UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE FROM “BOTTOMLESS BASKET” TO “BEAUTIFUL BANGLADESH”: TOURISM ADVERTISING AS PUBLIC DIPLOMACY TOOL A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS By S M IMRAN HASNAT PALASH Norman, Oklahoma 2017 FROM “BOTTOMLESS BASKET” TO “BEAUTIFUL BANGLADESH”: TOURISM ADVERTISING AS PUBLIC DIPLOMACY TOOL A THESIS APPROVED FOR THE GAYLORD COLLEGE OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION BY ______________________________ Dr. Elanie Steyn, Chair ______________________________ Dr. David Craig ______________________________ Ms. Debbie Yount © Copyright by S. M. IMRAN HASNAT PALASH 2017 All Rights Reserved. Dedication I dedicate this thesis work to my loving parents, Ms. Feroza Khatun and Md. Ramjan Ali Sarker. Acknowledgements There is no other way to start but express my gratitude to my thesis committee members who were more than generous with their expertise and time. Special thanks go to my advisor and chair, Dr. Elanie Steyn. Without her immense support and encouragement, I would not be able to finish this thesis work. Her door was always open (even when there was a “Do not disturb!” sign) whenever I needed suggestions or help with writing, and she never got tired of all my questions. She also helped as the second reader of this thesis, and I am grateful for her invaluable comments on this study. I also want to thank the other members of my thesis committee, Dr. David Craig, and Ms. Debbie Yount. Their expertise in the field and valuable feedback helped me a lot. Dr. Craig’s help with research method questions and the survey design has been invaluable. Thank you, Dr. Steyn, Dr. Craig and Ms. Yount for agreeing to be on my committee. Moreover, I am thankful to the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication and the University of Oklahoma for giving me access to their program, providing me with numerous opportunities to further my research and service portfolio and for having state-of-the-art technology and support throughout my years of study. iv Thank you also to Dr. Jami Fullerton from Oklahoma State University and Dr. Alice Kendrick from Southern Methodist University for their assistance during this study. Thank you to all the survey participants who spent time to complete the survey. Without their enthusiastic participation, this study would not be possible. I cannot forget to mention Dr. Mohammad Yousuf’s contribution and his help with data analysis at a point when I ran out of solutions. Thank you also to Ms. Rahnuma Ahmed for her feedback on the draft survey and encouragement throughout my time at Gaylord. I also acknowledge the support from the Gaylord College Graduate Advisor Mr. Larry Laneer who helped me navigate through the paperwork that goes with graduate studies and especially the thesis completion process. And thank you to Ms. Sohana Nasrin for her support and encouragement. Finally, I must express my sincere gratitude to my parents, family, and friends for providing me continuous support and encouragement throughout my study. This achievement would not at all be possible without you. Thank you for believing in me. v Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................... 1 The Case of Bangladesh ....................................................................... 2 Beautiful Bangladesh Campaign ........................................................... 4 Bleed-over Effect of Tourism Advertising .............................................. 6 Mediated Public Diplomacy and Tourism Advertising ............................ 7 Research Questions .............................................................................. 9 Methodology ........................................................................................ 10 Conclusion ........................................................................................... 11 Chapter 2: Diplomacy: Old, New and Beyond… ................................. 13 Defining Diplomacy .............................................................................. 13 Approaches to Diplomacy .................................................................... 15 Diplomacy and Power .......................................................................... 15 Types of Diplomacy ............................................................................. 16 Public Diplomacy Elaborated ............................................................... 18 Chapter 3: Public Diplomacy and Nation Branding ........................... 25 Public Diplomacy and Nation Branding: Conceptualization and Comparison ......................................................................................... 26 Nation Branding vs. Country Branding ................................................ 27 The Role of the Government and Citizens in Nation Branding ............ 30 Convergence of Public Diplomacy and Nation Branding ..................... 32 Conclusion ........................................................................................... 36 Chapter 4: Media and Tourism in Nation Branding and Public Diplomacy .............................................................................................. 37 A Changing Media World ..................................................................... 37 The Role of Media in Public Diplomacy ............................................... 39 Media, Political Awareness and Public Diplomacy .............................. 42 The Role of Tourism in Public Diplomacy and Nation Branding .......... 44 Conclusion ........................................................................................... 45 Chapter 5: Model of Country Concept and the “Bleed-Over” Effect of Tourism Advertising .............................................................................. 47 The Model of Country Concept ............................................................ 48 Mediated Public Diplomacy ................................................................. 52 Tourism and Public Diplomacy ............................................................ 54 vi Tourism Advertising and the “Bleed-Over Effect” ................................ 55 Conclusion ........................................................................................... 57 Chapter 6: The Case of Bangladesh – Transforming from The “Bottomless Basket” of the World to a Better Place ......................... 59 “Bottomless Basket” – Bangladesh’s Preexisting International Image 62 A Country Image in Transition ............................................................. 65 The Tourism Industry in Bangladesh ................................................... 67 Conclusion ........................................................................................... 71 Chapter 7: The Beautiful Bangladesh Campaign ............................... 72 School of Life ....................................................................................... 73 Land of Stories ..................................................................................... 78 Conclusion ........................................................................................... 81 Chapter 8: Research Statement and Methodology ............................ 82 Research Design ................................................................................. 83 Survey instrument ................................................................................ 85 Research Population and Sample ....................................................... 87 Data Analysis ....................................................................................... 89 Chapter 9: Research Results ............................................................... 91 Respondents’ Demographic Profile ..................................................... 91 Respondents’ Perception about Bangladesh, its Government and its People Before Watching the School of Life Commercial ..................... 92 Respondents’ Perception About Bangladesh, its Government and its People after Watching the School of Life Commercial ........................ 98 Relationship Between Respondents' Perception of Bangladesh, its Government and its People Before and After Watching the School of Life Commercial ................................................................................. 100 Summary ............................................................................................ 107 Chapter 10: Discussion and Conclusion ........................................... 109 About this Study ................................................................................. 109 Research Questions and Research Findings .................................... 110 What is respondents’ perception of Bangladesh, its government and its people before watching the “School of Life” commercial? ................. 111 What is respondents’ perception of Bangladesh, its government and its people after watching the “School of Life” commercial? .................... 112 What is the relationship between respondents’ perception of Bangladesh, its government and its people before and after watching the “School of Life” commercial? ....................................................... 113 vii What Does it Tell us About the Research? ........................................ 113 Limitations of the Study ..................................................................... 116 Possibilities for Future Research ......................................................