Who are publics in public diplomacy? Proposing a taxonomy of foreign publics as an intersection between symbolic environment and behavioral experiences

Abstract

Existing literature on public diplomacy has generally defined foreign publics as the global constituents with whom a country builds relationships through its public diplomacy efforts. However, not all foreign publics are the same; they represent a collection of separate public opinions. As such, foreign publics need to be segmented and differentiated in order for countries to strategically invest their resources and optimize public diplomacy outcomes. In light of this, this paper proposes a taxonomy which approaches the concept of foreign publics as an intersection between symbolic environment and behavioral experiences. By classifying foreign publics into four segments (i.e., ambassadorial, advocational, accusational, and adversarial), this paper explains the formation and characteristics of each segment of foreign publics, as well as their implications for a country’s public diplomacy efforts.