport events are limited. Existing studies fall into two categories: The first
group undertakes exploratory endeavors on branding in terms of event associations
and image (Kaplanidou, 2010), while a more extensive category of studies explores
the linkages between the brand of sport events and associated concepts such as spon-
sorship, licensing, and destination image (Apostolopoulou, Papadimitriou, & Damt-
siou, 2010; Hallmann & Breuer, 2010a, 2010b, 2011; Kaplanidou & Vogt, 2007; Stipp
& Schiavone, 1996; Xing & Chalip, 2006). Representative works are discussed below
(also see Table 1).
While examining the meanings of small scale sport events, Kaplanidou and Vogt
(2010) suggested that event participants attribute meanings related to organiza-
tional, emotional, social, physical activity, and environmental (destination) aspects
of the event. In more detail, the organization component related to the event services
and facilitation offered to event participants. The emotional component related to
the excitement, enjoyment and fulfillment participants felt. The social component
was about the socializing with other event participants while the physical activity
component related to the health and good physical condition the participants felt
 JOURNAL OF CONVENTION & EVENT TOURISM 5

Table . Brand image and associations of sport event brands.

Brand associations Sport Author
category/attributes brands (s)

Organizational, emotional, social, Athens Marathon Bicycle event Kaplanidou (), Kaplanidou
environmental (destination), physical, and Vogt ()
unique associations (i.e., historical
aspects)
Cognitive event image; thirteen () items Athens’ Olympic Games Kaplanidou ()
relating to entertainment, venue design
and atmosphere, friendly people,
safety, good value for money, hygiene
and cleanness
Quality of play, CHL, school packages, Canadian Interuniversity Sport Chard ()
scholarships in the CIS, relevance, end Hockey League
of the hockey dream
The concept of hope Olympic Winter Games Kashef, Ramdas, and Annamma
()
Cognitive, affective Marathons, Cycling, Triathlons, Hallmann and Breuer (a,
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Rowing, Biathlon, b, ) Hallmann et al.

Cross-Country Skiing, Nordic ()
Combined

they needed to be in for the event. Finally, meanings related to the environment
involved perceptions about the scenery of the event.
Extending the Kaplanidou and Vogt (2010) study to sport tourists of a large inter-
national sport event (i.e., the Athens marathon) as an event image exercise, the same
five themes emerged along with a unique component tied to the profile of the specific
sport event (i.e., historical; Kaplanidou, 2010). Kaplanidou’s (2010) findings sug-
gested that some unique elements may emerge in the exploration of a sport event’s
image perceptions given the different elements comprising the event. In an attempt
to further validate the event image components proposed by Kaplanidou (2010),
Hallman, Kaplanidou, and Breur (2010) examined the image perceptions of both
participants and spectators of urban and rural marathons in Germany and found
that the original brand images proposed by Kaplanidou (2010) held true. All the
studies above identified several image elements that relate to cognitive and affective
components, an approach that connects to the image structure derived from the
destination image literature (Tasci & Gartner, 2007). Under this theoretical scope,
Kaplanidou (2007) and Li and Kaplanidou (2013) discussed the way in which direct
(i.e., on-site participants and spectators) and non-direct (i.e., media followers) con-
sumers of mega events form their tourism consumption behaviors and argued for
the importance of affective event images. Similarly, in their studies on the structure
and influence of the image of small scale sport events on behaviors, Hallmann and
Breur (2010a, 2010b) confirmed the cognitive and affective structure of destination
image but argued that different groups of sport event consumers (participants versus
spectators) follow different consumption processes.
Looking at the formation of event image it appears that direct experiences can cre-
ate a stronger knowledge structure in the minds of sport event consumers and thus,
be more effective in relevant outcomes, such as purchasing sport event products,
 6 D. PAPADIMITRIOU ET AL.

