Scholarship program

The scholarship program is a transversal topic when discussing the image of Taiwan, since ¾ of the interviewees were in Taiwan under a scholarship program, granted either by Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Ministry of Education. Interviewee n°2 explained:

I came across an ad for a summer program so I came to do a summer internship and after that, I really liked it here. I thought the equipment at the laboratory I was doing my internship at was really good and I studied Chinese before, so I continued on doing that and later on applied to Taiwan Scholarship program.

Interviewee n°2, male, Sweden.

Interviewee n°4 mentioned his decision making process concerning his study abroad experience in Taiwan:

The Taiwan scholarship and the financial security deriving from it, and the fact that I had spent time in the country already and knew what I could expect, were the driving force for me to decide to begin anew and enroll in postgraduate studies overseas.

Interviewee n°4, male, Germany.

Interviewee n°5, highlighted the recommendation of his closest circle for applying to the scholarship program:

When I was in highschool I started looking for scholarship opportunities. One of my cousin’s gave me the information about the Taiwanese scholarship, I thought it was a great opportunity, so I gave it a shot and got in.

Interviewee n°5, male, Haiti.

Interviewee n°6 summarized the different kinds of scholarships available in Taiwan:

First of all Taiwan has great scholarships, that cover either chinese language studies and also undergraduate and graduate studies. I thought it was a great idea to study the language first and then continue with my graduate studies. How I mentioned before the scholarships are really good and cover almost all expenses.

Interviewee n°6, male, Chile.

Recommendations is again mentioned as one way in which the scholarship opportunity is presented to students, in this case interviewee n°10 stated:

I studied chinese before and my sister helped me applied to the university. Once I finished studying chinese, I realised I really enjoyed living in Taiwan and decided to apply to a scholarship to continue my undergraduate studies. This time I new my way around Taiwan, so I looked for universities by myself.

Interviewee n°10, female, Peru.

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CHAPTER SIX. Conclusion

The purpose of this research was to analyze the perceptions of non-Asian international students with a stress on nation brand Taiwan’s image and reputation, both before the study abroad experience and also after the acculturation process followed by the interviewees throughout their experience in Taiwan.

It is been demonstrated the role of online information and recommendations previous to the decision making process and during the preparation process of the study abroad experience. The findings related to peer recommendations are directly linked to the Actor-Network theory, in which, according to Cho et. al (2002), “affiliation with community has benefits that extend beyond that of knowledge building. People located in social networks offer guidance with regard to information seeking, as well. (...) The community around an individual can be a valuable resource by helping to guide information seeking”(p. 43).

The collected data offers a clear landscape of the minor success of the current marketing strategies developed to promote Taiwan internationally, since most of the interviewees lacked of any information regarding Taiwan, before making the decision of enrolling in a program in the country. Therefore, specific policies should be made in order to create successful marketing campaigns to dote Taiwan with a stronger and long lasting image abroad.

Nevertheless, the results shown in this study help map the most interesting aspects of Taiwanese culture in the eyes of foreign students currently enrolled in a graduate or undergraduate program in Taiwan.

A constant topic to be discussed about by the interviewees was Taiwanese distinctive culture. Culture plays a distinctive role in the global perception of a country. A rich cultural life sets the difference between a tourist destination and a fascinating whole place. Taiwan has a very rich and inviting culture that fascinates international students at large, concept associated with the symbolic and experiential needs further explained by the brand concept-image management theory, which certainly dotes Taiwan of characteristics that sets it apart from other countries in the region and in the world at large.

To present the findings, they were organized in a way that could graphic the most talked about concepts behind Taiwanese culture, which were: local culture, the kindness of the Taiwanese, safety and weather issues. All the concepts mentioned certainly help shape the Taiwanese culture and therefore the core of the nation’s image, as stated by Anholt (2006) and are certainly linked to symbolic and experiential needs, rather than functional ones.

Moreover, the concepts extracted during the data analysis process, correlate to the ones presented by the quality of life index 2018 conducted by InterNations, in which Taiwan was ranked n°1, highlighting aspects such as safety and quality of life. Also, supporting the results shown by Taiwan’s Ministry of Education 2018 brochure in which, Taiwanese, are portrayed as very friendly people.

