Advertising as public diplomacy: attitude change among international audiences.

In October 2002, the U.S. Department of State under the direction of Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and former advertising executive Charlotte Beers launched a first-ever public diplomacy campaign featuring television spots promoting the happy lives of American Muslims. The advertising campaign, known as the "Shared Values Initiative," ran on a limited schedule throughout the Middle East and Asia through January 2003. This article attempts to assess the reactions and feelings that international viewers have toward the commercials and, to the extent possible, evaluate the effectiveness of the commercials on changing international audiences' attitudes toward the United States.

International students from various countries who were enrolled at Regents College in London, England in the summer of 2003 constituted the sample for this study. An experimental design, similar to those found in World War II propaganda literature, was employed to measure their attitudes toward the U.S. government, the American people, and their perception of how Muslims are treated in America before and after viewing the State Department commercials. The international students' reactions to the spots in the form of an advertising copy test are also reported.

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INTERNATIONAL STUDENT RESPONSE TO THE SHARED VALUES INITIATIVE: THE FIRST U.S. ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN TO THE MUSLIM WORLD

Introduction

IN 2002, THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE launched the "Shared Values Initiative" (heretofore referred to as SVI), which included a series of commercials showing the positive aspects of Muslim life in America. SVI was part of an ongoing U.S. public diplomacy campaign aimed at the Muslim world after the September 11th attacks. The commercials were shown in several countries "to position who America is, not only for ourselves under this kind of attack, but also for the outside world" (quote from Under Secretary of State Charlotte Beers in Teinowitz, 2001).

The SVI campaign, which was estimated to cost U.S. taxpayers $15 million (Waller, 2003), has been a source of ongoing controversy among diplomats, politicians, and those who study propaganda (see O'Connell, 2003; "Public Diplomacy," 2003; Schubert, 2002); however, no systematic research regarding the effects of the advertisements has been reported. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to assess the reactions and feelings that international viewers have toward the SVI commercials and, to the extent possible, evaluate the effectiveness of the commercials on changing international audiences' attitudes toward the United States. The study borrows from early propaganda theory and employs a classic pre-post experimental design reminiscent of studies during and after World War II.