Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 32, No. 4, pp.

1039–1055, 2005
Ó 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Printed in Great Britain
0160-7383/$30.00
www.elsevier.com/locate/atoures
doi:10.1016/j.annals.2005.02.001

MEDIA EFFECTS ON IMAGE

The Case of Tibet
Julien Mercille
University of California, USA

Abstract: Using media effects research as a theoretical framework, this paper examines
empirically the impact of media representations—such as movies, guidebooks, and maga-
zines—on destination image. Past research has focused on either representations or image,
but rarely on both. Based on a systematic comparison of the former with the latter, it is
argued that the impact of media representations on image falls between a strong and
negotiated influence. The analysis is based on data collected from tourists in Lhasa, Tibet.
The paper documents tourism issues in a renowned but little studied destination. Keywords:
media effects, destination image, movies and other media, Tibet, popular cul-
ture. Ó 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Résumé: Effets médiatiques sur l’image: le cas du Tibet. Employant comme cadre théori-
que la recherche sur les effets médiatiques, cet article examine empiriquement l’impact
des représentations médiatiques (comme les films, magazines et guides touristiques) sur
les images de destination. Jusqu’à maintenant, la recherche a été concentrée sur les représen-
tations ou l’image, mais rarement sur les deux à la fois. En les comparant systématiquement,
il est avancé que l’impact des représentations médiatiques sur l’image se situe entre une influ-
ence forte et négociée. L’analyse s’appuie sur des données recueillies auprès de touristes à
Lhassa au Tibet. L’article décrit des questions de tourisme à une destination renommée mais
peu étudiée. Mots-clés: effets médiatiques, image de destination, films et autres médias,
Tibet, culture populaire. Ó 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

INTRODUCTION
Researchers have identified several factors shaping the images that
tourists hold of destinations. Gartner (1993), building on the work
of others (Gunn 1988; Phelps 1986), has provided a useful typology
summarizing the various ‘‘formation agents’’ influencing destination
image. Those range from traditional forms of advertising and popular
culture to friends’ advice and actual visitation. This article focuses on
popular culture media—an ‘‘autonomous’’ agent under Gartner’s
(1993) terminology—and its impact on destination image. The study
will analyze the effect of the visual and written content of movies,
guidebooks and magazines on the imagination that tourists have of a

Julien Mercille (Department of Geography, University of California-Los Angeles, Los

Angeles, CA 90095-1524 USA. Email <mercille@ucla.edu>) studies mass media issues, as
related to tourism and to US politics. Previously, he worked as a cultural and ecotourism
advisor in Tanzania, more specifically with the Masai people. He is now pursuing a
dissertation on the US military-industrial complex.

1039
1040 MEDIA EFFECTS

destination; the term ‘‘representation’’ will be used throughout to

refer to such content.
It has been recognized that popular culture and other forms of imag-
ery have a significant impact on destination image. For instance, in the
social sciences literature, Urry argued that the tourist gaze ‘‘is con-
structed and sustained through a variety of non-tourist practices, such
as film, TV, literature, magazines, records and videos’’ (1990:3; see also
Morgan and Pritchard 1998). In the marketing literature, researchers
maintain that representations shape image, having described this pro-
cess through several typologies (Butler 1990; Gartner 1993; Gunn 1988;
Phelps 1986). However (and paradoxically), there have been few at-
tempts to study empirically this phenomenon. Such an analysis is
accomplished in this paper through a comparison of specific mass
media artifacts (movies, books, and magazines reaching a wide
audience) about Tibet and tourists’ images. Questionnaires are used
to describe the latter, which is then compared to the mass media
productions tourists had consulted.
The overall theoretical framework underpinning this study is that of
mass media effects research. Effects research analyzes the impact and
influence of the media on audiences ranging from individuals to soci-
eties, and is an important body of literature in communications studies,
encompassing a wide range of methodologies. Its principal ‘‘tradi-
tions’’ range from empiricist to critical (including Marxism and literary
criticism), to ‘‘uses and gratifications’’ approaches (Rosengren,
Wenner and Palmgreen 1985), to reception analysis (Ang 1985;
Morley 1986) and cultural studies (Kellner 1995). For reviews of
approaches, see Jensen and Rosengren (1990), McQuail (1984) and
Wolton (1993).
Those various traditions can be placed on a continuum describing
the strength of the media in shaping an audience’s ideas, feelings,
and motivations (Ravault 1986). At one end of the continuum are stud-
ies arguing that the media are extremely powerful in convincing and
indoctrinating the ‘‘public’’, conceived of as a mass of passive recep-
tors. This is often referred to as the bullet theory. According to this
paradigm, prominent mainly before and around World War II,
Communication was seen as a magic bullet that transferred ideas or
feelings or knowledge or motivations almost automatically from one
mind to another. . .. In the early days of communication study, the
audience was considered relatively passive and defenseless, and com-
munication could shoot something into them (Schramm 1971:6).
At the other end of the continuum are studies emphasizing the
power of audiences to make their own meanings and to interpret
media messages in ways opposed to the intended ones. According to this
perspective, audiences evade social control and manipulation, resisting
domination by powerful media interest groups (Fiske 1989a,b).
Other schools of thought fall between those two extreme points of
view. Hall (1980) presents a synthesis offering a balance between
manipulating and popular resistance theories in his seminal paper
‘‘Encoding/Decoding’’. He argues that the decoding of media
 JULIEN MERCILLE 1041

