INTRODUCTION 8
Chapter I. Literature Review 10
1.1 Brand and branding 10
1.1.1. Definition 10
1.1.2. Outcomes 11
1.2 Nation Branding 13
1.2.1. Definition 13
1.2.2. Advantages of Having a Strong Nation Brand 14
1.2.3. Scopes And Different Uses of Nation Branding 18
1.2.4. Brand Awareness 18
1.2.5. Brand Image 19
1.3. Role of Popular Culture in Building Nation Brands 20
1.4. Media and TV 22
1.4.1. Television Series 22
1.4.2. TV Series and Nation Branding 23
1.5. Visiting Intention 26
1.6. Nostalgia Proneness and Media 27
CHAPTER II. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 28
2.1. Hypotheses Development 28
2.1.1. Influence of Nation Image on Visiting Intention 28
2.1.2. Influence of Temporal Setting in TV Series on Nation Image 28
2.2. Research Design and Methodology 29
2.2.1. Participants 30
2.2.2. Materials 30
2.2.3. Measurements 31
2.3. Data Analysis And Findings 31
2.3.1. Reliability 31
2.3.2. One Sample T-Test 32
2.3.3. Full Model Estimation 33
2.4. Result 34
CHAPTER III. CONCLUSION 35
3.1. Theoretical Contributions 35
3.2. Managerial Implications 36
3.3. Limitations and Future Research Directions 36
REFERENCES 38
APPENDIXES 44
1) Reliability Analysis (with 122 N) 44
1.1. Visiting Intention Reliability 46
1.2. Nation Image Reliability 48
1.3. Nostalgia Proneness Reliability 49
2. One Sample T-Tests 52
2.1. Historical One Sample T-Test 52
2.2. Modern One Sample T-Test 52
3. Process 53
Given the growing significance of images and visuality in the postmodern state of culture that emerged in the latter half of the 20th century, brands have become potent symbols that can pique consumer interest in symbolic, emotional, ideological, political, or cultural ways. In the modern, worldwide economy, branding is a key strategy used by businesses to market their goods and spread consumer demand in both domestic and international markets. Aside from mainstream items and services, the branding of other entities such as regions, geographies, cities, states, and nations started in the late twentieth century (Nas, 2017).
The people of a country, their traditional ways of life, investments, domestic and foreign policies, worldwide brands, culture, religion, and their cultural assets all create to the nation brand (Boran, 2015). In the twenty-first century, nation branding has been a significant communication strategy for governments all over the world. The number of nations (and other locales) that practice systematic nation branding is growing dramatically every day (Nas, 2017). Building and managing a nation's brand are highly sensitive topics (Boran, 2015). To have strong nation brands in the international arena in today's world, where globalization is gaining momentum, it has gained importance in the economy, tourism, contemporary culture and cultural heritage, social welfare, human resources and public diplomacy (Uzun, 2018). Nation branding was obviously essential; the crucial question was how to execute it successfully given the numerous difficulties in this area (Boran, 2015).
Audio-visual products are a powerful nation marketing strategy for both local and international markets because of their ability to affect or reinforce destination image and, as a result, induce visits to the areas they portray (Araujo Vila et al., 2021). Such productions have come to be used by those looking to increase brand awareness after being noticed by brands and brand managers (Yildirim & Aydin, 2012a). According to certain research, films or television series can indirectly positively affect a nation or local community, such as improving the host nation's image or raising its level of awareness(Kim et al., 2007a). Writing, performances, images, scene design, costumes, and cinematography all play a part in making a TV series and can help brand the culture(Natusch, 2019). This type of media content tells and markets narratives about people and places in ways that influence societal perceptions, cultural norms, and the development of both personal and societal identities(Clark et al., 2020). TV series can contribute to a country's cultural legacy since different nations use their locations to promote their nation indirectly and increase tourism and country awareness (Hess & Najbor, 2020). Since TV series successfully attract viewers' attention and influence them, they may cause viewers to visit the locations which they see in these series (Yildirim & Aydin, 2012a).
In this thesis, I argued that TV series could positively impact the development of the nation's brand abroad. This study has emerged from the fact that the nation brand was not studied enough in the media context, especially considering the audience's nostalgic proneness. Studies from the past three decades dealing with nation branding have been reviewed as a starting point for analysing this research field. Later, the accuracy of the hypotheses was tested with the survey method. There have been found promising signs that nostalgic media content positively affects viewers who are prone to nostalgia and also not. For example, the TV series' temporal setting in the past will draw the attention of viewers who are prone to nostalgia, while those who are not prone will also allow them to watch the series' content because the past-today does not matter to them. This study has proven that because the nostalgic series successfully attract and influence the viewers' attention, it causes them to visit the places they see in these series. Thus, the nostalgic content in the TV series will increase interest in the series and the visits to that country. In this regard, nation branding through TV series is an important communication strategy for governments. It has been concluded that the series watched by foreign viewers positively affects the nation's image and increases the intention to visit. Additionally, this paper fills several gaps in the nation branding literature and offers new, beneficial ideas for future research in this field of study.