recommending the event to others, and revisiting the host destination. This propo-
sition has been supported by studies from Hallmann and Breuer (2010a, 2010b) who
suggested that certain event images can influence future destination visits and thus
stimulate tourism development.
Sport event images can also influence branding strategies such as licensing as
unique characteristics of a particular event may be transferred to the event’s licensed
products. In a first ever research attempt to explore the meanings of the licensed
products of the 2004 Athens Summer Olympic Games, Apostolopoulou et al. (2010)
found that those products were not consumed for their functional value use but
mainly for their experiential and social-symbolic value. That value was embedded
in Olympic Movement-related symbolism (i.e., symbols of the Games, athleticism,
the Games’ history), the host nation’s identity (i.e., national history, values, expo-
sure, image), and national accomplishments (i.e., success of the Games, prosperity,
associated political triumphs; Apostolopoulou et al., 2010). The previously men-
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tioned findings, though to some extent idiosyncratic to the particular event’s image,
demonstrate how mega events function as vessels of social and symbolic mean-
ings to be consumed by various stakeholders including event participants, specta-
tors, tourists, or sponsors. Parts of those meanings constitute key and representative
brand image drivers of the event itself, while others are constructed and consumed
in a discursive social space and remain part of the event’s intangible legacies left
behind to the host city and country.
Sport event brands are also important from a sponsorship perspective. There is
evidence that sport events can become a platform for a sponsoring company to either
enhance or change its brand image (Ferrand & Pages, 1996; Gwinner, 1997). For
instance, when an event is perceived as prestigious or multi-cultural, there is an
opportunity to transfer that image to its sponsoring entities. In this case significant
brand and consumer benefits can accrue from establishing an association between a
non-sport brand (i.e., sponsor) and a major sport event (Delpy, 1996; Papadimitriou
& Apostolopoulou, 2009; Stipp & Schiavone, 1996; Stotlar, 1993). Those benefits may
be even more pronounced when high levels of fit exist between the image of the sport
event and the corporate brand image resulting in positive cognitive, affective, and
conative responses and customer brand loyalty (Koo, Quarterman, & Flynn, 2006).

Research questions
Even though researchers have included sport event brands in studies of broader
scope, research specific to the conceptualization of brand associations and brand
image of international sport events is surprisingly limited. As underlined by a few
authors (Getz, 2008; Kaplanidou & Vogt, 2007), more research is needed across dif-
ferent events varying in size, sport type, and frequency of occurrence in order to bet-
ter capture the plurality of event brand associations and brand image. Furthermore,
the profile of the sport consumer (i.e., participant versus spectator versus delegate),
especially when consumption requires traveling to a destination, should be taken
 JOURNAL OF CONVENTION & EVENT TOURISM 7

into consideration given the potential differences in patterns of brand consumption

and experiences (Weed, 2008, 2009; Weed & Bull, 2009).
Therefore, two research questions are guiding the present research:
(1) How are the brand associations and brand image of the sport event under
study perceived by event participants?
(2) What, if any, are the unique brand associations that differentiate this event
from other mega sport event brands?

Methodology

The setting: The 2009 Summer Universiade

Since its first staging in 1959, the Summer Universiade has shown tremendous
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growth in terms of sports as well as country and athlete participation. In 2009 the
Summer Universiade was staged in Belgrade, Serbia. Given the strong sport culture
and tradition of Serbia, the event included 10 compulsory sports and eight optional
sports, increasing further the number of participants, volunteers, employees as well
as the needed venue infrastructure. Belgrade offered a new athletes’ village for a
total capacity of 10,944 athletes and officials, the largest construction site ever in
town, and a high number of venues in excellent condition (16 sport centers, seven
sport halls, seven stadiums and six swimming pools). Approximately 9,000 athletes
from 140 countries competed in 15 sports and 148 disciplines (Universiade Bel-
grade, 2009).
The Universiade is the second largest multi-sport event in the world behind only
the Olympic Games and displays certain similarities with the Olympics. Amongst
the common elements are the gigantic scale of the event, its multi-sport nature, and
the significant infrastructure and other investments required for its staging. A dis-
tinguishing characteristic, however, is the central concept of the Universiade that
promotes the educational spirit and student participation along with the traditional
sport values. This has been achieved by designing a world sport event platform that
allows for less stressful competitions and for parallel participation in cultural activi-
ties, unlike the Olympics that focus primarily on performance excellence and record
breaking. Student delegates of each participating nation have the opportunity to
experience a multi-cultural sport competition as well as compete in a mega event
that promotes fair play and non-discrimination in university athletics.