messages by audiences can occur in multiple ways, which he groups

into three hypothetical situations, reflecting the above continuum.
First, audiences may decode media messages ‘‘in terms of the refer-
ence code in which [they have] been encoded’’ by producers, the view-
ers operating inside the dominant code; second, a ‘‘negotiated’’
position may arise when audiences’ interpretation of messages mixes
opposition and adaptation to them; and third, audiences may interpret
media messages in ways totally oppositional to the encoded ones, sub-
verting intended meanings.
The theoretical framework of effects research, along with the analyt-
ical grid provided by Hall, will guide this paper’s analyses. Media pro-
ductions consulted by tourists prior to their trips will be compared to
their imagination/perceptions of Tibet in order to assess their congru-
ence (or lack thereof). A strong congruence would suggest that media
representations have a strong effect on image (Hall’s first hypothesis);
a lack of congruence would support the hypothesis that the media has
no or a very limited effect (Hall’s third hypothesis); situations between
those two extremes would suggest a negotiated relationship between
tourists’ and media representations (Hall’s second hypothesis).
Scholars have often assumed, implicitly or explicitly, that representa-
tions influence image. However, most research has focused on only
one or the other, while examinations of both and assessments of their
congruence are lacking. Studies concerned with the former (coming
mainly from the social sciences) have documented how destinations
are portrayed in various materials, but neglected to assess tourists’
actual perceptions. Various types of materials have been examined,
including brochures (Adams 1984; Cohen 1995; Dilley 1986; Selwyn
1993; Silver 1993), travelogues (Dann 1996), postcards (Mellinger
1994), advertisements (Britton 1979; Goss 1993; Hughes 1992; Prit-
chard and Morgan 2000), magazines (Kingsbury and Brunn 2003), lit-
erature (Seaton 1998), and movies (Morgan and Pritchard 1998). Such
studies typically show which aspects of a destination are selected, omit-
ted, and distorted in those materials. For example, Silver (1993) dis-
cusses the image of the Third World conveyed in brochures. He
writes that most tourists’ ‘‘understandings about indigenous peoples
seem to derive most immediately and explicitly from images marketed
in travel magazines, advertisements, and brochures’’ (1993:303). How-
ever, little empirical evidence is provided to support these claims.
Moreover, the readership of the brochures considered is not men-
tioned, which would have helped to assess their significance.
Conversely, the destination image literature has measured tourists’
perceptions, but neglected to analyze representations. Nevertheless,
it often assumes that the latter significantly shape the former. This
assumption is most apparent when recommendations are given (in sev-
eral marketing studies) about the ways in which the projected image of
a destination should be modified to improve tourists’ image of that
place. For example, Baloglu argues that understanding such images
can be useful ‘‘in delivering appropriate promotional messages,
improving and correcting particular traveler groups’ relative images,
and tailoring promotion strategy to specific groups’’ (1997:231). In
1042 MEDIA EFFECTS

