New Image for America Begins at Home

In what ways does anti-Americanism hurt business?

Tourism is down substantially from pre-9/11 levels, and that is hurting the United States economy to the tune of billions of dollars. Our share of world international tourism is 6 percent. It was 7.4 percent. Travel from Brazil is down 43 percent, and that's primarily because of the visa problem.

We know that American brands are becoming less popular. . . . In G-8 countries, 18 percent of the general population say they try to avoid American brands. In marketing we know that behavior inevitably follows attitude. And so we think it is in the best interest of business to address this problem.

You mentioned that part of the reaction is to U.S. policy. That's not something your group can influence much. How do you deal with that?

If we can, as a business group, shift the discussion from policy to business to the private sector to civil society to culture to education to learning, we think there is a great deal that can be done outside of policy.

But isn't there a ceiling on the impact you can have as long as people are reacting to policy?

I suppose so, but then the alternative would be to do nothing, and that doesn't seem like a good idea. I also believe that Washington listens to business. I think maybe eventually the business community can influence policy.

What else can you do?

Try to amplify the good qualities about America that are still admired around the world. Research is very clear that if visitors, whether they are students or tourists or workers, can actually get into the United States and spend time here, their opinion of America and Americans is dramatically changed. . . . It's incumbent upon the government to promote tourism.

What's your opinion of the Bush administration's efforts to improve America's image?

In the second term, there was recognition given to the need, which was a positive. During the first term there was not even acknowledgment that there was a problem.

Do you think the administration is succeeding?

Not yet. I think this is a long, long-term problem.

Is it possible that some of the problems you've identified are not just misperceptions about the United States, but are true?

Sure. In marketing, what you do if a brand is in trouble is you get all of the perceptions and you put all of the positive perceptions over here and you say, "How can we amplify those?" Then you divide the negatives into two piles: Negative perceptions that are true -- you have to change the product. Negative perceptions that are not true -- you have to clarify the communication.

So our strategy is change the product. Make Americans less arrogant, better world citizens. Maybe more than 17 percent of us should have passports. Maybe we should get out and see the world. So that's the part we're trying to change. And then the visa and the entry policies. That's changing the product. The market will decide.