The Effect of Event Prestige on Event Participation Intention: The Case of the FISU World University Summer Games

Abstract

Mega sports events play an important role in the development of the host city. This study examined the relationship between event prestige, city image, place attachment, and event involvement intention of the host community. Data were obtained using questionnaires distributed to college students in Chengdu, China 2022, when it was the host of the World University Games. The results show that the event’s prestige as perceived by college students had a significant positive impact on the intention to participate in the event, and the event’s prestige had a significant positive impact on the image of the city but had no effect on the place attachment of college students. City image and place attachment has a chain mediating effect between the event prestige and the participation intention. Moreover, hosting an event can form a positive image of the host city, thus further enhancing the place attachment of college students, and providing talent protection for urban development. The implications of these findings for the event’s organization strategies as well as future research directions are discussed.

1. Introduction

Sports events are important means and resources for a city’s brand image. By holding mega sports events, more employment opportunities can be created and urban infrastructure can be improved [1]. The construction and dissemination of a city’s image are conducive to the future development of the city. Sports events can improve a city’s brand image [2], and the introduction of mega sport events such as the Olympic Games, promoting the construction and dissemination of the city’s image. Furthermore, by holding large-scale sports events, it is possible to attract tourists, and those who have participated in the event are more likely to become destination recommenders [3], thus playing a dual role in promoting the tourism industry of the host city. Bidding for mega sports events is not only the embodiment of comprehensive strength, mega sports events also shape and enhance the image of a city, leaving a rich social heritage. Therefore, an increasing number of cities are shaping their image through sports events, building a sense of pride as a host and showing a more positive image of the host city [4], thereby enhancing urban marketing and promotional efforts and attracting tourists and investors, which promotes the economic and social development of a host city. Holding mega sports events is not only the embodiment of the overall development of a city but also a symbol of social civilization [5].

In the existing research, scholars have conducted comprehensive studies on the event’s heritage and its impact on the economy, tourism, urban development, and social structure [6,7,8]. From the consumers’ perspective, most scholars study the relationship between the event’s brand, the city’s image, satisfaction, and revisit intention. The research object is mainly aimed at tourists to investigate the impact of an event’s image and service on tourists’ satisfaction and to measure the revisit intention of sports tourism experiences [9,10]. However, there is a lack of research on specific groups of hosts for specific events. Previous studies on host community residents and the attitudes and behaviors of the host community are mainly investigated from the aspects of support and community participation. In these studies, the theory of planned behavior (TPB) is widely used to examine the relationship between people’s attitudes and behaviors [11,12]. Using the theory of planned behavior to understand residents’ attitudes, the subjective norms and behavioral intentions towards large-scale sports events have also been verified by some scholars. For example, Jeong designed a research model based on the theory of planned behavior to measure how the perceptions and attitudes of sports tourists affect the revisiting of cities by sports spectators at major sports events [13].

In addition to the influence of mega sports events, the World University Games, as an international event for college students, plays an essential role in the future development of a host city. As the backbone of urban development, college students are also the foundation of future urban development talent [14]. Suppose the impact of the Olympic Games on a host city is reflected in the improvement of the city’s image and infrastructure. In that case, the World University Games has a more significant impact on the future development of a city [15]. For a host group of college students, their event perceptions and participation intentions are also important indicators for assessing the impact of events and urban social development. Based on the theory of planned behavior, this paper investigated host college students’ perceptions and behavioral intentions toward the 2021 World University Games (delayed to 2023). Taking the participation intention of the event as the result variable, the interactive influence of the event’s reputation, the city’s image, and the place attachment on participation intentions toward the event was investigated. This research is helpful for expanding the object group in event research and, furthermore, for revealing the mechanism of planned behavior theory in behavioral intention and confirming the interactive influence of an event’s prestige, a city’s image, and place attachment on event participation intentions. It also helps to clarify the potential impact of specific events on urban development and provides a new research perspective and management inspiration for the host city to perform well in social heritage planning and sports events in order to promote urban development.

