From The Corporate Reputation to The Country Reputation: A Qualitative Study With Different Approaches From Different Disciplines

Within the current global economic structure interdependencies increase, the management of reputation’s perception is not an issue exclusive to companies or consumer goods. States increasingly focus on the country's reputation, which is situated at the intersection of as diverse disciplines as international relations, public relations, communication, management and marketing. A country's reputation is considered as a basis for making the country in question more efficient in international politics and economy, and governments use public diplomacy to shape the perception of the public opinion of the interlocutor countries in order to improve their reputation. However, the measurement of the country reputation presents various difficulties due to multiple factors with regard to perception. Besides, these factors diverge from one country to another. This study examines how the country reputation concept is understood in Turkey through an exploratory qualitative research. In this context, a focus group interview was held with 10 participants. The research data was analyzed by thematic content analysis with Atlas.ti qualitative data analysis program. According to the results of the study, factors affecting the country's reputation can be listed as cultural factor, political factor, economic factor, sustainability factor, emotional factor and geographic factor