Data collection and sample

As the purpose of this study was to identify brand associations that help shape image
perceptions of the Universiade among event participants, and consistent with exist-
ing literature, a qualitative approach was deemed appropriate. This method enabled
the development of a large pool of brand associations within the context of the
experience of two participant groups, athletes, and official team delegates. The data
 8 D. PAPADIMITRIOU ET AL.

collection was carried out in Belgrade, Serbia, in July, during the staging of the 2009
Summer Universiade.
A series of structured personal interviews were held with event participants who
were randomly approached by a researcher at different areas of the event site (e.g.,
athletes’ village, venues, dining areas). Since the study was conducted within the
event competition sites where different stakeholders (i.e., members of the organiz-
ing committee, volunteers, medical staff, referees, etc.) were operating together, a
screening question was asked to determine whether the potential interviewee was
an athlete or team delegate. In addition, a second screening parameter was intro-
duced in the procedure due to the language barrier. Of the two languages spoken by
the researchers, English was the only useable language for communication while col-
lecting data for this study. Therefore, a few participants were self-screened because
they felt less confident or unwilling to carry out a conversation in English.
Although no systematic sampling technique was used, an effort was made to
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include both male and female participants from different countries and sports,
resulting in a sample of N = 122. Of those, N = 89 were athletes and N = 33 were
official team delegates. The sample was split almost evenly between genders (54%
males versus 46% females). Participants represented 29 countries and 11 different
sports. For most of the respondents (74%) this was their first time participating in
the Universiade. Athletes were in their majority (89%) between the ages of 18 and 24,
while official team delegates were older (63% between 35 and 54 years) and served
in a variety of roles (17% as head of delegation, 52% on the coaching staff, and 17%
on the medical team).
The purpose of the structured interviews was to elicit data regarding brand asso-
ciations of the Universiade as well as unique characteristics of this particular event.
The interviewees, upon agreement to take part in the study, were asked first to think
of the 2009 Summer Universiade as a brand and then to answer the following two
questions: (1) “What are the three words that come to mind when you think of the
Universiade?” and (2) “What are some features that differentiate the Universiade
from other sporting events? What do you see as the unique characteristics of the
Universiade?” Participants were asked to freely report elements or meanings they
associated with this event, while interviewer probing was kept to a minimum. Gen-
eral profile questions were also included in the interview guide.

Data analysis
To analyze the data in the present study, the steps recommended by Miles and Hum-
berman (1994) were followed. In reference to the first research question regarding
brand associations and brand image dimensions, the content of each interview tran-
script was recorded and the unit of analysis was the words used by the interviewees
to express the meaning of the particular event. The first question generated a total
of 316 words: 226 words from athletes and 90 from team delegates. The next step
was a comparing/contrasting tactic that was run by two experienced researchers in
order to group similar units to overarching categories. The term category is used
 JOURNAL OF CONVENTION & EVENT TOURISM 9

here to refer to what Miles and Humberman (1994) call conceptual clusters or con-
cepts that group together words with similar meanings. Categories at this phase were
derived from the most relevant (Kaplanidou, 2010; Kaplanidou & Vogt, 2010) but
also broader literature (Echtner & Ritchie, 1991, 1993; Gartner, 1993; Tasci & Gart-
ner, 2007). However, in cases where a unit of meaning represented something dis-
tinctly different from all previous codes, a data-driven category was generated.
All responses were coded by two independent coders based on five brand image
dimensions. Those dimensions were labeled competition, emotional, social, cul-
tural, and organizational. Initial inter-coder agreement was just over 85%. Differ-
ences between the two coders were discussed and resolved. A description of the
image dimensions, sample words, and all frequencies are presented in Table 2. To
explore whether there were any differences between the athletes and the delegates
in how they viewed the event, the Chi-square statistic was estimated to examine the
degree of association or disassociation between the two groups’ event image per-
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ceptions. No significant differences were observed, so results on the total sample are
discussed next.
In reference to the second research question involving unique brand associations
and meanings, the answers provided by the interviewees were recorded in the form
of full sentences, which became the units of analysis. Based on Miles and Humber-
man (1994, p. 247), this unit of analysis represents themes that present “a string of
words with a subject and a predicate.” An open coding frame was employed to clas-
sify themes with similar content into categories. Again, two researchers reviewed
the relevant data and classified the various themes into two broad categories: (1) the
character of the event and (2) the social aspect of the event. The full discussion of
these results is presented in the following section.