sum, few studies examine both representations and perceptions empir-

ically, an undertaking often incidental to a larger research focus
(Herbert 1996; Laxson 1991; Mellinger 1994; O’Barr 1994; but see
Kim and Richardson 2003).
The case of Tibet reflects those general trends. Several studies dis-
cuss how it has been depicted in travel writing (Bishop 1989), cinema
and the media (Bishop 1998, 2000; Norbu 1998; Schell 2000; Scofield
1993), literature (Bishop 2001; Hutt 1996), Chinese propaganda
(Barnett 2001; Heberer 2001), and discourses of the Tibetan exile com-
munity (Barnett 2001; Huber 2001). Those writings show that Tibet
and its people have been portrayed as idealized, nonviolent, pristine,
religious, and primitive (Barnett 2001; Bishop 1989, 2000, 2001; He-
berer 2001; Huber 2001; Hutt 1996; Korom 1997; Lopez 1994; Norbu
1998, 2001; Schell 2000). However, tourists’ perceptions have been
neglected, with one exception found in Minca (1994). This lack of
research is paradoxical, since Tibet has long generated endless pas-
sions in the West; perhaps this state of affairs can be explained by
the relative difficulty of conducting research in this somewhat closed
and remote region.

MEDIA EFFECTS ON DESTINATION IMAGE

In summer 2002 in Lhasa (Tibet’s capital city), 600 self-administered
questionnaires (in English and Japanese) were collected from interna-
tional tourists (including residents of Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau,
but not mainland China). The data collection took place almost every
day from early June to mid-July, in the high season for tourism.
Respondents were asked to participate in the survey on the street, in
restaurants, and in hotel lobbies. Questionnaires included two sets of
open-ended questions, preferred over structured ones in an effort
not to impose preconceived categories of analysis on answers, a prob-
lem in much of the literature (Echtner and Ritchie 1991).
First, tourists were asked through which sources of information they
had heard or read about Tibet prior to their arrival. Second, they were
asked about their perceptions of the place before arriving, and how
these had changed since their arrival. This second set of questions
was broken down into three categories: ‘‘people of Tibet’’, ‘‘nature
and environment’’, and ‘‘other’’. Changes in perceptions following ar-
rival for the first and second categories were relatively few, and hence
could often not be considered for analysis; however, in this respect, the
third category led to some of the most interesting findings of the study.
The sample used in this article is a subset (N = 397) of the total sam-
ple. Only first-time tourists are considered, as previous visitation can
influence perceptions of destinations (Fakeye and Crompton 1991).
Questionnaires in Japanese had to be removed, as their translation
modified too much the question about the consulted sources of infor-
mation. The sample includes 54% females and 46% males, from 13 to
77 years old; 28% Americans, 19% Asians, 37% Europeans and 16%
from other countries; 40% independent tourists and 60% in tour
 JULIEN MERCILLE 1043

groups. This sample is judged to be representative of the total number

of tourists going to Tibet every year based on official statistics and
the author’s survey of Lhasa hotels, with the exceptions that Japanese
are under-represented, as are tour groups (who often did not have
time to complete the questionnaire). Following Reilly (1990) and
Echtner and Ritchie (1993), responses were coded into similar catego-
ries and frequencies were recorded for each. A number of responses
are idiosyncratic but it is the researcher’s role to classify them into
meaningful categories. There is no space here for an indepth analysis
of the differences between various types of tourists, but such informa-
tion will be given where interesting differences occurred, recognizing
that tourists are not homogeneous, even if dominant trends are often
present.

Tourists’ Image of Tibet

Table 1 shows tourists’ perceptions. Prior to arrival, the ‘‘People of
Tibet’’ were imagined to be mainly ‘‘friendly’’ (for 41% of tourists)
and ‘‘religious’’ (32%). Tibetans appear to have a very good reputation
abroad, as only 3% mentioned a negative perception prior to their
arrival. Interestingly, as many as 59% of Western backpackers believed
Tibetans to be friendly prior to arrival, which may reflect the desire of

Table 1. Tourists’ Perceptions of Tibet (N = 397)

Perceptions Tourists (%)a

People of Tibet (before arrival)

