Bachelor’s thesis Nation Branding The role of tourism from a managerial perspective Authors: Elin Blomgren & Sofie Ljungström Supervisor: Ritchard Afriyie Owusu Examiner: Kaisa Lund Date: Fall-18 Subject: Business Economy III – Marketing Level: Bachelor Course code: 2FE77E Abstract Although tourism has been recognised as an important subfield in nation branding little research have focused on its role in the nation branding process. A managerial perspective was assumed to examine what role tourism has in nation branding. This study adopts a deductive approach reviewing existing literature on nation branding, brand management strategies and tourism stakeholders. A case study on how tourism is integrated in nation branding strategies and how stakeholders operating in the tourism sector perceive their own influence on the nation-brand was conducted in Sweden using a qualitative method. Data was collected through interviews with managers in organisations that directly or indirectly work with tourism while being involved in the strategic nation branding of Sweden. A conceptual framework was developed to illustrate how the nation-brand is created and communicated through tourism. The study concludes that tourism can have a significant role in nation branding and affect other subfields if the right circumstances are given. Strong collaborations are a prerequisite for effective nation branding and strategies should incorporate national identity and country-of-origin for authenticity. Future research could focus on comparing the role of tourism in nation branding with other subfields as well as comparing how organisations on the same level work with nation branding strategies. Keywords Nation branding; national identity; country-of-origin; tourism; tourism stakeholders; brand management strategies; brand culture; brand identity; brand image. Acknowledgements! Foremost, we wish to express our sincere gratitude to all the participants in our study. A special thank you to Jenny Roloff, Karin Ekebjär, Anna Hag, Mats Hedenström, Michael Persson Gripkow, Christian Biller and Nils John who willingly shared their precious time, knowledge and experience during the process of interviewing. We would also like to thank Richard Afriyie Owusu, associated professor, in the Department of Marketing School of Business and Economics, for your dedication and guidance. Finally, we would like to thank Christer Foghagen who has contributed with helpful suggestions and advice during the course of our work. Without your help, the study would not have been possible. Kalmar, January 13th 2019 Elin Blomgren and Sofie Ljungström Table of content 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Background ...................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Problem discussion ........................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Purpose ............................................................................................................................. 5 1.4 Delimitations .................................................................................................................... 5 2. Method ................................................................................................................................... 6 2.1 Research approach ............................................................................................................ 6 2.2 Data collection .................................................................................................................. 6 2.3 Selection and delimitations .............................................................................................. 7 2.4 Interviews and database ................................................................................................... 8 2.4.1 Operationalisation ..................................................................................................... 9 2.5 Analytical method .......................................................................................................... 10 2.5.1 Content analysis ...................................................................................................... 10 2.6 Generalisation ................................................................................................................. 11 2.7 Limitations of the data .................................................................................................... 11 2.8 Reliability ....................................................................................................................... 11 2.9 Validity ........................................................................................................................... 12 2.10 Method reflection ......................................................................................................... 12 3. Theoretical framework ......................................................................................................... 13 3.1 What is branding? ........................................................................................................... 13 3.2 Nation branding .............................................................................................................. 14 3.2.1 Creating a competitive advantage ........................................................................... 14 3.3 National identity ............................................................................................................. 15 3.3.1 Internal and external forces ..................................................................................... 15 3.3.2 National brand identity ............................................................................................ 16 3.4 Country-of-origin ........................................................................................................... 17 3.4.1 Consumer associations and behaviour .................................................................... 17 3.5 From country-of-origin and national identity to nation branding .................................. 18 3.6 Brand management strategies ......................................................................................... 18 3.6.1 Brand culture management strategy ........................................................................ 18 3.6.2 Brand identity management strategy ....................................................................... 19 3.6.3 Segmentation management strategy ........................................................................ 19 3.6.4 Brand image management strategy ......................................................................... 20 3.6.5 External environmental analysis ............................................................................. 21 3.7 Tourism in relation to nation branding ........................................................................... 21 3.8 Tourism stakeholders ..................................................................................................... 22 3.9 Conceptual framework ................................................................................................... 23 4. Empirical findings ................................................................................................................ 24 4.1 Case introduction ............................................................................................................ 24 4.2 The perception of nation branding ................................................................................. 26 4.3 Relations between national culture and nation-brand .................................................... 27 4.4 The identity of the nation-brand ..................................................................................... 29 4.5 The value of a nation’s image ........................................................................................ 32 4.6 Considering the external environment ........................................................................... 34 5. Discussion ............................................................................................................................ 36 5.1 The relationship between tourism and nation branding ................................................. 36 5.2 Tourism’s incorporation of culture in nation branding .................................................. 38 5.3 Creating the nation-brand identity .................................................................................. 39 5.4 The value of a nation’s image ........................................................................................ 40 6. Conclusions .......................................................................................................................... 43 6.1 Answering the research question .................................................................................... 43 6.2 Theoretical implications ................................................................................................. 45 6.3 Practical implications ..................................................................................................... 46 6.4 Limitations ..................................................................................................................... 46 6.5 Suggestions