Understanding the interplay between event communications and local business decision-making using signalling theory : The case of the 2018 Commonwealth Games

Research question Governments often launch high profile and expensive bids to host large-scale sporting events to promote economic development. However, many studies have called into question the economic benefits of these events for host communities and businesses. This study examines the perceptions of host city businesses and their decision-making in relation to event leveraging, using the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games as a case study. Research methods Using in-depth interviews, a purposive study of 38 business professionals and experts based in the host city of the Gold Coast were conducted. Example mass media, social media, documents, and personal communications materials are presented to illustrate the messaging that businesses were exposed to. Data were analysed using an inductive thematic content approach through the software NVivo. Results and findings This study confirms that event-related information is vital for business leveraging behaviour. The data illustrated that local firms were at a point of information asymmetry between official forecasted information and their actual in-time experience. As businesses sought out information to inform their business decision-making, they found incomplete and inaccurate information which impacted their success in event leveraging decisions. Implications Our contribution to knowledge and practice is to propose that event mis/information that is often associated with large-scale sporting events is problematic for business planning and decision making. In applying signalling theory, we discern how official event messaging influences business performance, making an important contribution by highlighting that this mismanagement of official event messaging by event officials presents a critical inhibitor for event leveraging decisions