2. Literature Review and Research Hypothesis

2.1. Interactive Relationship between an Event Reputation’s, a City’s Image, and Place Attachment

Reputation (i.e., prestige) first appeared in the theory of organizational reputation. Organizational reputation is the psychological transformation process of public cognition. It is the sum of the ability of organizational behavior to obtain social recognition, thus obtaining resources, opportunities, and support and then completing the creation of value. In the context of sports events, the reputation of events is closely related to their popularity and brand. For example, the Olympic Games and the Football World Cup are high-profile, large-scale international events that have attracted global attention after extensive media coverage [2]. People who participate in high-profile events are prouder of their experiences than those who participate in less well-known events [16]. For host residents, the perceived reputation of an event is also crucial for whether they support the event.

Enhancing the image of a host city through large-scale sports events is an important purpose of hosting mega sports events. With large-scale sports events, due to the extensive coverage and attention, the venue enhances their exposure within a short period. Therefore, for a host city, sports events are an important means and resource for a city’s brand image, which is also conducive to the overall development of a city’s image and society. A sports event’s brand can improve a city’s brand image (e.g., large-scale events such as the Olympic Games), which is the construction of a city’s image. In previous studies, the impact of large-scale sports events on a destination’s image, as well as the national image, has been widely explored. Through the analysis of big data, Tu believes that a good brand design for a sports event can improve the brand image of a city. The brand of a sporting event can generate trust and commitment, thereby affecting the future behavior of participants and generating higher referrals [16]. Ladhari’s research further confirms that tourists’ experiences of major sports events as well as the host city’s experience have a significant positive impact on the perception of a host city’s image, and it also has a positive and significant impact on residents’ behavioral intentions. Oshimi regards the fit between a host city and a sports event as the antecedent variable in a city’s image and the place attachment to the host city as the outcome variable. The study found that the development of these two variables is beneficial for the behavioral intentions of residents, indicating that residents play an important role in the development of sports events [17].

In addition, by holding sports events, the fit between a host city and a sport event and the perception of the city’s image is enhanced such that residents have a sense of attachment to the community. Therefore, from the perspective of residents, hosting sports events has two potential effects, that is, it has potential effects on event organizers and host cities. It is beneficial to organizers by affecting residents’ behavioral intentions and has a social impact on host cities by enhancing residents’ place attachment. Thus, we put forward the following hypotheses:

Hypothesis 1.

Event reputation has a significant positive impact on city image.

Hypothesis 2.

Event reputation has a significant positive effect on place attachment.

Hypothesis 3.

City image has a significant positive effect on place attachment.

2.2. Factors Influencing Participation Intention

The intention to participate in an event, mainly from the perspective of consumer behavior, takes the individual purchase of sports services and sports products as a form of sports participation. Most scholars mainly study the motivation, satisfaction, behavioral intention, and revisit intention of the audience participating in sports events from the perspective of consumers [18,19,20] or from the self-efficacy of participants in mass sports events and sports tourism participation intentions such as marathons, bicycle races, and other leisure sports events [21]. This type of research mainly examines individual satisfaction and the revisit intention of participating tourists [22,23]. At the level of residents’ participation in the preparation and management of an event, mainly from the perspective of community involvement, we paid attention to the support of community residents in the preparation, management, and sustainable development of the event such as through volunteer service, advice and suggestions, and residents’ support [7]. Therefore, the variable of event participation in this study drew on the definition of participation in event-related activities in sports proposed by Brown and Getz et al., and we regarded event participation as the event viewing behavior of consumers as well as the event organization and management behavior of community residents participating in events.