Friendly 41
Religious 32
Poor 13
Negative perception 3
Nature and environment (before arrival)
Cold/harsh/dry/barren 30
Mountainous 26
Beautiful 26
Clean/pristine 13
Perception of the Chinese (before arrival)
Neutral 13
Negative 15
Positive 1
Total 29
Surprises following arrival
More Chinese 20
Less Chinese 7
More Western/modern 33
Less Western/modern 2

a
Percentages do not add up to 100%, as a tourist could mention more than one perception.
1044 MEDIA EFFECTS

many to enter into authentic contact with the visited Other. The
‘‘Nature and environment’’ were imagined to be beautiful, mountain-
ous, cold, harsh, dry and barren (only 6% imagined it to be relatively
warm, humid, and with significant vegetation). A few also expected
an environmentally clean and pristine place (13%), a perception that
supports empirically the suggestion that one image of Tibet that has
developed in recent years is that of a pre-Mao ecological paradise (Lo-
pez 1994). In order to attract support for their cause, such an image
has even been reinforced by Tibetans in exile, and by the Dalai Lama
himself in books and speeches (Barnett 2001; Huber 2001).
The category ‘‘other’’ arguably revealed the most interesting find-
ings. Two main issues were mentioned and discussed: the question of
the Chinese invasion/presence in Tibet and the level of develop-
ment/modernization of the place. A fair number of tourists were aware
that the Chinese were involved in Tibet prior to their arrival (29%, a
significant number considering that several more people were proba-
bly also aware of this situation but did not feel it was safe to discuss such
matters on the questionnaire). Moreover, tourists had overwhelmingly
negative views about this situation: 50% of those who addressed the
issue saw it in a negative way, as opposed to 3% who were positive about
it. Interestingly, the Chinese question is mainly a characteristic of West-
erners’ imagination. Indeed, 34% were aware of the Chinese presence
in Tibet prior to arrival, compared to only 9% of non-Westerners. This
seems to reflect the Tibetan government-in-exile’s strategy since the
late 80s to lobby Western, rather than non-Western, countries for sup-
port in its struggle for autonomy (Barnett 2001).
More can be learned about tourists’ ideas on Sinification as well as
development and modernization by examining how their perceptions
changed after arrival. Following their arrival, a significant number
(20%) were surprised to find even more Chinese influence than they
had expected (as opposed to 7% who found less influence than
expected). A correlation test (lower than .000) revealed that those
who were aware of the Chinese presence in Tibet before arriving were
more likely (than those unaware) to be surprised in such a way by the
degree of Sinification. Therefore, it seems that although tourists are
aware of the Chinese involvement in Tibet, and are often negative
about it, they underestimate its intensity.
Furthermore, 33% found a much higher level of development/mod-
ernization/Westernization than expected (this includes infrastructure,
transport, facilities, people’s dress, way of life, etc.). This number is
contrasted to the 2% who found, on the contrary, a less modern place
(more traditional) than they had imagined. This suggests that a tradi-
tional image of Tibet clearly dominates tourists’ imagination of the
place. One finding worthy of note is that as many as 47% of tourists
from Hong Kong found more modernization/development than
expected. This could be explained by the fact that residents of Hong
Kong have been exposed to a greater extent to the Chinese discourse
about Tibet, which asserts, among other things, that it is an underde-
veloped, primitive region of China; and thus needs to be modernized,
justifying Chinese involvement (Heberer 2001).
 JULIEN MERCILLE 1045

In sum, most tourists imagine Tibet to be a beautiful mountainous,

cold, harsh and dry environment where friendly and religious people
live. This land and people also face some negative Chinese influence,
but it appears that this impact is underestimated. Many are surprised to
see that the place is more developed and modernized than they had
expected. To what extent do those perceptions correspond to the
Tibet presented in various media productions consulted by tourists?