Another major concept treated during the interviewing process was convenience, which was constantly mentioned in every interview. This concept presented three (3) subcodes, which were: transportation system, access to outdoors activities and access to

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products and services. That is to say, the results in this category backed up the survey results previously conducted by FICHET in 2017, in which Taiwan was portrayed as a convenient and affordable country.

The above mentioned, were highly valued by the majority of the interviewees. On the other hand, the ones presenting lower rates of satisfaction in those areas, was due to living in smaller less populated areas of Taiwan, therefore, the access to certain services such as public transportation were limited, in comparison with those living in densely populated areas of Taiwan.

Subsequently, since the research was focused on the experiences and perceptions of non-Asian international students currently pursuing studies in Taiwan, it was relevant to analyze their perceptions on the academic services they were provided as well as the on activities and does not have an impact on lifestyle.

In class environment was a sensitive topic, since it presented contrasting results. The majority of the interviewees have had a positive in class experience. While a large and still very relevant minority experienced a cultural shock when they noted the lack of interaction and engagement of Taiwanese classmates, whose life would revolve around campus and would not interact much with foreign students.

Faculty is a theme of high appreciation by the majority of students, describing professors as a guide, rather than the role professors hold in the western world, which represents much more intimidation and struggle.

When it came to channels in which the students could get familiar with brand Taiwan, the scholarship program was mentioned as the ultimate channel Taiwan holds with international students in order to attract them, considering 3/4 of the interviewees are in Taiwan under a scholarship program which funds the majority of their expenses, transforming it in a very alluring way to draw international talents.

Thanks to the back up of the social media Instagram, we were able to see the phenomenon and support the perceptions with graphic content, in which the interviewees were performing or expressing opinions about Taiwan over Instagram in the form of posts.

Certainly, this research has helped supporting previous studies, but has also shed a new light upon the concepts attached to the image of Taiwan from the perspective of non-Asian international students. Since symbolic and experiential needs, are the ones highly valued by students, they would be suggested to be the pivotal concepts when crafting a successful marketing campaign.

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According to this research, said concepts should be centered in everyday life aspects related to local culture, convenience and on campus experience, doting the prospective students with a deeper and more meaningful insight of the kind of lifestyle they might encounter if choosing Taiwan as an study abroad destination.

In the SWOT analysis conducted in the literature review, on page 7, the mentioned opportunities are related to the construction of new meanings in terms of perceptions and also enhancing previous concepts Taiwan is known for, in oder to strengthen nation brand Taiwan. Therefore, by taking into account the findings presented in this research, and by nurturing them with new data and insights, Taiwan’s official entities should be able to craft a successful marketing campaign based on differentiation to ultimately attract international talents and give a positive reputation to nation brand Taiwan.

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6.1 Suggestions

Since this is a scarcely explored topic in Taiwan, and considering the sample size was limited due to time constrains and limited personnel, it would be advisable to conduct a follow up research with an enlarged the sample size. It would also be advisable to include some instances of focus group interview, in order to compare responses of the interviewees in a private setting and later on a group setting. This would allow us to see if there is a change of opinion or, on the contrary, a profundizacion of the same.

There were an interesting number of concepts that can be further explained through research such as:

1. The effectiveness of chinese language programs in Taiwan, for students wishing to pursue higher education in Taiwan. Since some interviewees mentioned the chinese language programs only covered everyday chinese, leaving them behind when starting a graduate or undergraduate program due to the lack of technical language associated with a particular field of study.

2. Cultural shock experienced by non-Asian international students, with aspects everyday aspects of life in Taiwan, such as: squat toilets, traffic and even traditional food that might be uncommon for them.

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6.2 Limitations

As stated before, due to time constraints and limited personnel, the sample size was reduced, but still significative, although it would be advisable to include more experiences to enhance the results.

Some of the interviews were conducted in Spanish, therefore, there is a translation of the responses, which may limit the lexicon resources originally used.

Lastly, the research intended to map the perceptions of non-Asian international students, but we were unable to contact students who belonged to the African and Oceanian continents, ultimately having no representation in terms of opinion of the aforementioned.

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