Results

Brand associations and image of the Universiade

The examination of brand associations of the Universiade revealed that the particu-
lar event has developed a strong brand with a rich stock of meanings. A review of the
responses showed that the majority of the words reported had a positive connota-
tion. In terms of the specific image dimensions, about one third (34%) of the brand
associations were related to performance and competition aspects of the event, while
another 20% expressed emotions and feelings regarding respondents’ participation
in the Universiade. Social and organizational aspects of the event were also high-
lighted through 19 and 16% of the words listed, respectively. To a lesser extent (5%),
participants’ responses involved cultural aspects of this event.
Not surprisingly, the most prominent aspect of the Universiade for athletes and
delegates was competition. Words such as sport, performance, winner, and medals
were offered by study participants when asked about their thoughts regarding the
event. The Universiade is primarily a sport event and national teams are on site
to compete for medals, so the result was somewhat expected. This finding is also
 Downloaded by [University of Patras] at 06:40 30 March 2016

10

Table . Brand image dimensions of Universiade Belgrade ().

Brand image Sample Athletes Delegates Total
dimensions Description words (N = ) (N = ) (N = )

Competition Captures competition and Sport, competition,  (.%)  (.%)  (.%)
performance-related components of performance, winner, medals
the event
D. PAPADIMITRIOU ET AL.

Emotional Captures expressed feelings and emotions Fun, excitement, happiness,  (.%)  (.%)  (.%)
regarding participation in and overall inspiring, pride
experience at the event

Social Captures social aspects of the Relationships, friendship,  (.%)  (.%)  (.%)
participation in the event and notions people, unity, peace
of solidarity and peace

Cultural Captures references to culture and cultural Diversity, culture,  (.%)  (.%)  (.%)
diversity multi-nationality

Organizational Captures elements of the management International, professional,  (.%)  (.%)  (.%)
and delivery of this event and unique, education, students
characteristics describing the unique
nature and context of the event

Unclassified Includes responses that did not fit in any Travel, freedom, opportunity  (.%)  (.%)  (.%)
of the categories above

Total   

 JOURNAL OF CONVENTION & EVENT TOURISM 11

aligned with past research on the branding of sport properties that have highlighted
team- and competition-related elements such as success, head coach, star players,
conference, and schedule as sources of brand associations (Gladden & Funk, 2002;
Gladden et al., 1998).
The emergence of the emotional, cultural, and social event image dimensions
brings forth characteristics that appear to be consistent with the orientation of
this particular competition. Drawing from their direct exposure to and experience
with the event, study participants employed a long record of brand associations to
describe their feelings, the extensive opportunities they had for socialization, and the
cultural enrichment experienced while taking part in the games. Among the most
frequently cited emotions were fun, excitement, pride, passion, and happiness. The
socio-cultural elements of the event’s image were captured through words or expres-
sions such as friendship, unity, people, peace, diversity, culture, nationality. The par-
ticular words describe an event that is exciting for participants and offers a special
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atmosphere. Finally, brand associations also highlighted organizational attributes of

the Universiade and were descriptive of the nature and structure of the event. Terms
used to capture that aspect of the event’s image included students, international,
unique, big, and professional.

Unique event brand associations

With regard to the second research question, the unique brand associations of the
Universiade brand related primarily to two sub-themes: (1) the character of the event
and (2) the social aspect of the event.

The character of the event

The particular event shares a few similarities in terms of its structure with the
Olympics and other fast-growing multi-sport events like the Youth Olympic Games.
The common attributes were associated with the event’s multi-sport program, its
large scale, the international level of competition, the high standard facilities, its
dependence on the assistance of an extensive force of volunteers, and the fast grow-
ing pattern of the event. However, study participants also reported several unique
brand associations stemming from the nature and profile of the event as this directly
affected their experience. The Universiade is set to attract fewer professionals, offer-
ing the opportunity to university student-athletes to play in a less competitive envi-
ronment. A few participants saw this as a key differentiating aspect compared to the
Olympics and World Championship competitions: “We are student-athletes from all
over the world, and we are certainly not professionals” said one participant, while
two others concurred by stating, “I like the lack of pressure here! Games are not
important for the representation of the nations, only to represent the universities, it
is more fun to be here,” and “Wonderful time, very relaxing, no pressure on athletes,
not stressing.”
 12 D. PAPADIMITRIOU ET AL.

