The Scottish Government

« Previous | Contents | Next »

Listen

CHAPTER THREE: SCOTLAND'S PROFILE IN CHINA

3.1 Objective 10 of the strategy is to raise the profile and understanding of Scotland in China, with the specific target of improving survey results for profile/understanding within particular target groups by 2010. This chapter aims to provide a general, high-level baseline for objective 10 by exploring current levels of knowledge and perceptions held by Chinese people about Scotland. The chapter focuses mainly on findings from the surveys among the Chinese public and business people, but also highlights relevant issues raised by the other research audiences.

General awareness of Scotland

3.2 As well as asking people to assess their own knowledge of Scotland (see below), we asked some factual questions to 'test' them. First, all of the research audiences were asked if they could name the constituent parts of the United Kingdom. In the survey among the public, England emerged as the most well known of the countries, mentioned by 39% of respondents. Scotland was the next well know, mentioned by around a third (31%), ahead of Northern Ireland (26%) and Wales (17%) (Figure 3.1 below). These findings are broadly consistent with comparable findings from a survey conducted by Ipsos MORI for the British Council ¹.

Figure 3.1 Awareness of the four parts of the United Kingdom

Q The United Kingdom is split into four parts. Do you know the names of these parts?

Base: All respondents (1102), Fieldwork dates: September 21 - October 22, 2006
Source: Ipsos MORI

3.3 As shown in Table 3.1, awareness of the parts of the UK varied widely across the provinces with people in Hong Kong and Beijing proving more knowledgeable than those in Taiyuan.

3.4 Further variation emerged by education level and income - although the differences in income were apparent only in mainland China, where those in the highest income bracket (more than 9,000 RMB) were more knowledgeable than those in the lowest bracket (less than 4500 RMB). In Hong Kong no such differences emerged (Table 3.1 below).

Table 3.1: Awareness of the four parts of the UK, by education, income and province

The United Kingdom is split into four parts. Do you know the names of these parts?

Source: Ipsos MORI

3.5 The business people, who were surveyed, were more able than the public to name the four parts of the UK. Sixty-two per cent could name England, 60% could name Scotland, 53% could name Northern Ireland and a third could name Wales. Of the students, university staff, consulting agents and travel agents, most were able to identify the different parts of the UK, including Scotland.

3.6 The public and business respondents were asked to consider how well they knew each part of the UK. Beginning with the public, 15% claimed to know England 'very well' or 'fairly well', 6% said the same about Scotland, 3% about Northern Ireland and only 1% about Wales (Figure 3.2 below).

Figure 3.2: Respondents' self assessed knowledge of the four parts of the United Kingdom

Q How well do you feel you know these countries?

Base: All respondents (1102), Fieldwork dates: September 21 - October 22, 2006
Source: Ipsos MORI

3.7 As shown in Table 3.2, self-assessed knowledge of Scotland specifically was significantly higher in Shanghai than in the other provinces, with 13% saying they knew the country 'very well' or 'fairly well'. For all of the parts of the UK, except Wales, knowledge also increased with education and RMB income.

Table 3.2: Respondents' own perceptions of how well they knew each part of the UK

I would like you to tell me how well you feel you know each of these countries

Source: Ipsos MORI

3.8 The business audiences' self-assessed knowledge of the 4 parts of the UK was higher than that of the general public. Twenty-eight per cent said they knew England 'very' or 'fairly' well, 14% said the same for Scotland, 7% for Northern Ireland and 4% for Wales.

Spontaneous associations with Scotland

3.9 In the general public survey, respondents who said they knew something about Scotland were asked what images or phrases best summed up the country for them. In general the responses were positive, although they tended to focus almost exclusively on traditional aspects of Scotland. Thus, the most commonly mentioned images and phrases were kilts (19%), scenery (18%), Scottish music (10%), countryside/rurality (8%), cold/bad weather (7%) and nice people (7%) (Figure 3.3 below).

Figure 3.3: Images or phrases that come to mind when thinking about Scotland

Q What images or phrases best sums up Scotland for you?

Base: All who know something about Scotland (628), Fieldwork dates: September 21 - October 22, 2006
Source: Ipsos MORI

3.10 These findings were very much reflected among the other audiences. However, the business audience also mentioned whisky (10%), football/snooker (7%) and the developed economy (7%).

