Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Australian student reactions to US tourism advertising: A test of advertising as public diplomacy

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Place Branding and Public Diplomacy Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A study among Australian college students gauged their reactions to a television commercial produced for the US Commerce Department to bolster sagging tourism numbers among international visitors. In addition to using traditional measures applied to tourism advertisements, the study also included items to measure attitudes toward the US government and its people. Pre- and post-viewing results indicated that although the Hollywood-movie-themed commercial was not well received by the Australian students as a tourism message, it did result in more favourable attitudes toward the US government, although not the US people. The findings lend partial support for the potential of tourism advertising efforts to exert a ‘bleed-over effect’ in terms of their contribution to overall attitudes toward a country, regardless of whether viewers plan to visit the country whose travel advertisements they see.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. A small, yet significant, difference was found between the native Australians and theirinternational peers on two variables. Theinternational students had a slightly morepositive attitude toward the US government and toward the United States as a traveldestination post-viewing. However, directionally attitudinal shifts were consistent between the two groups.

References

  • Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2008) Retrieved from www.abs.gov.au, accessed 5 September 2008.

  • Bargain Hunting. (2008) Economist 386 (8571), 15 March 2008, p. 36.

  • Belch, G., Belch, M., Kerr, G. and Powell, I. (2008) Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated Marketing Communication Perspective. Sydney: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Commerce Department. (2008). US Commerce Department. Unpublished documents obtained, 29 Feb 2008.

  • Discover America Partnership. (2006). http://poweroftravel.org/dap/.

  • Fullerton, J. (2005) Why do they hate us? International attitudes toward America, American brands and advertising. Place Branding 1 (2): 129–140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fullerton, J., Hamilton, M. and Kendrick, A. (2007) US-produced entertainment media and attitude toward Americans. Mass Communication and Society Journal 10 (2): 171–187.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fullerton, J. and Kendrick, A. (2006) Advertising's War on Terrorism: The Story of the US State Department's Shared Values Initiative. Spokane: Marquette Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fullerton, J., Kendrick, A., Chan, K., Hamilton, M. and Kerr, G. (2007) Attitudes towards American brands and brand America. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy 3 (3): 205–212.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Green, F. (1988) American Propaganda Abroad. New York: Hippocrene Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grimm, Matthew (2003) Now the loser: Brand USA. Brandweek 44 (20): 19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harper, J. (2006) US urged to setout welcome mat. The Washington Times, 12 September.

  • Kendrick, A. and Fullerton, J. (2004) Advertising as public diplomacy: Attitude change among international audiences. Journal of Advertising Research 44 (3): 297–311.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knowlton, B. (2006) As world tourism booms, the US falls behind. International Herald Tribune, 14 September.

  • Kohut, A. and Wike, R. (2008, May 6) All the world's a stage. National Interest On-line, http://www.nationalinterest.org/Article.aspx?id=17502, accessed 3 September 2008.

  • Milligan, M. (2006) Businesses form partnership to promote, improve US image. TravelWeekly.

  • Nye Josephs, S. (2004) Soft Power: The Means to Success inWorld Politics; Understanding International Conflict 5th edn. New York: Public Affairs.

  • Office of Travel and Tourism Industries. (2006) US Department of Commerce launches International Tourism Promotion Campaign in Japan. Press release retrieved from http://tinet.ita.doc.gov/tinews/archive/tinews2006/20060725.htm, accessed 3 September 2008.

  • Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. (2008) Global Attitudes Project. Washington, DC: The Pew Research Center. Retrieved on 3 September 2008 from http://pewglobal.org, accessed 3 September.

  • Reinhard, K. (2004) Testimony to the House Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations, 23 August 2004. Retrieved from www.aaf.or/news/pdf/bdatestimony.pdf, accessed 2 November 2005.

  • Singer, P. (2006) The nation's no. 1 travel agent. National Journal 38 (38): 69–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Starr, A. (2001) Charlotte Beers’ toughest sell. Business Week 17 December, pp. 56–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Timmons, H. (2004) To lure British tourists to the United States after 9/11, marketers turn to the cinema. New York Times, C-2, accessed 15 December.

  • Tourism Australia. (2008) Retrieved from www.tourism.australia.com, 2008. 5 September 2008.

  • Walmsley, D. and Young, M. (1998) Evaluative images and tourism: The use of personal constructs to describe the structure of destination images. Journal of Travel Research 36 Winter 1998: 65–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wike, R. (2007) Karen Hughes’ uphill battle. Retrieved from Pew Global Attitudes Project, http://pewresearch.org/pubs/627/karen-hughes accessed 3 September 2008.

  • Zakaria, F. (2007) America the unwelcoming. Newsweek 150 (22): 42, Retrieved 3 September 2008, from Academic Search Elite database.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oklahoma State University, 700N Greenwood Ave., Tulsa, Oklahoma, 14106, USA

    Jami A Fullerton

Authors
  1. Jami A Fullerton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Alice Kendrick
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Gayle Kerr
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jami A Fullerton.

Additional information

2obtained her PhD from University of Tennessee, USA, and is a Professor of Advertising in the Temerlin Advertising Institute, Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, USA. Her research interests include mass media and public diplomacy, advertising education and career paths, and de-consumption of products.

3obtained her PhD from Queensland University of Technology, Australia. She is a senior lecturer in advertising and IMC at the School of Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations, Queensland University of Technology. She worked in the creative side of advertising, before joining academia more than a decade ago to teach and research in advertising and integrated marketing communication. Her areas of research interest include advertising ethics and self-regulation, advertising management and strategic research, integrated marketing communication and educational issues in both advertising and IMC.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Fullerton, J., Kendrick, A. & Kerr, G. Australian student reactions to US tourism advertising: A test of advertising as public diplomacy. Place Brand Public Dipl 5, 141–150 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1057/pb.2009.7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/pb.2009.7

Keywords

Search

Navigation