Branding Korea as My Friend s Country : The Case of VANK s Cyber Public Diplomats

Abstract

The role of non-state actors in public diplomacy remains an unsettled question in the literature. However, various transnational activities of non-state actors are often called public diplomacy, without discrimination. The lack of empirical studies on non-state public diplomacy is to blame for this conceptual confusion. Analytical and empirical studies of non-state public diplomacy are needed to consolidate this phenomenon, which is relatively new, while maintaining the conceptual clarity of public diplomacy. This study explores how Voluntary Agency Network of Korea (VANK), a Korean NGO, conducts public diplomacy and nation branding of Korea based on its members' relationships with foreigners. To gain an in-depth understanding of VANK's activities from the perspectives of public diplomacy and nation branding, this study follows an exploratory single case study method. The findings of this article suggest how VANK and similar non-state actors offer potential for public diplomacy and nation branding that can be utilized also by state agencies.

Why and How Do Sojourners Talk about Macao? Effects of Perceived Risk and Expected Benefit

“…This study was conducted in acknowledgement of government agencies' deliberate attempts to strengthen or change knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors about their countries. Nevertheless, the communicative behaviors of individuals are beyond their control because communicative behaviors are co-constructed with diverse stakeholders through complex interactions in a marketplace of images (Ayhan 2018;Buhmann and Ingenhoff 2015). The findings from this study have attested the importance of the communicative behaviors of sojourners as one of the most influential stakeholders in public diplomacy.…”

“…This study fills in the research gaps and responds to calls for more empirical studies to address the assumptions for public diplomacy evaluations (Pamment 2013). Against the backdrop of government agencies' deliberate attempts to strengthen or change knowledge, attitudes and behaviors about their countries, this study argues that the communicative behaviors of individuals and non-state actors are beyond their control as these behaviors are co-constructed with diverse stakeholders through complex interactions in a marketplace of images (Ayhan 2018;Buhmann and Ingenhoff 2015). In understanding foreign publics' patterns of communication, this study was developed based on the theories that explain motivation and perceived behavioral control including the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen 1991;Ajzen 2002) and the Situational Theory of Problem Solving (Kim and Grunig 2011).…”

Customer-based brand equity index of Kurukshetra

“…Kim and Lee (2018) understood that the branding effect of a tourist destination is important for Greater Chinese tourists visiting the Seoul Metropolitan area in South Korea. Ayhan (2018) explores the Voluntary Agency Network of Korea (VANK), a Korean NGO, and conducts public diplomacy and nation branding of Korea based on its members' relationships with foreigners. Nas (2017) analyzes Turkey's nation branding campaign initiated in 2015, under the slogan "Turkey: Discover the Potential," and that the Turkish nation is branded as an Eastern civilization in terms of its core values.…”