3.11 Again these findings are consistent with results from the above-mentioned British Council survey in which kilts similarly emerged as the number one image associated with Scotland. The other top responses in that study were whisky (15%), bagpipes (11%), highlands/mountains (10%), and cold/wet weather (6%).

Knowledge and perceptions of Scotland

Knowledge of Scottish places

3.12 Even people who claim to know something about Scotland have a very basic knowledge. Of this group, as many as 81% were unable to name any places in Scotland. Focusing on those who did give a response, 6% named Edinburgh and 5% named Glasgow. Other responses, mentioned by very small proportions, were Aberdeen (1%), Dundee, (1%) and Inverness (1%). Two per cent incorrectly selected London as a place in Scotland. Mention of Edinburgh and Glasgow was at its highest among respondents in Hong Kong (16% and 10% respectively).

3.13 The business people surveyed were slightly more knowledgeable about Scottish places than the public, with 12% mentioning Edinburgh, 9% mentioning Glasgow and 3% naming Aberdeen.

Knowledge of Scottish people and products

3.14 The public audience were asked if they could name any famous Scottish people and products. Beginning with famous people, 84% were unable to name anyone at all. Among those giving an answer the most common response was William Wallace, mentioned by 2%. Other responses included several members of the royal family and footballers who are not actually Scottish.

3.15 However, the public had greater success in naming Scottish products. As Table 3.3 shows, 22% mentioned whisky, 14% mentioned kilts/tartan and 6% cashmere. There was variation by province in these findings, with people in Hong Kong and Beijing generally being more able to name products than those in Taiyuan. There were, however, some exceptions to this pattern - for example, only 10% of those in Hong Kong named whisky.

3.16 Across the provinces, the proportion who could name any product increased with level of education, and RMB income (see Table 3.3 below).

Table 3.3: Knowledge of Scottish products by province, education and RMB income

What products can you think of that are made in Scotland

Source: Ipsos MORI

Knowledge of the Scottish flag

3.17 The audiences who were interviewed face to face, namely the students and some of the business people, were presented with 6 flags, including the Saltire, and were asked to identify which of these is the flag of Scotland. Very few were able to provide a correct response.

Ratings of aspects of life in Scotland

3.18 As well as being asked about their knowledge of Scotland, members of the public and business audiences who knew something about Scotland were asked to rate various aspects of life in Scotland, including the transport system, education/skill level of the workforce, competitiveness of the economy and overall standard of living. Despite their low levels of knowledge about the country, most felt able to provide ratings on these measures and perceptions were positive overall.

3.19 Looking at the results for the public, 62% rated the quality of the transport system as 'very high' or 'high', while a further 30% rated it as 'average' and just 5% rated it as 'low' or 'very low' (see Figure 3.4 below).

3.20 Similar results were given for the quality of education/skill level of the workforce. Two-thirds rated this as 'very high' or 'high', 27% rated it as 'average' and 3% as 'low' or 'very low'.

3.21 The competitiveness of the economy emerged as the least highly rated aspect. Whereas half of all respondents rated this as 'very high' or 'high', a significant proportion, 40%, thought it was average and 9% thought it was 'low' or 'very low'.

3.22 Finally, the overall standard of living in Scotland was generally considered to be good, with 71% rating it as 'high' or 'very high', compared with a quarter (26%) who rated it as average and just 2% as low.

Figure 3.4: Ratings of aspects of life in Scotland

Q How would you rate Scotland on…?

Base: All who know something about Scotland (628), Fieldwork dates: September 21 - October 22, 2006
Source: Ipsos MORI

3.23 In terms of subgroup variation, the only notable finding to emerge was that those living in Hong Kong consistently rated Scotland lower than those in the other provinces. This may reflect the fact that those in Hong Kong were also the group with the lowest self-assessed knowledge of Scotland.

Table 3.4: Ratings of aspects of life in Scotland, by province

I'm going to read out a list of statements. Please tell me how you would rate Scotland on each one

Source: Ipsos MORI

3.24 The ratings accorded to the four aspects among the business audience were very much in line with those for the public as a whole.

« Previous | Contents | Next »