INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
ISSN: 2692-5206, Impact Factor: 12,23
American Academic publishers, volume 05, issue 05,2025
Journal:
https://www.academicpublishers.org/journals/index.php/ijai
page 775
THE IMAGE AND BRAND OF THE COUNTRY: CONCEPTS AND RESEARCH
DIRECTIONS
Berdiev Bektosh Oxnorovich
Associate Professor of the Department of International Relations at the
International Islamic Academy of Uzbekistan
Abstract:
The article presents a certain system of disparate studies in the field of country
imageology in research. The entire volume of diverse research on this topic is classified. The
definitions of the basic concepts (image, image, brand) are given based on the study of basic
approaches. The psychological, cultural, marketing, theoretical, and sociological approaches
to the study of national imageology, as well as an approach related to interaction with the
media, are highlighted. Their own understandings of the studied categories are proposed,
based on the analyzed material.
Key words:
image, image, brand, country.
Currently, not only in the world, but also in our country, the popularity of research on
the country's image is growing, and the fashion for such work has come from the field of
personal image studies and political marketing, which have experienced (and are still
experiencing) a real boom in the post-Soviet space. However, along with the excitement for
the study of the country's image, new methodological and epistemological scientific
challenges came, the answers to which, despite the scientific fashion, turned out to be very
limited, which could not but negatively affect the structuring of research approaches and, as a
result, the effectiveness of using the results achieved.
Foreign researchers were the first to pay attention to the "image" category. American
sociologist Kenneth Boulding, in his book "Image: Knowledge in Life and Society,"
proposed the concept that an image is a certain behavioral stereotype that influences the
actions of an individual, group of individuals, or nation. Boulding argued that an image is
formed not on the basis of real facts, but on prestige, opinions and illusions that people create
about themselves, on a mythological view of the past and an imaginary view of the future.
Such an image can influence both the actions of individuals or groups, and the behavior of
entire nations [1]. After decades of studying this phenomenon, another researcher will give a
more precise definition: "Image is reputation, perception, attitude, message, assessment,
recognition, trust, support, communication and attitude" [2]. A significant contribution to the
study of the phenomenon of "image" was made by the English political scientist Graham
Wallace, who argued that not rational motives, but behavioral attitudes formed over the years
are the basis of the model of voter behavior. The German sociologist K. Hilmann defined an
image as a set of feelings, ideas, and assessments that are subjectively perceived by
individuals or groups and become the basis of their ideas about other people and social
institutions.
Russian specialist I.Sinyaeva defined the term in the context of the organization's
image: "a positive image is created by the main activity of the company, as well as by
purposeful information work aimed at target groups of the public" [4]. Thus, an image, as an
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
ISSN: 2692-5206, Impact Factor: 12,23
American Academic publishers, volume 05, issue 05,2025
Journal:
https://www.academicpublishers.org/journals/index.php/ijai
page 776
interdisciplinary phenomenon, is a set of stereotypical opinions, subjective perceptions,
behavioral attitudes that form over time, and irrational ideas. If we take a political science
question, considering the state image, it is "the imaginary image of this state among the
citizens of the country and abroad" [5]. Another researcher, D. A. Klimenko, considered the
image through the prism of branding, giving an interpretation as follows: "a set of ideas that
the owner of the thing would like to introduce into the mass consciousness," but also touched
on the political aspect – "this is how the state would like to be perceived in the international
space".
And Professor Francis Kotler, Professor of International Marketing, writes that there
are concepts of "image of space", that is, we can understand by this term the image of a city,
province, region and the same states in full-dimensional integrity, and to the description of
what the words "image" are, he attributes the already familiar statements that are given above
"the sum of beliefs, ideas and people's impressions of this place".
A domestic researcher who decides to start working in the field of the country's image
immediately faces a scientific dilemma, which is related both to the heterogeneity of research
approaches in the domestic tradition and to the lack of consensus around the content of the
main categories.
While Western studies, which are methodologically different (although with a
practical bias typical of Western science), have adopted the use of the general term "image",
the Russian tradition has adopted the use of two terms: "image" and "image", but a common
understanding of these terms has not been developed, which largely led to the strongest
heterogeneity of research. Most Russian studies represent various pieces of the mosaic in the
field of national imageology, which has yet to be put together.
Based on the above, it is possible to determine the goals of this article – how to try to
bring into some kind of system the scientific ideas and developments existing in the domestic
literature in the field of image / image of the country. To achieve the same goals, it is
necessary to solve a number of research tasks. First, it is necessary to classify the entire
volume of diverse research on this topic. Secondly, to define the basic concepts based on the
study of basic approaches. And, finally, thirdly, based on the analyzed material, to offer your
own understanding of the categories under study.
Solving the problem of structuring approaches and directions in the field of image /
brand research in the Uzbek scientific tradition is seen as a laborious and difficult task, the
solution of which is further complicated by the disunity of researchers, a weak degree of
cooperation, as well as poor familiarity with the work of colleagues in the research
department.
And although the most established research areas in the field of national imageology
have been covered in sufficient detail, many PhD and some doctoral dissertations have not
been mentioned at all in scientific papers. We have taken upon ourselves the responsibility to
bring into some correspondence the entire volume of currently existing dissertations and
scientific papers in the hope that this will make it possible to more effectively use the
currently available developments in the field of national imageology in Uzbek science.
