DOCTORAL DISSERTATION Analysis of the External Projecton of Galicia as a Place Brand. The Case of USA. Carmen Máiz Bar 2018 International Doctoral School Carmen Máiz Bar DOCTORAL DISSERTATION Analysis of the external projection of Galicia as a place brand. The case of USA. Supervised by: Ana Belén Fernández Souto 2018 International Doctoral School Ana Belén Fernández Souto DECLARES that the present work, entitled “Analysis of the external projection of Galicia as a place brand. The case of USA”, submitted by Carmen Máiz Bar to obtain the title of Doctor, was carried out under her supervision in the PhD program “Doutoramento en Comunicación”. Vigo, The supervisor, Dr. Ana Belén Fernández Souto Para Bruno e Antón por ser os mellores compañeiros de viaxe e por ter(me) aturado tanto neste proceso ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to extend thanks to the many people who so generously contributed to the work presented in this thesis. -To the Doutoramento en Comunicación program of the Universidade de Vigo -To my Supervisor, Ana Belén Fernández Souto -To the University of Southern California, particularly to the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism -To the anonymous participants of the two exploratory surveys -To the American companies who participated in Survey C -To the Galician companies who participated in Survey D -To my always supportive friends and family -And to all those persons who patiently listened to me endlessly talking about this topic INDEX Resumen – Español.............................................................................................................................9 Resumo – Galego..............................................................................................................................19 0- Introduction..................................................................................................................................29 1- Literature Review.........................................................................................................................35 1.1. Branding..................................................................................................................................35 1.2. Place Branding........................................................................................................................41 1.3. Indexes....................................................................................................................................49 2- Introducing Galicia......................................................................................................................85 2.1. Geography, History and Culture Overview............................................................................85 2.2. Main Economic and Exports Figures......................................................................................88 3- Promoting Galicia........................................................................................................................93 3.1. Background.............................................................................................................................94 3.2. Campaigns and Promoters......................................................................................................97 4- The Need for Place Branding....................................................................................................107 4.1. Some Reasons for Working on a Place Brand......................................................................107 4.2. Place Branding for Galicia....................................................................................................110 4.3. International Environment....................................................................................................114 5- United States of America as Target Market.............................................................................125 5.1. Country Overview.................................................................................................................125 5.2. Main Economic and Imports Figures....................................................................................127 5.3. Intercultural Communication Approach...............................................................................129 6- Methods.......................................................................................................................................145 6.1. Participants............................................................................................................................146 6.2. Materials...............................................................................................................................147 6.3. Description of Surveys A International and B Spain............................................................148 6.4. Description of Survey C USA..............................................................................................150 6.5. Description of Survey D Galicia...........................................................................................153 6.6. Procedure..............................................................................................................................155 7- Findings.......................................................................................................................................157 7.1. Results of Survey A International.........................................................................................157 Demographic information.......................................................................................................158 Traveling decisions.................................................................................................................159 Brand awareness.....................................................................................................................161 Brand associations...................................................................................................................162 Considerations and advocacy..................................................................................................165 Familiarity analysis.................................................................................................................166 7.2. Results of Survey B Spain....................................................................................................170 Demographic information.......................................................................................................171 Traveling decisions.................................................................................................................172 Brand awareness.....................................................................................................................173 Brand associations...................................................................................................................174 Considerations and advocacy..................................................................................................176 Familiarity analysis.................................................................................................................178 7.3. Results of Survey C USA.....................................................................................................183 Demographic information.......................................................................................................184 Place-of-origin........................................................................................................................193 Traveling decisions (part 1).....................................................................................................198 Brand awareness.....................................................................................................................203 Brand associations...................................................................................................................207 Considerations and advocacy..................................................................................................209 Traveling decisions (part 2).....................................................................................................213 Familiarity analysis.................................................................................................................215 7.4. Results of Survey D Galicia..................................................................................................225 Company information.............................................................................................................226 Exporting activities.................................................................................................................230 Perceptions..............................................................................................................................235 Place-of-origin........................................................................................................................238 Galicia-USA relations.............................................................................................................253 8- Discussion....................................................................................................................................259 8.1. Analysis of Survey A International.......................................................................................260