Question

Topic: Student Questions

Thesis- Country Branding For Developing Nations?

Posted by Anonymous on 3/7/2010 at 12:43 PM ET 125 Points
Hi! Im currently doing an MSc in Marketing Management and need to write a thesis for September. I have never done a thesis before so Im having a lot of trouble narrowing down topics. I was thinking of exploring the key success factors of country branding for developing nations. This could be through a case study or through something else? I would really appreciate any comments and suggestions! Thank you ;)
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  • Posted by wnelson on 3/7/2010 at 2:35 PM Member
    I offer four guidelines for you on choosing a topic: First, you must have a high degree of interest in it. You're going to put a lot of effort into this for a long time. If you don't have high interest, it will drain you of energy versus charge you with energy.

    The second guideline - pick a topic from which you can learn. The thesis is meant to educate you - and future readers. The thesis is not a book report or a compliation of all literature already out there. It should bring new knowledge to you and the world. Don't take that to mean it has to be revolutionary. It can be an extension of other works. It could lead you in your career direction and help you develop a niche expertise.

    The third guideline is that you should be able to use some of the tools you've learned in your master's program. The tools could be of the quantification variety - like statistics and surveying - or the qualification side - PEST, Porter's Five Forces, and so forth.

    The fourth guideline is that the topic should be approved by your thesis advisor. Make sure he sees it as acceptable before putting a bunch of effort into it. He will be looking to make sure you're not trying to cover too big or broad a topic. Specificity is key. He will also be looking to make sure it's not a topic that has been "done to death."

    Your topic - "exploring the key success factors of country branding for developing nations." I'd recommend retitling it to be "qualifying key success factors of countrty branding for developing nations." "Exploring" sounds like you're discussing a bunch of known factors, writing a nice little paragraph about each - viola! You have a thesis. This type of paper is more of the compilation, not a thesis. "Qualifying" adds some analysis to the paper. The topic sounds specific and thesis worthy to me. You have to decide if it intriques you and if you'll learn something from it. I haven't researched this area so I don't know if it's a fresh area for a thesis - a little research on your part will determine that. Then, check it out with your advisor and see what he/she thinks.

    I hope this helps.

    Wayde
  • Posted on 3/8/2010 at 12:35 PM Author
    Thank you so much for your answer, it put certain things into perspective. I agree that 'qualifying' is much better than exploring, how do you suggest I qualify this, through quantitative or qualitative research?
    Maybe others have some more ideas or opinions on this topic.
    Thank you again!
  • Posted by wnelson on 3/8/2010 at 1:29 PM Accepted
    I think your biggest challenge is in defining success. further complicating this is getting "before and after" data. Central to this is what is the aim of branding a developing country? tourism? Outside industrial investment? A sense of nationalism internal to the country? IMF loans? The answer is probably all of these. So which one is more "observable" and less confounded by other factors that could be going on in the country. For example, the country could have a branding campaign and at the same time be doing other non-branding things to improve their country with respect to any of the measurements listed above. So how do you separate the key factors under the "branding" category versus other "non-branding" actions?

    How I'd approach this is to look at the measurements above in a few developing countries and determine which are more visible - meaning which ones can you get data on over time. Then, I'd look at all the actions the country took to affect this and just count everything as a branding element. Some things will be non-traditional - like when the government heads host foreign dignitaries. You wouldn't think of this as a branding action - but it really is. The country gets press on it, shows the dignitaries their "stuff," and so forth - it could be part of a branding campaign.

    In this way, the analysis could be quantitative. However, I must warn you: Given my background, my slant on things is quantitative. I search for quantitative solutions. There may be a qualitative approach given the right measurement.

    Wayde
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