The behavioral intention of sports tourists is affected by the reputation of an event, and those who experience an event will have a stronger intention to revisit. Kim investigated the influence of the reputation of sports events on sports participation and behavioral intention. The results show that the perceived reputation of a sports event regulates sports participation and revisit intention to a certain extent. People with a higher sports participation are more likely to continue to participate in the event, and this relationship is more prominent in events with a higher reputation [18]. Therefore, paying attention to the reputation of an event plays an important role in successfully hosting large-scale sports events. From the brand consistency of sports events, this conclusion is also verified. Tournament brands can generate trust and commitment, thereby affecting the future behavior of participants and generating higher recommendation values [16]. Mortal studied the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral results of consumers’ experiences of famous sports events and believes that famous sports events can cause consumers to feel positive emotions and motivate them to participate again to avoid negative emotional states [24]. At the behavioral level, famous sports events can provide consumers with the intention to sponsor, communicate, and experience. Chiu examined the relationship between race participation, perceived tournament reputation, and intention to participate. The results showed that perceived event prestige partially mediated the relationship between sports participation and willingness to watch [13]. Ni Jun examined marathon participants’ revisit intention from the perspective of the event brand. The study found that brand quality cognition, brand personality cognition, and brand symbol cognition can positively affect the participants’ revisit intention.

In addition, the local attachment of residents in the host area has a significant positive impact on the support of the event, and there is a direct positive correlation between the positive impact of the event perceived by residents and their support. In another study of tourism destination residents’ attitudes towards tourism, it was found that place attachment positively affects their pro-tourism behavior intention. Residents’ perception of place image is positively correlated with place attachment and attitude towards tourism, and place attachment is also related to attitude and pro-tourism behavior intention [25]. The local image indirectly affects residents’ tourism attitude and pro-tourism behavior intention through local attachment. Therefore, it can be predicted that the perceptions of the urban image by residents in a host city of sports events may have an impact on place attachment which, in turn, affects the intention to participate in the event. Based on this are the following hypotheses:

Hypothesis 4.

Place attachment has a significant positive effect on participation intention.

Hypothesis 5.

City image has a significant positive impact on participation intention.

Hypothesis 6.

Perceived tournament reputation has a significant positive impact on tournament participation intention.

2.3. The Mediating Effect of City Image and Place Attachment

From the perspective of scholars’ research on the revisit intention of sports tourists, city image and place attachment are important antecedent variables. In the study of the relationship between competition satisfaction and revisit intention, city image and place attachment based on consumer perception are important factors affecting the revisit intention of the audience. Graham’s research on visitors to the London Olympic Games further verified that sports participation and place attachment have a significant impact on the revisit intention of visitors to the London Olympic Games, indicating that place attachment plays a significant mediating role in satisfaction and revisit intention. Jeong evaluated the relationship between personal participation, destination image, place attachment, and behavioral intention in the context of sports event tourism and also verified the positive impact of destination image on place attachment and place attachment on behavioral intention [18]. Thus, we put forward the following hypothesis:

Hypothesis 7.

City image and place attachment mediate the relationship between tournament reputation and tournament participation intention.

3. Research Design

3.1. Research Object

This study took the 2021 World University Summer Games (Chengdu Universiade) delayed to be held 2023 in Chengdu as the object. The Summer Universiade was founded in 1959 as the International Universiade, and it is hosted by the International University Sports Federation. The Summer Universiade is a world-class multisport event for university students and students who graduated less than two years ago (age limit: 17–28). The World University Games is a global sports event for college students. The aim is to encourage more students to participate in sports. Chengdu Universiade is the fourth time that the World University Games have settled in a Chinese city after Beijing in 2001, Shenzhen in 2011, and Taipei in 2017. Chengdu, as a world-famous city, has conducted many preparations for the event. Host residents’ enthusiasm to participate in the event is also quite high, and as it focuses on college student sports, they are the main participants in the event groups. Research on this group can provide more angles for the study of large-scale sports events.

3.2. Participants and Procedure

Participants were recruited from college—students who studied in Chengdu. Considering the overall number and operability of the survey, this survey was divided into two stages. The pre-survey was conducted in December 2021. A total of 210 questionnaires were collected through the online distribution, and the final survey was conducted by five trained administrators for college students who studied in Chengdu. The survey was conducted in March 2022 at the campus. In total, 750 questionnaires were distributed with 655 (87.3 percent) completed questionnaires returned. Of the 655 respondents there were 312 men (47.6%) and 345 women (52.4%); 303 were college students (46.12%); 322 were undergraduate students (49.1%); and 32 were graduate students or above (4.87%).

