Effective Ethnic Components in National Branding of Iran

Abstract
Today, in the international environment, “national brand” is a lever needed by governments to improve and strengthen their position in the world arena. Leaders who understand the value of the national brand can use cultural differences and diversity to create competitive advantage and superiority. It is essential to be aware of the attitudes and identify the different dimensions that affect the national brand of a country. Therefore, the current research has an exploratory aspect and has used a qualitative method. The statistical community of the research was formed by experts in the field of national branding, and the number of these people is 57, and the mental pattern of these people was identified and analyzed based on the “Q” research method. The results show that eight components for the variable of ethnic groups and six components for the variable of national brand have been discovered, among which, there is a positive and significant relationship between the component of “ethnic culture” and “international image” and “ethnic interests” and “economic capitals”. There is a negative and meaningful.
Keywords: Brand, National Brand, Imagery, Ethnic Components, National Identity.
 
1. Introduction
The discourse of “national brand” in today’s world created a powerful link between different scientific disciplines. In such a way that governments use it to gain power and improve their image. Considering that the national brand creates many benefits such as economic, political, social and cultural opportunities, (Zeineddine, 2018: 1060) countries that do not benefit from the national brand will face various challenges in the future such as the lack of economic and political support. In Iran, there are various opportunities for national branding, which can be mentioned in culture, tourist, ecosystem, climatic conditions, Iranian peoples and human heritage. The results of the national brand rankings show that Iran has not had a good position, which indicates its weakness in national branding and negative mental image at the international level. It should be said that in order to strengthen the national brand and reduce the influence of its weakening factors, it is necessary to pay attention to the effective ethnic components. But until now, due to incorrect advertising, such a capacity remained unknown and was not reflected to the world as it should be. In this article, it has been tried to evaluate the mental model of people in relation to the influence of ethnic components on national branding and provide the desired model. For this purpose, by using the Q research method, the discourse related to the topic was measured and the items of the questionnaire were selected. A total of 73 items were presented to the participants to answer the main question of the article after sorting the data and statistical analysis. The main question is which ethnic factors affect the process of national branding? In fact, this question was asked with the aim of ranking and discovering the ethnic factors influencing the national brand of Iran.
 
2. Materials and Methods
This article has identified the mentality of national brand experts by using Q research method, which is quantitative-qualitative. 57 people were selected in a purposeful and non-probable way from among those who were present in the discourse space and Q samples were provided to them. Of these, 14 were branding researchers, 13 were cultural studies, 22 were media, and 8 were international communications. After initial collection of answers, factor analysis was done and components were identified. The reliability of the research was also obtained through the Guttman half division coefficient of 0.672, which is acceptable.
 
3. Data
Based on the method of analysis of the main indicators and the rotated factor matrix and the explained percentage of the total statements, eight components with a total variance of 65.67% were identified for the variable of ethnic groups. These components include “ethnic identity” with a variance of 13.847%, “ethnic independence” with a variance of 11.762%, “behavioral values” with a variance of 8.579%, “ethnic integration” with a variance of 7.133%, “culture”. “Ethnic” with a variance of 6.827%, “Ethnic Image” with a variance of 6.724%, “Economic Development” with a variance of 5.980% and “” with a variance of 4.818% where the first and second components are 81.22%, the third 15.79%, 4th 12.28%, 5th 8.77%, 6th and 7th 5.26% and 8th 7.02% of the participants. Also, for the “national brand” variable, six components with a total variance of 68.86% were discovered, which respectively include “integrated communications” with a variance of 22.816%, “national identity” with a variance of 13.831%, “international image” with a variance of 13.83%. 10.162% variance, “Economic Capitals” with 7.971% variance, “Value System” with 7.628% variance and “Comprehensive Management” with 6.453% variance. After the score of the factors in the rotated matrix is determined, the factor arrays of each statement are obtained, and based on that, the Q options are arranged in the order of importance for each factor. The findings of the research show that the variable of ethnic groups with a regression coefficient of 0.682 has a strong effect on the variable of the national brand. Also, the correlation coefficient between the variable components of ethnic groups and national brand shows that ethnic culture has a positive and significant relationship with international image with a regression coefficient of 0.350 and ethnic interests have a negative and significant relationship with economic capital with a regression coefficient of -0.374. The findings show that ethnic interests have priority over national interests, which tarnishes the international image of the country. Also, paying attention to ethnic independence puts national brand indicators in their most appropriate position. The findings indicate that the components of ethnic interests and economic development have the most negative impact on the components of the national brand.
 
4. Discussion
According to this article, the most important ethnic components influencing the national brand are “ethnic culture” and “ethnic interests”. In fact, the country’s cultural status and heritage is a powerful and effective factor in national branding, which both consolidates national power and unifies the behavior of Iranians. Also, whenever ethnic interests are preferred over national interests, the national brand will be challenged. This issue indicates that the interests of ethnic groups are not defined in line with national interests or vice versa. But in general, it should be said that a comprehensive and accurate strategy is not available for Iran’s national brand. There was no national consensus regarding the fact that the image of the country of Iran is ambiguous. It seems that the national brand can establish common interests between ethnic groups with each other and ethnic groups with the government and provide material and non-material resources equally to ethnic groups. But the absence of a unified mechanism has also damaged the national identity.
 
5. Conclusion
Based on the findings of the research, a model for Iran’s national branding can be considered with an emphasis on ethnic components. In this model, the current status of Iran’s national brand should be examined first. For this purpose, it is suggested to use the opinions of people, tourists, ambassadors, businessmen, scientific elites and exporters through international surveys and interviews. Also, the current situation of ethnic groups in Iran should also be evaluated. In the next step, the desired image of Iran should be compiled, which includes drawing the national brand slogan, inserting the phrase “Made in Iran” on the products, paying attention to differences and improving the existing situation in this category. Compiling the fundamental transformation document of the national brand and organizing the media diplomacy campaign is placed in the next stage, which can be mentioned in such things as news coverage in mainstream media, active presence in social networks, convergence of media and diplomatic apparatus. Then, the executive regulations of the transformation document should be drawn up, and monitoring, evaluation, and continuous review should also be taken into consideration.