INTRODUCTION
Every nation is a brand and most nations have had their brands made for them. The nation brand could have been developed de- liberately or by default, formed from a myr- iad of different sources, such as word of mouth, education, mass media, travel, prod- uct purchases and dealings with its people.
The nation brand consists of images, which are often powerful stereotypes, carrying cog- nitive, affective and normative dimensions (Verlegh and Steenkamp, 1999). They may not be a true picture of the objective real- ity of the nation, yet they are nonetheless pervasive.They influence all kinds of buying decisions, from consumer purchase, indus- trial buying to foreign direct investment in target markets.