The Anholt - GFK Roper Nation Brands Index(SM): 2012 Report for Scotland

6 Conclusion

6.1 Scotland's score and rank show that it has a strong reputation abroad for a nation of its size and constitutional status. Scotland's score and rank place it alongside and often ahead of other smaller, high income Western nations on the Nation Brands Index^SM: Denmark, Finland, Ireland, and New Zealand. Ranked 15^th in both 2010 and 2012, Scotland is just outside the Top 10, which is dominated by strong and large open economies.

6.2 Scotland's reputation abroad has been stable since 2008. For the purposes of the Scottish Government's National Performance Framework, the indicator for Scotland's reputation is "maintaining".

6.3 In terms of relative rankings, Scottish reputation has improved since 2010 across all dimensions, with the exception of Tourism. This was further supported by the improvements in score for the People dimension, and certain aspects of Scotland's Governance.

6.4 Tourism and Governance remain to be perceived as Scotland's main strengths in the international arena. Its People, as well as Immigration and Investment opportunities, are very favourably ranked. Except for Scotland's reputation in sporting excellence, Scottish Culture also has a good international reputation.

6.5 Exports remain the only dimension of reputation where Scotland is ranked outside the Top 20. It is not to say that Scottish Exports have a poor or negative reputation abroad: the analysis of the scores for attributes within the Exports dimension on the survey shows that they tend to reflect respondents' unfamiliarity with Scottish goods and/or services, summarised by the "don't know/neutral" view expressed in the score. It is worth noting that Scotland's exports tend to be dominated by luxury/premium goods, which may not be widely consumed in all of the panel countries.

6.6 The NBI^SM is not designed to evaluate the performance of government policy. There are no questions in the survey that ask panellists about particular government or government agency activities, or whether panellists are aware of such policies and/or initiatives. Government policy and agencies, such as Scottish Development International, are responsible for reporting on their performance and delivery.

6.7 Nevertheless, the NBI^SM data provides an indication of how Scotland is perceived abroad. It indicates that Scotland's international image is strong across various dimensions, and stable over time.