World’s Fairs in the Service of National Branding – The State of Research, Key Elements of Exhibitors’ Presentations, Exemplification of Image-Building Activities

Abstract

World’s fairs (Expos) are nowadays perceived as so-called mega events, which are attended mainly to build a desired image of exhibiting countries. The article aimed at exploring literature to determine the extent to which the concept in question has been examined by researchers. Furthermore, the author’s intention was – based on experience gained during participation in the last Expo editions – to identify the main presentation components which have a bearing on image-related effects. This constitutes a practical implication of this work. Marketing activities performed during universal exhibitions were exemplified based on the exhibition activity of Poland. A literature review demonstrated that Expo did not receive a lot of researchers’ attention – especially in terms of creating the image of exhibiting countries. Therefore there is a research gap which should be closed, in particular, in the context of combining expo participants’ activity with experience marketing.