Information agents and cultural differences as determinants of country’s reputation and its subsequent effects on tourism prospects of a country in sustained crises

Abstract

The current study aims to examine the influence of information agents and cultural differences in reputation building of Pakistan and its subsequent effects on tourism prospects of the country. The data were collected from foreign and local students studying in Chinese and Malaysian universities. The results determined that the perceptions attributed to Pakistan vary considerably around the world, with more favorable views in China, Middle East, and Africa and the least affirmative views in Europe and North America. The media and the Pakistani diaspora had statistically significant but a diametrical relationship with Pakistan’s reputation. Pakistani diaspora are playing an instrumental role in cultivating a favorable reputation of Pakistan, as affirmative impressions of Pakistan were determined in the foreign audience through them. On the other hand, the perceptions constituted through media have a strong negative influence on the reputation of Pakistan. Lastly, social appeal, cultural appeal, and physical appeal of Pakistan are optimistically received and influence the people’s intention to visit Pakistan, but Pakistan has a very low leadership appeal, which does not allow it to communicate an appealing vision of the country to the world. For policy makers and academicians, it is recommended that a reality-induced framework would work best for countries suffering from sustained crises instead of an advertising-led marketing model of country branding. Thus, the present study bears theoretical and practical relevance by adding to the branding theory of countries in crisis.

The moderating impact of emotions on customer equity drivers and loyalty intentions

“…As shown in Table III, in both supermarkets and bank data, all items have factor loadings above 0.50 (Yousaf and Samreen, 2015).…”

The diaspora phenomenon: scholarly assessment and implications for countries and firms

“…On the other hand, long-settled diaspora' members can contribute more to the promotion of a positive image of host and home firms (e.g. products or services) and cultivate a favorable view of their homeland via connections with the local population and the diaspora engagement institutions (diasporic entities) (Chand, 2012;Chand and Tung, 2014;Lazin, 2001;Yousaf and Samreen, 2016). Moreover, due to the deeper diasporas engagement into a host country institutional environment and altruistic inclination to help the ancestral home and participate in larger projects, long-settled diaspora' members can serve as the development actors who provide consultation for home firms seeking opportunities to expand in diasporas destination settlements (Gevorkyan, 2015).…”

“…Being entrepreneurs, diasporans can establish their own firms with "homeland specificity" at their destinations. Diasporas facilitate the international diffusion of ethnic products with country of origin specificity across borders, cultivating a favorable reputation of their homeland (Kumar and Steenkamp, 2013;Yousaf and Samreen, 2016). Thus, there is a great connection between diasporic identity and homeland-specific food in host countries (Abdallah et al, 2019).…”

Understanding tourists’ motivations to launch a boycott on social media: A case study of the #BoycottMurree campaign in Pakistan

“…Recently, the British-based travel magazine Conde Nast Traveler listed Pakistan as the best holiday destination for 2020. Inbound tourism to Pakistan suffered a great deal due to deteriorating law and order situations in the country following Pakistan’s alignment in the war against terrorism in 2001 (Yousaf, 2017; Yousaf and Huaibin, 2014), making Pakistan one of the least visited countries in the region (Yousaf and Samreen, 2016). However, with restoration of law and order and improvements in infrastructure and road networks in the country, Pakistan has experienced an upsurge in inbound tourism.…”