The questionnaire (

Table A1. Summary of items selected for each of the study’s constructs.

Constructs	Indicators	Variable Labels	Scale
city image	Low air pollution	Q1	1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree
	Good public transport	Q3
	Good street and sidewalk facilities	Q4
	Numerous cuisines	Q6
	Sufficient Tourist and Leisure Attractions	Q7
	Wide selection of shopping places	Q8
	Sufficient sports facilities and venues	Q12
	Rich sporting events	Q13
	More opportunities to participate in sporting events	Q15
Event prestige	FISU World University Summer Games is a major international sports event	Q18	1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree
	FISU World University Summer Games is a famous sport event	Q19
	Chengdu is ideal City for hosting the FISU World University Games	Q20
Place attachment	I think I like Chengdu very much.	Q21	1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree
	Whenever I leave for a while, I want to come back	Q23
	Here makes me feel at home	Q24
	Chengdu is my favorite city I‘ve ever lived in.	Q25
Event involvement intention	I will watch sports games	Q27	1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree
	I intend to attend the opening ceremony and sports competitions	Q28
	I will participate in volunteer service	Q29

) adopted a 5-point Likert scale that included city image, place attachment, event prestige, and event participation intention. Among them, the city image scale refers to Oshimi (2018) and Ladhari (2020). After modification, it measured the perception of the city’s image by college students in the host city from three dimensions: municipal facilities, sports events, and leisure tourism. Event prestige, referring to a study by Chiu (2019), included a total of 4 items to measure college student’s awareness of the World University Games. The event participation intention refers to Huang Ying (2021), and it was mainly from the perspective of emotional involvement, examining the consumption and participation intention of college students in the host city. Place attachment refers to Brown (2016) and Jeong (2019), and it was used to investigate the college students’ sense of identity and belonging to the host city. All questionnaires were translated and revised on a mature scale. To enhance the applicability of the scale, it was translated and distributed after three rounds of an expert consultation. After an exploratory factor analysis of the recovered pre-survey questionnaire, the final questionnaire was formed.

3.3. Data Analysis

This study was divided into four steps. The first step was to conduct an exploratory factor analysis on the recovered samples to test the structural validity of the scale. Exploratory factor analysis of city image (CI) was performed using SPSS26. The second step was to conduct confirmatory factor analysis through Amos 24.0, based on exploratory factor analysis to test the affiliation between the scale and latent variables. The third step was to use a structural equation to test the model’s fitness and to examine the relationship between the reputation of the event and the intention to participate in the event. The fourth step, using the bootstrap mediating variable test method, was to examine the mediating roles of city image and place attachment in the relationship between event reputation and event participation intention, and to further analyze whether there was a chain mediating effect. Since this method does not need to consider whether the data were normally distributed and the statistical effect is better than the Sobel test, Hayes recommends the bootstrap method for testing the mediating effect. The sample size was set to 5000, the confidence level was set to 95%, and the sampling method’s selection bias was corrected using the percentile method. If the confidence interval of an indirect effect does not contain 0, a mediating effect exists; if the confidence interval of a direct effect does not contain 0, this indicates that partial mediation exists; if they contain 0, this indicates that full mediation exists.

4. Research Results

4.1. Reliability and Validity Test of the Scale

(1)

Exploratory factor analysis

The results showed that the KMO value was 0.938 and the Bartlett spherical test was significant, x2 (df) = 8192.62 (78), p < 0.001, indicating that the data were suitable for factor analysis. According to the principal component analysis method, the direct oblique method (delta = 0) was used to rotate 12 iterations and then converge them. Two items with a load lower than 0.4 were deleted. Finally, three common factors were extracted, and the cumulative variance interpretation rate was 80.01%. Factor 1 contained five items, named municipal facilities (F); Factor 2 contained four items, named leisure tourism (L); and Factor 3 contained four items, named sports events (SE). These three factors have a clear structure and can increase the city image (CI) of a host city of large-scale sports events.

