Social exchange process in collectivistic countries: an examination of sporting events in China

Research question: Social Exchange Theory (SET) has been extensively used to study residents’ support, and posits that the likelihood of residents developing a positive attitude toward events is based on their evaluation of the outcomes. Extant literature has overlooked a crucial aspect of the social exchange process – the weights that are assigned by residents to the various benefits and costs in the exchange and evaluation procedure. This study examines the relationship between residents’ perceptions of hosting major events in China, a country that endorses collectivism. Research method: Research participants (N = 1285) were residents of metropolitan Shanghai who knew about the Shanghai Formula One Chinese Grand Prix. The research instrument captured the study's main constructs: (a) perceived benefits of major events, (b) perceived costs of major events, (c) attitude toward major events, and (d) intention to support major events. Results and findings: The results provide support for using SET to examine residents’ perception of the benefits and costs regarding the triple bottom line: economic, social, and environmental components. Residents’ attitudes toward a major event positively influenced their intention to support the event. Perceived costs of a major event have a stronger effect on Chinese residents’ social exchange process. Implications: The results provide important evidence showing that the tendency to ‘sacrifice oneself for the good of a large number of people’ in collectivistic countries can counterbalance the effect of loss aversion, a psychological universal that has been extensively observed in human beings.