Overall the Universiade is perceived as inferior to the Olympic Games in terms of

performance standards. However, the fact that this event provides the only opportu-
nity in the world for student-athletes to take part in a truly international multi-sport
event of a very large scale was highly appreciated by study participants who acknowl-
edged this as a differentiating attribute: “The best student event: Countries from all
over the world competing and a big number of athletes involved in the competition
but not everyone gets the opportunity to be a part of the Universiade. This is one in
a lifetime experience.”
Interestingly, a few respondents acknowledged that the particular event structure
creates a diverse environment offering a better competition platform for the applica-
tion of values such as fair play, peace, and unification. As one student-athlete stated,
“The whole world is presented and it has it all: competitions with the best teams,
upcoming athletes, fair play, everything is so cool.” The results also suggested that
both the common and unique elements of the character of the Universiade had an
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impact on the social meanings emerging from participants’ experience.

The social aspect of the event

Alongside the character of the Universiade, there was evidence of another significant
source of unique brand associations that captured the social dimension of this event.
If there was one phrase to be selected that was most cited in the interviews that was
the event’s “friendly atmosphere.” The majority of the interviewees expressed pos-
itive sentiments highlighting mainly two social dimensions of the event’s imagery:
socialization and communion. Although socialization occurs in every sport event
either amongst the spectators (fans) or the participants, there is evidence from the
interviews that the particular event creates memorable social experiences that man-
age to override the memories from the actual competition. As illustrated in the fol-
lowing statement, the Universiade is the only mega event that combines competition
with a friendly atmosphere: “It’s a very different event. Athletes from everywhere are
together, partying, and having fun before, during and after competitions.”
The socialization context of the event was also described as a festival: “There is a
festive ambiance, a ‘college’ atmosphere with the student-athletes.” Others pointed to
the dual-identity of the participants as students and athletes in order to explain the
special atmosphere of the event. Here are three representative quotes: “The athletes
here are not professionals at their sport but coming to achieve a balanced perfection
in both studies and sport;” “All athletes are students, thereby have the common back-
ground;” and “People in almost the same age, the atmosphere is so unique because
everyone is a student and understands each other.”
The athletes’ village is the place where participants spend a significant amount of
their time while taking part in the event. The village functions as a community and
serves all the needs of the athletes offering services such as medical care, security,
retail shops, even bars and pubs. The entertainment activities taking place in the
village are unlimited with creative international parties offered by informal groups
of athletes and volunteers. Unlike the Olympics, where athletes regard performance
 JOURNAL OF CONVENTION & EVENT TOURISM 13

as their top priority, athletes of the Universiade enjoy an exclusive mega event with
less pressure. As one interviewee stated, “All the competitors are well-educated and it
gives the chance of upcoming athletes to represent their countries and enjoy a great
experience. They have to share and talk about other things, not only connected with
sport.” Within this context the athletes’ village emerges as an integrated interna-
tional community with a diversity of cultures acting as a broad family. The follow-
ing views express unique sources of meaning pertinent to socialization and com-
munion among student-athletes that create unique memories and emotions: “The
event offers excellent integration with other sports and countries, a lot of socializa-
tion and interaction, so many sports and cultures” and “The love between countries
is visible. All students are behaving like one family, everyone is showing love.”