(2)

Confirmatory factor analysis

AMOS 24.0 was used to test the psychometric capabilities of the model through CFA and to measure the proposed theoretical model via SEM. No data points were missing, and variables were normally distributed. The main indicators for each variable scale’s confirmatory factor analysis in the evaluation measurement model were the standardized factor load, square of the multivariate correlation coefficient (R2), measurement error, combined reliability (CR), and average extracted variance (AVE). The results showed that the factor load of each item was above 0.5, and the overall factor load was ideal. With CMIN/DF = 2.869, RMSEA = 0.530, and GFI = 0.917, the model’s fit was good. The results of the factor analysis are shown in

Table 1. Square root of the AVE and the correlation coefficients.

Latent Variable	ER	CI	PA	EII
EP	0.931
CI	0.872	0.838
PA	0.593	0.689	0.904
EII	0.715	0.747	0.681	0.869

.

The reliability of a scale can be tested using the composite reliability (CR) and average extracted variance (AVE). Generally, it is believed that the composite reliability is greater than 0.7 and the average extraction variance is greater than 0.5, which indicates that the measurement of the reliability of the observation variable to the latent variable is ideal. It can be seen from Table 1 that the combined reliability (CR) value for each variable was between 0.876 and 0.963, greater than 0.7, and the average extracted variance (AVE) was between 0.702 and 0.867, greater than 0.5. Thus, each latent variable scale showed high reliability.

The validity included convergence validity and discriminant validity. It is generally believed that the standardized factor load of an observed variable is greater than 0.4, which is significant at a certain p-value, which indicates that the convergence validity of a measurement model is good.

Table 2. Results of the confirmatory factor analysis.

Latent Variable	Observation Variable	Standardized Loadings	Cronbach’s α	t	CR	AVE
City image	F	0.810	0.943		0.876	0.702
	L	0.805		13.938
	SE	0.895		15.159
Event prestige	EP4	0.912	0.965		0.963	0.867
	EP3	0.956		38.977
	EP2	0.945		45.014
	EP1	0.911		43.911
Place attachment	PA2	0.823	0.965		0.947	0.817
	PA3	0.953		29.776
	PA4	0.926		43.559
	PA5	0.909		40.218
Event involvement intention	EII2	0.850	0.898		0.902	0.755
	EII3	0.837		30.505
	EII4	0.917		29.365

shows that the characteristic values for the factor loads were from 0.805 to 0.956, and the load factors for all items were greater than 0.4. The t value was between 13.938 and 45.014, which is significant at a p-value less than 0.001. Meanwhile, the coefficient α ranged from 0.898 to 0.965, indicating that the observed variables had high internal consistency and that the measurement model had good convergent validity.

Discriminant validity is usually judged by whether the square root of the average variance extracted (AVE) for the latent variable is greater than its correlation coefficient with other latent variables. If the former is greater than the latter, there is an ideal discriminant validity between latent variables. It can be seen from Table 1 that the square root of the average extracted variance (AVE) for each latent variable was between 0.838 and 0.931, and the correlation coefficient was between 0.593 and 0.872. This indicates that there was sufficient discriminant validity between the latent variables. Overall, the convergence validity and discrimination validity of the four variables were good, the fitting degree was high, and the model fit well.

The diagonal values are the square root of the AVE, and the nondiagonal values are the correlation coefficient between variables.

4.2. Path Analysis and Hypothesis Testing

Based on factor analysis, the whole model was verified. The results showed that the overall fitting of the model was ideal (χ2 = 697.273, df = 243, χ2/df = 2.869, GFI = 0.917, AGFI = 0.898, RMSEA = 0.053) [21], and the path coefficients are shown in

Table 3. Path analysis and hypothesis testing results.