Media Representations
Tourists were asked which materials they had consulted prior to their
trip. This analysis focuses on the most popular ones. The first are a
Hollywood movie (‘‘Seven Years in Tibet’’, consulted by 43% of
respondents) and a guidebook (Lonely Planet, 27%); next, another
Hollywood movie (‘‘Kundun’’, 11%) and a magazine (National
Geographic, 10%) (the next most popular was the book Seven Years in
Tibet—on which the film is based—with 6%, after which no other mate-
rial was consulted by more than 3% of tourists). These findings clearly
indicate the importance of the mass media, both visual and written,
in exposing the public to images of foreign lands and people.
Following Rose (2001), qualitative and quantitative methodologies
will be used to find out what kind of Tibet is depicted by those media
artifacts. It will be readily apparent that such representations corre-
spond, to a great extent, to tourists’ images, a congruence on which
the next section will elaborate. The two movies are analyzed through
a description of key scenes and themes as well as running time of
certain features, with some attention given to their production and
reception by scholars and critics.
‘‘Seven Years in Tibet’’ (1997, directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud) is
based on the true story of Heinrich Harrer, an Austrian mountain clim-
ber who met the Dalai Lama in the 40s after a long trek across the
Himalayas and Tibet. The depiction of Tibetans as friendly and reli-
gious is central to the movie, its main theme being the lifelong friend-
ship that develops between them and foreign adventurers. A synopsis
issued by the film’s production company states that ‘‘Through their
relationship, Harrer experiences the kind of selfless love a father feels
for a child and the emotional transformation which began on his way
to Lhasa is completed in his friendship with the Dalai Lama’’ (Schell
2000:108). Moreover, Harrer’s fellow climber marries a Tibetan
woman.
‘‘Seven Years in Tibet’’ also emphasizes religiosity: several colorful
ceremonies are shown, and both monks and the laity are depicted as
deeply devout. Tibetan scholar Jamyang Norbu has even deplored that
‘‘Nearly every Tibetan in the film seems to be a potential dharma tea-
cher’’. At one point, this Buddhist religiosity is merged with environ-
mentalism: when Harrer builds the Dalai Lama’s movie theater, the
Tibetan coolies refuse to continue digging the soil because this kills
earth worms. The Dalai Lama then informs Harrer that ‘‘Tibetans
believe all living creatures were their mothers in a past life. So we
1046 MEDIA EFFECTS

must. . .never, never harm anything that lives’’. The picture con-
structed here is so strong that Norbu denounced the scene as ‘‘proba-
bly the most ridiculous’’ in the film (1998:22). The cold, harsh, and
mountainous physical landscape is also clearly shown in the film, which
begins with a mountaineering expedition in the high Himalayas, under
difficult conditions. Harrer gets injured, his friend risks his life on a
cliff, and the team faces a blizzard, a snow storm, and an avalanche,
forcing the expedition to abandon the quest for the summit. Overall,
mountaineering and trekking scenes occupy 16% of the movie’s time.
‘‘Kundun’’ (1997, directed by Martin Scorsese) is essentially a
biography of the Dalai Lama, with heavy emphasis on religion: 74% of
the film’s running time displays religiosity (ceremonies, Tibetans
praying, monks) and 52% shows the Dalai Lama himself. The film opens
with the words ‘‘In a wartorn Asia, Tibetans have practiced non-violence
for over a thousand years’’, and was acclaimed for its cinematography,
which presents dry, barren, wide open spaces and snow-capped
mountains.
Both movies were made in part to support Tibetan independence.
Kundun’s production involved prominent members of the Tibetan
government in exile, not to mention the personal contribution of
the Dalai Lama, who met several times with Scorsese to discuss the
movie and give advice on the script (Smith 1998). Both productions
employed an important cast of Tibetans (the Dalai Lama’s sister played
in ‘‘Seven Years in Tibet’’), many of whom understood the political
message involved (Schell 2000). Accordingly, both give an important
place to the Chinese invasion of Tibet, juxtaposing peaceful and
friendly Tibetans to ruthless Chinese communists. ‘‘Seven Years in
Tibet’’ shows Tibetans using yaks, bows, and arrows against the
Chinese’ automatic rifles and heavy artillery, leading to a one-sided
massacre. The destruction brought about by the Chinese is further dis-
played in both movies with the forced killings of monks by their own
pupils and by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, as well as the
bombing of monasteries, houses, and villages.
However, the modernization brought to Tibet through Sinification is
omitted in both productions. Whereas ‘‘Seven Years in Tibet’’ and
‘‘Kundun’’ allocated, respectively, 22% and 32% of their time to the
question of the invasion, they do not show any development, which
in reality, followed immediately. In the 50s, the Lhasa People’s Hospi-
tal was opened and hydroelectric stations, factories, and roads were
built. By the early 70s, coal mines, chemical, and machinery plants were
established, and most counties had motor vehicle transport (Karan
1973). By the early 90s, ‘‘Lhasa had traffic lights, the entire city had
been electrified, an international airport had opened, telecommunica-
tions reached virtually anywhere in the world, and a Holiday Inn (com-
plete with CNN and yak burgers) was offering reservations through an
800 number in the United States’’ (Schell 2000:269). Those observa-
tions are not intended to downplay the ruthlessness of the invasion
of Tibet, nor to suggest that the forced modernization serves as justifi-
cation. The point is simply to examine what was (or was not) shown to
tourists before their arrival.
 JULIEN MERCILLE 1047

