Gaining Hearts & Minds: Evidence from A Multi-country Conjoint Experiments On Public Diplomacy

Abstract

Do public diplomacy projects help create positive perceptions about the sender country? If so, what kinds of characteristics are more effective in cultivating such positive image? The successful implementation of foreign policy projects that aim to gain the "hearts and minds" of the public in a target country requires a proper understanding of public support of these projects within the target country. While billions of dollars are expended in the name of public diplomacy, empirical research examining the effects of such projects are rare. Using an original large scale survey project and embedded conjoint experiment design covering 16 countries and over 74,000 respondents, we investigate the public views towards foreign policy projects that aim to gain the "hearts and minds" of the public in a foreign country. We find, contrary to conventional expectations, that reputational attributes exert greater influence than economic or cultural attributes. Moreover, such effects varies widely across countries and by country characteristics.