Discussion and implications

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The literature is scarce in studies exploring the associations of mega sport event
brands. The present study represents a first effort to delineate the brand associations
of the Universiade, which is the second largest international multi-sport event after
the Olympics. The study makes two significant contributions: The first contribution
relates to the identification of a five-dimension event brand image structure from
the data, a finding that was fairly consistent with what has already been proposed
in existing literature and reinforces the idea of an event image processing model for
event participants. The second contribution involves the emergence of unique brand
image themes of the Universiade as seen by event participants. Athletes and official
team delegates identified a set of unique brand associations that have the poten-
tial to offer the Universiade a concrete, differentiated image from other mega sport
events such as the Olympic Games, the Youth Olympic Games and the International
Children’s Games.
The fact that the results of this study substantiate previous empirical evidence on
this topic (Kaplanidou, 2010; Kaplanidou & Vogt, 2010) and suggest that an event
image structure may extend beyond core competition to feature elements related to
the emotional, social, and organizational dimensions of a sport event is promising.
The dominance of competition and performance aspects is somewhat expected as
the majority of respondents were athletes and the particular event is sport-oriented.
This finding is also in congruence with the image creation model presented by
Gwinner (1997). Brand associations, such as sport, games, international competi-
tion, diversity of sports, top athletes, talent, challenge, excellence, youth, medals,
fair play, large scale event, and outstanding facilities, all denote the multi-sport and
global character of the Universiade. A related to competition sub-theme (i.e., qual-
ity of play) has been reported by Chard (2013) with regards to the brand image of a
Canadian hockey league.
However, the image of the particular event was also portrayed with reference to
a number of socio-cultural aspects, which together with the emotional elements,
were used to depict the unique character of the Universiade. These results, though
not directly comparable, share some common ground with evidence published by
 14 D. PAPADIMITRIOU ET AL.

Derbaix and Decrop (2011) indicating that events (football games) play a socializa-
tion role because they present invaluable opportunities to people for developing and
maintaining social ties. Interestingly, brand associations identified by event partic-
ipants were almost equally split between competition and organizational aspects of
the event and emotional and socio-cultural dimensions. The balance between func-
tional and affective associations reflects the unique brand image of the Universiade
and could offer a significant point of differentiation from other sport events brands.
It is unclear whether the Universiade events have been managed over their history
with the intention to build a unique brand image with positive and salient associa-
tions and meanings.
In the present study, the associations that interviewees chose to record when
asked about the unique elements of the Universiade included a “truly multi-sport
international event” with “a strong cultural element” carried out in a “less compet-
itive environment though of high standards.” This evidence confirms, at least par-
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tially, F.I.S.U.’s main motto of “excellence in mind and body” that is delivered through
the Universiade every 2 years via educational, cultural, and sport activities focusing
on celebrating friendship and sportsmanship. As the sport event industry becomes
more and more competitive in obtaining bigger shares of the global market of par-
ticipants and audiences, the question remains whether the associations uncovered
through this study make the Universiade brand distinctive and appealing to new
markets.
The results also provide a platform for future research in event branding, par-
ticularly in the development of mega event brand models. Since brand associations
remain a key variable in brand equity models, the present results can contribute in
developing a valid and reliable scale to capture brand associations and/or the brand
image of mega sport events. Understanding and measuring the associations that are
common across mega sport events, as well as those associations that are unique to
specific events, can offer insights into how to build a strong event image among dif-
ferent consumer segments including participants, spectators, and media audiences
in traditional and non-traditional markets.

Practical implications

In addition to theoretical implications, the present findings offer practical implica-

tions for event practitioners in general and F.I.S.U. executives in particular. First,
both the core and unique brand associations that were identified in this study can
be used as basis for designing or updating the main identity elements of the Uni-
versiade brand, namely its logo, symbols, mascots, slogans, packaging, and signage.
This is particularly important for mega sport events such as the Universiade that
need to place extra effort to successfully tie event identity with brand elements of
the host destination (Weszka, 2011). Surprisingly, even established sport brands like
the FIFA World Cup only recently managed to ensure some consistency in the por-
trayal of the event and host destination (Weszka, 2011). Chadwick and Holt (2008)
argue that, beyond traditional marketing strategies, event brand managers need to
 JOURNAL OF CONVENTION & EVENT TOURISM 15