Following Rose (2001) and Lutz and Collins (1993), the guidebook
and magazine can be usefully analyzed through content analysis of
their pictures. This method can, to a certain extent, protect against
an unconscious search for those aspects of the latter which confirm
one’s conclusion. The coding categories reflect the specific aspects
of interest to this paper. For each picture, it was recorded whether it
showed religion (e.g., monks, monasteries), Tibetans doing non-reli-
gious activities, mountains, plains/flat landscape with no mountains,
Chinese presence/Sinification, and Westernization/modernization.
Some perceptions are more difficult to categorize using content anal-
ysis and so were left out, such as the friendliness of people and the
cold/harsh, clean/pristine, and beautiful environment.
The Lonely Planet (Mayhew, Bellezza, Wheeler and Taylor 1999) is a
350-page guidebook giving detailed information about Tibet. Most
tourists do not read everything in it, but rather consult the specific
sections related to the visited places, and they are more likely to glance
at the pictures and main headlines than at any particular part of the
text. Therefore, what follows focuses on pictures rather than on a
detailed reading of the text (in summer 2002, a slightly updated 5th
edition was issued, with results remaining essentially the same, so those
for the 4th edition are given here). Table 2 shows the importance of
various themes depicted by photographs (85 in total, all in color). Reli-
giosity is important (68% of pictures) and the landscape depicted is
overwhelmingly mountainous (32%). The absences are also significant:
only two pictures show signs of modernization (trucks and Tibetans in
Western dress), and only one shows something or someone recogniz-
ably Chinese, while in reality a large portion of Lhasa has been Sinified
(accordingly, this surprised many tourists, as seen above). In short, the
guidebook’s pictures emphasize Tibet’s religious character and moun-
tainous landscape, and erase the influence of the Chinese and modern-
ization/development.
These findings are further supported by the main headlines and sec-
tions of the text. For instance, Tibetan travel’s top ten lists first ‘‘The
Tibetan people’’, as well as five other activities/attractions related to

Table 2. Pictures in the Lonely Planet and National Geographic

Themes Lonely Planeta National

Represented (% of pictures) Geographica
(% of pictures)

Religion 68 34
Tibetans doing a 5 43
non-religious activity
Mountains 32 23
Plains with no mountains 1 2
Something/someone Chinese 1 5
Westernization/Modernization 2 7

a
Percentages do not add up to 100% as each picture was coded for the six categories.
1048 MEDIA EFFECTS

religion (such as monasteries) and two related to trekking. The guide-

book offers the picture of a predominantly religious and purely ‘‘Tibe-
tan’’ land (as opposed to Chinese and other ethnic groups), and
adopts a predominantly negative stance towards Signification: in the
‘‘Pet peeves’’, three are related to the Chinese.
National Geographic has published many articles about Tibet for many
years. Its effect on tourists’ images is less precise than other represen-
tations, since it is not possible to know which specific piece(s) were
consulted. Therefore, all feature articles (six in total) published specif-
ically about Tibet from 1980 to summer 2002 were selected, with con-
sideration given to both their pictures and text. One focused on a
religious ceremony, another on nature and conservation, two on devel-
opment and modernization, and two on nomads. A content analysis of
their images reveals the same basic trends as in the other media arti-
facts (Table 2). Religion is important, with more than a third of the
photographs showing religious objects, monuments, or ceremonies.
Compared to the guidebook, more space is allocated to non-religious
activities (43%), but this is attributed to the relative emphasis on no-
mads and herders (photographs not religious in character, but that
preserve a traditional image); mountains (23%) also predominate over
plains (2%). Predictably, modernization and Sinification are down-
played. Although two articles focus on these topics, only 7% of all pho-
tographs show the former (cars, Western dress, mechanized tools) and
5% the latter (Chinese people, army trucks). Therefore, just as in the
previously analyzed artifacts, it is a rather traditional and non-Western-
ized Tibet which is presented to readers of the magazine (although not
as overwhelmingly as in the other representations).

