Dubai Wins: A Content Analysis of Global Media Coverage of the 2020 World Exposition Bidding Process Using Nation Branding Theory

John Mark King
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John Mark King: University of Tennessee, Knoxville, US American University of Sharjah; Sharjah, UAE

International Journal of Business and Administrative Studies, 2016, vol. 2, issue 6, 202-212

Abstract: The international selection process for the 2020 World Exposition, which included votes of delegates from 168 nations, resulted in the emergence of five bid finalist cities including Sao Paulo, Brazil; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Ayutthaya, Thailand; Yekaterinburg, Russia, and Izmir, Turkey. Dubai was the ultimate winner in the Expo 2020 competition. This research, drawing on nation branding theory, sought to examine how each of these competing cities fared in global media coverage of their efforts to secure the bid in the months leading up to the final selection. A quantitative content analysis of 1,550 mentions of Expo 2020 and any of the five bid finalist cities published from 30 sources in 22 nations was conducted. Overall tone of the mentions of the five cities was strongly positive, with more than two-thirds mentioning positive attributes of the cities. Less than one-third was neutral, and less than 2% were negative. The bid process itself (72.9%), infrastructure (6.6%), and politics (4.1%) were the most common topics overall. Dubai was mentioned most frequently (48.8%) and most positively (80.2%). Dubai won the bid and the media coverage competition.

Keywords: Nation Branding; 2020 World Exposition; Expo 2020 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:apa:ijbaas:2016:p:202-212

DOI: 10.20469/ijbas.2.10005-6

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