It should be understood that research on the image/image/brand of a country is mostly
interdisciplinary in nature, therefore, the structuring of research areas that we will use is to a
certain extent conditional. Depending on the purpose, results, methods, and general tone of
the work, we have divided the entire research stream into several main areas.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
ISSN: 2692-5206, Impact Factor: 12,23
American Academic publishers, volume 05, issue 05,2025
Journal:
https://www.academicpublishers.org/journals/index.php/ijai
page 777
It should definitely be noted that in works that deal with the topic of separation and
correlation of concepts, priority is given to this particular point of view. In any case, this
statement is true of the image-image dichotomy. The image is real, and the image is
constructed. This research trend is obvious and is becoming more and more popular.
However, not all researchers are so unambiguous in their assessments of the ratio of
the concept of "brand", but more on that later. Often, if researchers do not categorize
concepts in their work, they are used interchangeably, thereby equating them, or they use
concepts in different contexts, obliging the reader to grasp this context for an adequate
perception of information, which, naturally, can cause certain problems. If the problem of
separation of concepts can have a common solution for all the areas under consideration, then
the specific definitions of concepts will naturally vary, depending on the research approach
and the methods used.
According to political psychology, a political image (including a country) can be
defined as, "on the one hand, a reflection of the real characteristics of the object of perception,
i.e. the political power of the personality of the leader, etc., and on the other hand, a
projection of the expectations of the subject of perception, i.e. citizens. The image of political
power reflects knowledge, ideas, opinions, assessments, expectations, emotions, and demands
of the mass consciousness for power."
The definition itself reflects the specific theoretical and psychological aspect of the
concept, and implies certain methods used by representatives of political psychology, such as
focus groups, interviews, tests, expert assessments, and content analysis.
Meanwhile, the authors differentiate between the concepts of "image" and "brand". "A
brand is a different matter. ... A brand (English brand) in Western schools of marketing is
characterized as a trademark that the buyer attracts to others due to a unique, mainly
figurative, identifier, as well as additional rational or emotional values for themselves.
Brands symbolize the realization of a wide variety of expectations from specific products.
The main differences between the brand and the image, despite their external proximity, are
quite significant."
Among the main ones are:
– brand positivity (the image can be negative too);
– the quality of the brand's object (the image does not directly depend on the quality
of the object);
– the brand's integration with visualization (the obligatory presence of a logo, an
audiophone, etc.);
– also, the object may have several brands (the image is the same, although it may be
multidimensional);
– the brand assumes a price (the image goes beyond the trade).
The influence of S.Anholt, the founder of the method of brand indexing of countries
and cities, who, analyzing the factors influencing the attractiveness of countries (culture,
tourist attractiveness, politics, economy, social climate, etc.), compiled a rating of the
attractiveness of countries, setting the quantitative value of each of the studied countries, thus
turning the country into a "commodity", a brand that it can be more or less successfully
"implemented" in international political, economic and other markets.
It is noticeable that marketing experts use the term image rather than image to a
greater extent, and even separating these concepts, they do not draw a serious line between
them. Some experts, speaking about the difference between an image and an image, write that
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
ISSN: 2692-5206, Impact Factor: 12,23
American Academic publishers, volume 05, issue 05,2025
Journal:
https://www.academicpublishers.org/journals/index.php/ijai
page 778
"an image is a set of ideas about the qualities of an object or product that their owner would
like to introduce into the mass consciousness. An image is something that is formed in the
mass consciousness as a result of this introduction. The word "ugliness" ("ugliness") is the
absence of a face. The fundamental feature of an image is that, reflecting the past and looking
to the future, it is always secondary to the real object. It does not so much reflect reality as
create virtual objects" [53. P. 18]. Upon closer examination, it turns out that, even separating
the concepts, the authors actually mean by image what is called a "simulated image" in the
literature on imageology, and by image what is called a "real image".
It can be concluded that a distinctive feature of the work in this area is the
identification or lack of a clear and deep separation of the concepts of "image" and "image",
even in cases where they try to identify this boundary. Meanwhile, the concept of "image" is
more readily used, rather than "not an image" - a tribute to the applied nature of research.
Regarding the content of the concept of "brand", representatives of the branding approach in
the field of country imageology have no serious disagreements. "Brand (from English. A
brand is a well–known brand that identifies and positively represents an object in the external
environment, which, by stimulating its benevolent perception, becomes authoritative and
popular. Branding, in turn, being the process of creating, implementing and strengthening a
brand, forms a long-term preference for such a brand and, accordingly, an object".
REFERENCES:
1. Berdiev, B. (2022). Cooperation with international organizations as an important factor
in raising the international image of the country. The American Journal of Political
Science Law and Criminology, 4(03), 51-54.
2. Berdiev, B. (2023). Image policy as an important factor in the improvement and progress
of the country. Web of Humanities: Journal of Social Science and Humanitarian
Research, 1(2), 6-9.
3. Бердиев, Б. (2024). Имидж Вооруженных Сил в контексте общественно-
политических изменений. Центральноазиатский журнал социальных наук и
истории, 5 (1), 201-205.
4. Bektash, B. (2024). IMAGE OF THE ARMED FORCES AS A FACTOR OF
SECURITY OF SOCIETY AND THE STATE. International journal of artificial
intelligence, 4(03), 360-363.
5. Bektash, B. (2024). IMAGE OF THE ARMY IN THE STATE. Western European
Journal of Historical Events and Social Science, 2(5), 177-181.
