Perceptions, Stereotypes and Media Image of the Developing World

The image of a country can affect the decisions made by a wide range of audiences, such as foreign investors, tourists, consumers, students, entrepreneurs, trading partners, officials of other countries, potential donors and multilateral agencies (Anholt, 2009; Martínez and Alvarez, 2010; White and Radic, 2014). In the field of tourism, we know that the public image and the media image of a country are crucial for many decisions and behaviors made by tourists, including whether and where to visit or travel in that country, what will be the aim and content of the visit, and what will be the length of the stay. This is why analyzing, understanding and measuring the projected image is a necessary step for every marketer and is crucial for every marketing initiative (Khan, 2013).