work creatively to release the latent brand equity of existing event products. Some of
the suggestions they make include exploiting the event’s history, offering appealing
brand dressing, attractive trophies, teams and stadiums, designing exciting brand
finales, and, most importantly, using star athletes as brand ambassadors.
The design of sport event brands is rarely based on qualitative data offering sys-
tematic insights into the character, personality, and emotions experienced by partici-
pants in a real context. The present data of brand associations provide valuable infor-
mation for the marketing team of the Universiade not only to design and communi-
cate a unique personality and character for the particular event, but also to influence
the way in which consumers experience the brand and to create additional value
for the property. Understanding the core and unique brand associations of a mega
sport event brand is a first step toward the augmentation of brand equity (Gladden
& Funk, 2002). One of the challenges F.I.S.U. has been dealing with is the lack of
awareness about their events, especially in mega markets, such as the United States,
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where collegiate athletics have such stronghold of sport fans. F.I.S.U. can manipulate
their unique brand associations to cultivate media attention and consumer interest
in the Universiade, which could subsequently strengthen efforts to secure corporate
support.
Second, accurately delineating the associations and meanings ascribed to the
brand image of a mega sport event can serve as guide in any attempt to develop cor-
porate partnerships. For example, companies whose brand image might be inspired
by high level performance or social ideals of friendship and unity may find it useful
to support this event. To that end, research has shown that fit between the image of
the event and the image of the sponsor can positively influence consumer behavior
toward the sponsor’s products and services (Koo et al., 2006).
Finally, city destination marketers can utilize the social, cultural, and organiza-
tional brand associations of the Universiade for event tourism promotions. Past
research has shown that an event with a distinct identity that is aligned with local
values and culture and garners support from the community could lead to signifi-
cant brand benefits for the host destination, including raising its awareness levels,
strengthening its image, and providing an advantage over competing destinations
(Jago et al., 2003). The event site (i.e., destination) in collaboration with event orga-
nizers can support social exchange and promote the cultural aspects of their destina-
tion by creating bundles of products and services that are in accordance with the des-
tination image components (Chalip & McGuirty, 2004). Moreover, by providing a
positive experience to primary event stakeholders, such as the athletes/participants,
event organizers increase satisfaction and the likelihood of positive word-of-mouth
and future visitation by not only the participants who may return as tourists, but
also all those to whom the participants communicate positive impressions about
the destination (MacIntosh & Nicol, 2012; Papadimitriou, 2013). Finally, a destina-
tion can detect the strong event brand image components and as a result create a
platform for promotional strategies that can vary according to the sport event type
a host destination is featuring.
 16 D. PAPADIMITRIOU ET AL.

Limitations and future research

This study is one of few that have employed a qualitative approach to identify brand
associations and brand image components of sport events and the only one focus-
ing on the Universiade, a rather under-searched mega international sport event.
Nonetheless, the results need to be viewed within the context of some delimitations
and limitations. One key delimitation is that the study solicited views of event par-
ticipants only while other stakeholders, such as F.I.S.U. executives, members of the
local event organizing committee, spectators, volunteers, media, and corporate part-
ners, were not represented in the sample. Even though the perspectives of athletes
and official team delegates allowed a broad spectrum of event brand image themes
to emerge, it would have been valuable to also examine the views of other related
groups as their experience with the event and subsequent image perceptions may
have been different. This is an important area for future qualitative or even quantita-
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tive investigations. If sampled appropriately, different consumer groups may further

extend the brand associations and meanings linked to the particular event and offer
a more complete conceptualization of the image of the Universiade brand.
Besides the delimitation noted above, there is also a limitation that relates to the
research approach followed. This study employed semi-structured interviews with
a rather large number of athletes and delegates in a real event setting (i.e., athletes’
village). Due to time and participant availability constraints, the participants were
only asked to report keywords of core and unique characteristics of the Universi-
ade. No probing was performed that could have provided further insight or explana-
tion of reported brand associations, limiting the level of data analysis. As Thompson
(2004) indicates, interviewees are better able to convey rich meanings if encouraged
to discuss metaphors and narratives; and these are valuable inputs for a hermeneu-
tic approach to uncover not only the meanings but also the context into which these
meanings are created. Since mega sport event brands are rarely investigated through
the experiences of actual participants, this is a much needed avenue for research
with promising theoretical and practical implications for event brand design and
development.
Future research could also extend this study by exploring and comparing event
image perceptions of participants from different cultural backgrounds. The fact that
the sample contained only English-speaking athletes and delegates may weaken the
generalizability of the findings. Follow-up studies using samples from different non
English speaking countries (i.e., China, Japan, Brazil, Spain, Mexico, etc.) and instru-
ments in respondents’ native language could be conducted to explore differences in
event image attributes. This would contribute to building a more holistic perspective
of the image of mega events, such as the Universiade, and support destination man-
agement practitioners in their efforts to leverage those events for tourism purposes.

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