The London Olympic Games and images of national people

Abstract

We examined the impact of the London Olympic Games on images of national people. Seven-hundred and eight Japanese participated in web survey before and after the Olympic Games. Participants rated images of nine national people, the degree of exposure to media reports, and the degree of media usage from opening of the London Olympic Games to the time of web survey. Images of most national people changed in positive direction, but a few images changed in negative direction. Exposure to the media reports on the nation and the national people made the images of some national people positive. The newspapers and television usage made the images of some national people positive. However, the Internet usage made the images of some national people negative.