Why is this National Indicator important?
Given a changing global context, there is a need to better understand how Scotland is seen and thought about by other countries. People rely on what they know about a country's reputation to help them inform their decisions as consumers, tourists, students and scholars, economic migrants, investors, exporters and world citizens who care about security, development and environmentalism. People's willingness to live, learn, visit, do business in and invest in Scotland has a significant impact on our economy.
What will influence this National Indicator?People's attitudes and perceptions about a country's reputation are influenced by a range of factors. These include:
- How well they know us.
- The historical links that they may or may not have with us.
- What they know about our products and our produce, such as our food and drink.
- What they think of our Government and what it does.
- What they perceive our contribution to the world to be.
- What they think about our people.
Fundamentally shifting or changing a country's reputation will not happen in the short-term and is unlikely to be influenced by increasing the amount of communication or information available about it.
But, over time, what we do, how we behave, and how well we tell people about our achievements can start to influence the long-held assumptions and beliefs that the world may have about Scotland. And understanding what people think about us can help us to generate new and innovative ideas which, in turn, will help to ensure that people understand our strengths and what we can offer.
What is the Government's role?
Influencing and managing a country's reputation cannot be thought of as the sole responsibility of government. However, through its ability to lead, act and communicate on an international level, its role is critical.
This role includes:
- Pursuing a clear and outward-looking set of interests.
- Creating a shared understanding of the country's global responsibilities.
- Ensuring that other partners share the same strategies.
- Measuring attitudes to our reputation and capitalising on the opportunities that exist to strengthen the country's reputation further.
How are we performing?
The Scottish Government has set a National Indicator to improve attitudes, perceptions and awareness of Scotland around the world. Scotland's reputation, as measured by the Anholt Nation Brand Index, was scored as 118.3 for Quarter 4 2007. The Anholt Nation Brand Index is changing and will be run as an annual survey from the summer of 2008 onwards. As a result of the change in methodology, Scotland's score for 2008 will be used as the baseline.
The Anholt Nation Brand Index conceptualises a nation's reputation across 6 dimensions. In Quarter 4 2007 respondents showed a stronger awareness of Scotland's image in terms of tourism, people and culture and heritage, rather than its exports, governance and immigration and investment. Its reputation as a tourist destination is particularly developed, scoring 23.72. Where Scotland's reputation is not recognised as clearly, survey data indicates that this is a reflection of respondents' lack of awareness and knowledge about Scotland.
Scotland's score is very similar to other small, wealthy European nations, like Norway, Denmark, Finland and Ireland.
Source: Scottish Government, Office of the Chief Economic Adviser
Note: the scores for People, Culture and Heritage and Tourism are out of 30.5. The scores for Exports, Immigration and Investment and Governance are out of 28.
Methodology
For more information see 2007 Spending Review Technical Note
For information on general methodological approach, please click here.
Statistics Topic Page
Who are our supporting delivery partners?
VisitScotland
Creative Scotland
Scottish Development International
Scottish Enterprise
Highlands and Islands Enterprise
Local authorities
British Council
Our educational institutions
Related Strategic Objectives
Wealthier and Fairer