City Branding: caso studio della percezione della città di Hangzhou attraverso Twitter nell'anno 2015 e 2016.

Place branding theories and practices have been gaining momentum over the past decades. In the context of globalization and increasingly integrated economic systems, given the growing global competition places have to face in both their external and domestic markets, it is relevant to take into account branding techniques. In particular, city branding is a rising phenomenon that offers the possibility to enhance economic development and to attract high-quality human capital, tourism and investments. This is possible through the implementation of marketing strategies in order to build a strong and positive reputation of a city. In this process, international perceptions also need to be taken into consideration, as they are crucial in the overall reputation of a city. In this framework, the present study aims to offer an overview of the image of a Chinese city. Despite China's increasing international role, there is surprisingly little literature that explores the relation between China and place branding. Specifically, this research will be conducted through the case study of the city of Hangzhou, taking into exam the image it tries to project internationally and the international perceptions and actual public opinion in social media discussion. The main purpose of this study is to determine to what degree the branding is effectively carried out, or in other words, to what degree the projected image matches the reality of the people. Therefore, in addition to analyzing the main branding strategies implemented in order to enhance an appealing international image, this research will attempt to investigate their actual effectiveness by questioning the external perceptions in social media discussion.