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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Signaling through the 2008 Beijing Olympics—Using Mega Sport Events to Change the Perception and Image of the Host

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Abstract This paper provides an analysis on internet news reports about the Beijing Olympics 2008 and how China signaled throughout the event to external target groups. The analysis shows how the geographical areas China, USA, Europe and the “Rest of the World” perceived the Games. The results were interpreted regarding the principal agent theories' signaling to reduce information asymmetry for business and tourism and costly signaling to generate symbolic capital. Seven hundred and forty news reports were collected between 1 July and 30 September 2008, using Google Alerts with the keywords “Olympic Games Beijing 2008”. The reports were analysed with a quantitative content analysis using a coding frame. The results show that China used the Games to signal primarily to potential business partners/investors. The four geographical areas identified have different communication patterns about the Olympics. China's success to signal positively was weakened by several negative news reports.