Hypothesis and Path			Path Coefficient	SE	CR	p
H1: EP	→	CI	0.721	0.048	14.955	***
H2: EP	→	PA	−0.04	0.115	−0.351	0.726
H3: CI	→	PA	1.143	0.161	7.103	***
H4: PA	→	EII	0.31	0.041	7.521	***
H5: CI	→	EII	0.439	0.136	3.224	0.001
H6: ER	→	EII	0.352	0.092	3.808	***

Note: *** p < 0.01.

, indicating that the introduction of international events with a higher reputation had a significant effect on improving city image. The path coefficient of “city image to place attachment” was the highest, reaching 1.143, indicating that the place attachment of college students in the host city was mainly affected by city image, while the reputation of the event did not affect place attachment. From another perspective, the perceived reputation of the event did not change the degree of attachment of college students to the host. In addition, city image also had a high influence coefficient on the participation intention of the event. Therefore, the introduction of large-scale sports events can achieve the goal of shaping a city’s image and promoting participation in the event.

4.3. Multiple Mediating Effects of City Image and Place Attachment

The bootstrap method was used to test the mediating role of city image and place attachment in event reputation and event participation intention. The results were as follows.

Table 4. Test results for the mediating effect.

Parameter	Estimate	95% Confidence Interval		p
		Lower	Upper
ind1	0.353	0.13	0.615	0.001
ind2	−0.019	−0.119	0.074	0.709
ind3	0.247	0.145	0.421	0.001
Total	0.863	0.757	0.969	0.001

shows that there were three main intermediary paths between event reputation and event participation intention: event reputation → city image → event participation intention; event reputation → place attachment → event participation intention; event reputation → city image → place attachment → event participation intention. Among them, city image played the most significant mediating role between competition reputation and participation intention. In addition, a separate mediating role for place attachment was not established. However, together with city image, it played a chain intermediary role between the reputation of the event and the intention to participate in the event.

ind1 = a1 + a2, tournament reputation→ city image → tournament participation intention; ind2 = a2 + b2, tournament reputation → place attachment → tournament participation intention; ind3 = a1 + d + b2, tournament reputation → city image → place attachment → tournament participation intention.

5. Discussions and Conclusions

5.1. Discussion

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between event prestige and event involvement. This study investigated the mediating variable of place attachment and city image, addressing a gap in the event involvement intention literature.

The finding indicated that a good event reputation had a significant effect on the positive image of the host city. Findings of the present study partially support Ladhaarir (2020), who found that the fit between the host city and the sporting event is a useful antecedent variable of city image [26]. Hosting a sporting event leads to place attachment among residents through the fit between the host city and the sporting event, and the city image perceptions [21]. As a host city, the introduction of large-scale sports events with a good reputation is conducive to the construction and dissemination of the city’s image.

H2 was not supported by the data. EP had no statistically significant relationship to PA. The standardized coefficient between EP and PA was 0.726 (non-significant). One possible explanation is that in the presence of CI, the direct effect of EP on PA diminished, implying a full mediating effect of CI [27]. To confirm the relationship, we conducted a mediation test and found that CI fully mediated the relationship between EP and PA. The implication is that CI had a positive indirect relationship to both PA and EII, confirming the findings of Prayag and Ryan (2012) [28].

The study examined the significant positive impact of an event’s reputation on a host city’s image, and a good event reputation had a significant effect on the positive image of the host city. Event organizers should fully consider the important role of an event’s reputation on the city’s image. Before bidding for large-scale events, they should evaluate the impact of an event’s brand value and reputation. The reputation of an event itself has the components of brand awareness, but how it is different from brand awareness is that the formation of the reputation of an event is the result of the accumulation of perceptions from previous events. The good reputation of an event has a promoting effect on the image of the host city. The host city further enriches the image of the city by hosting major sports events, thereby deepening the local identity of residents. Thus, the good reputation of an event has a significant effect on the image of the city, which is also the reason why major cities around the world are keen to bid for the Olympic Games.

