IDENTITY AND IMAGE OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF ITS THREE NATIONS – BRANDING OPPORTUNITIES AND DRAWBACKS RESEARCH

Rad se bavi mogućnostima brendiranja Bosne i Hercegovine, odnosno fenomenom identiteta i imidža ove države te potencijalima i preprekama u stvaranju bolje percepcije BiH. Autor je proveo istraživanje javnoga mnijenja među građanima BiH, odnosno ispitanicima iz reda triju bosanskohercegovačkih naroda – Bošnjaka, Hrvata i Srba, u dva vala – 2010. i 2013. kako bi istražio kako oni doživljavaju identitet i imidž svoje države te kako sagledavaju potencijale i nedostatke na putu njezina mogućeg brendiranja. Istraživanje je pokazalo kako je većina građana uvjerena da postoje potencijali i prednosti koje mogu sva tri naroda održati na okupu te istodobno od Bosne i Hercegovine stvoriti međunarodno prepoznatljiv brend. Ti se potencijali najviše odnose na mentalitet i način života te prirodne ljepote i raznolikost.
The paper discusses the branding options of Bosnia and Herzegovina, i.e. the phenomenon of identity and image of this country, and the potential and obstacles in creating a better perception of Bosnia and Herzegovina worldwide. The author conducted a survey of public opinion among the citizens of B&H, i.e. respondents from the three BH nations - Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs, in two periods - in 2010 and 2013 in order to explore how they perceive the identity and image of their country and how they see potentials and drawbacks of its possible branding. According to the research results most of the respondents are aware of the potentials and advantages that can hold all three nations together turning at the same time Bosnia and Herzegovina into an internationally recognized brand. These potentials mostly refer to the mentality and way of life as well as the natural attractions and diversity.