Moreover, the perceived tournament reputation had a significant positive impact on the tournament participation intention. A good event reputation has an important influence on college students’ participation intention, similar to the brand effect. People are more willing to participate in those well-known sports events. In addition, event participation is considered to be an important factor for ensuring the success of an event, post-match utilization, and sustainable development. Therefore, when a host city chooses an event, it is necessary to fully consider the fit between the event and the city, pay attention to the cultivation of participants in the initial event, and form a good reputation for the event to further stimulate the intentions of participating and revisiting.

In addition, city image and place attachment mediated the relationship between competition reputation and participation intention. The research shows that city image and place attachment play a chain mediating role between event reputation and event participation intention. This also shows that the stronger the attachment of college students to a city, the more they can support and actively participate in sports events in the city. The influence of city image on place attachment has been widely studied and confirmed in the fields of tourism and human geography. This study further verified that the intermediary roles of city image and place attachment also exist in the field of sports events. As competition for college students, managers should fully consider the role of local attachment, integrate the competition with the city’s image, enhance the sense of place of residents, further stimulate the enthusiasm of college students to participate in the competition, and create a warm and hospitable host image.

5.2. Conclusions

Based on the theory of planned behavior, this study introduced the variable of event reputation, examined the relationship between college students’ perception of an event’s reputation and event participation intention, established the structural equation model of event reputation and event participation intention, introduced the multiple mediating models of city image and place attachment, examined the impact of college students’ perceived event reputation on event participation intention, and verified the mediating role of city image and place attachment between event reputation and event participation intention. It provides theoretical support for a host city to optimize the event’s management and stimulate the enthusiasm of the host residents to participate.

As a host city, the introduction of large-scale sports events with a good reputation is conducive to the construction and dissemination of the city’s image. As a comprehensive international event, the Summer Universiade is a global sports event for college students. Each Universiade attracts more than 100 national teams. However, as a sports event for college students, its popularity in China is to some extent less than that of the Olympic Games and the Asian Games. Therefore, the host city needs to pay attention to the positive impact of the popularity and reputation of the event on the city’s image. In the preparation stage of the event, by strengthening the publicity and promotion of the event, effective marketing communication can attract the first participants in the sports event and enhance the local identity and pride of the host residents.

The fair prestige of an event is formed under the joint efforts of the host city and the residents of the host city. The active participation of the residents is the embodiment of the warm and hospitable host role, which can create a better participation experience for the participants, thus contributing to the formation of a good reputation for the event. This requires the organization and management of the event to pay attention to the interaction between the reputation of the event and the image of the city. As a global sports event named after college students, in addition to winning the support of residents, the host city should also widely publicize and carry out relevant activities among college students in the preparatory process in order to play the role of college students as much as possible, enhance the enthusiasm of young people to participate, and create a global sports event for college students. In addition, as the direct stakeholders of the event, the cognition and behavior of college students are also important aspects of the impact of the event. Creating a good image for the city through sports events is conducive to enhancing the local identity of college students in the host city, and this is conducive to the host government taking active measures to lay a talented foundation for urban development.

6. Limitations and Future Research

This study introduced event reputation, city image, and place attachment to examine the influence of event participation intention. The survey group focused on college students closely related to events, which provides a theoretical reference for predicting event participation and event management marketing. In practice, there are many factors affecting the participation intention in an event. From the perspective of internal driving factors, it is closely related to participation motivation, sports hobbies, sports participation, and the consumption ability of college students. From the perspective of external factors, it is also related to the policy system, the social environment, etc. Although this paper introduced relevant variables, such as city image and place identity, and confirmed the influencing relationship, it failed to explain the deep reasons and individual differences of this influence. At the same time, the impact of the new coronavirus on the hosting of events and the perception and behavioral intentions of college students was not considered. Future studies can also conduct in-depth research on college student events and sports participation, volunteer service, risk perception, etc.