Congruence between Media Representations and Image

The preceding sections showed that in general terms, media repre-
sentations correspond to tourists’ images. It is important to elaborate
on the nature of this congruence, to obtain a more detailed under-
standing of the effects of the former on the latter. Statistical correla-
tions tested whether the correspondence alluded to so far constitutes
an ecological fallacy. For instance, if those tourists who held the image
components listed in Table 1 were mostly not those who had consulted
the most popular representations examined above, it could hardly be
concluded that such representations had an impact on tourists’ imag-
ination. Consultation of each media representation was correlated with
the mention of each perception (for instance, is watching, say, ‘‘Kun-
dun’’ correlated with holding the perception that Tibetans are reli-
gious?). A correlation coefficient (phi) was obtained for each
representation-perception pair (interaction effects were not significant
enough to be considered). All correlations were rather low
(phi < .200). This could suggest that representations had only a limited
impact on image, and hence that the analysis so far committed an eco-
logical fallacy. However, it is argued below that this is not the case, be-
cause contemporary representations of Tibet are homogeneous. But
 JULIEN MERCILLE 1049

first, a word on the credibility of sources of information and message

repetition.
Although the credibility of sources of information is usually dis-
cussed in relation to the type/format of image formation agents—in
particular whether they are organic or induced (Gartner 1993; Gunn
1988)—here it is difficult to compare source credibility in such a
way, since they are all organic or autonomous. Moreover, the format
of the representation (a movie vs. a guidebook) does not seem to make
a significant difference on the extent to which a representation shapes
destination image. Nevertheless, credibility can also be assessed by
examining whether the total number of sources consulted has an im-
pact on tourists’ perceptions: does repetition of a message increase
its credibility, or does it shape image to a greater extent? This was
tested with the gamma coefficient, used to evaluate the correlation
between the total number of sources consulted and the mention of a
given perception. For instance, is a tourist who has watched the two
movies and read the guidebook (for a total of three representations
consulted) more likely to imagine Tibetans as, say, friendly than a tour-
ist who consulted only the guidebook? The results suggest that this is
indeed the case: several perceptions (half of those listed in Table 1)
were more likely to be held by tourists who had consulted a greater
number of representations (at a significance level of 5%). Therefore,
based on the (limited) evidence available, it appears that message rep-
etition increases the impact of media representations on image.
Returning to the weak correlations between representations and
perceptions, it is argued that this is explained by the homogeneity of
contemporary media productions about Tibet in popular culture. In
short, one basic picture of Tibet is circulated by the many representa-
tions of it. This is so because the majority of such artifacts are variations
on the Shangri-La image first popularized by James Hilton’s novel Lost
Horizon (1933) and by Frank Capra’s 1937 film version of it. These
crystalized the Shangri-La image that is associated today with Tibet
(Bishop 1989, 2000; Hutt 1996; Schell 2000). However, this is not to
deny variability, especially outside popular culture (Barnett 2001;
Bishop 1989, 1998, 2000, 2001; Dodin and Rather 2001; Huber 2001;
Lopez 1994).
Such homogeneity is also demonstrated empirically by the above
analysis: ‘‘Seven Years in Tibet’’, the Lonely Planet, ‘‘Kundun’’ and
National Geographic are very similar when compared along the key crite-
ria considered here. This also seems to apply to the other sources of
information mentioned on questionnaires, as far as the author knows
them. In sum, tourists were exposed to a similar picture of Tibet,
explaining the weakly significant statistical results. Therefore, it can
be stated, by way of preliminary and general conclusion, that represen-
tations and destination image are congruent, suggesting relatively
strong media effects, which supports Hall’s first hypothesis (audiences
decode messages in terms of the reference code in which they have
been encoded by producers). Indeed, the various components of tour-
ists’ images were found to be predominant in the representations they
consulted (which makes the claim that the latter influenced the former
1050 MEDIA EFFECTS

more persuasive than if image components were negligible in the

media artifacts).
In the two movies, the predominance of various features was assessed
through running times and a description of major themes. In the
guidebook and magazine, this was assessed with the help of opposite
binary pairs (for example, mountains vs plains), as seen most clearly
in the content analysis of pictures (Table 2). Such pairs allow for a mea-
surement of the relative dominance of a given feature by comparing its
prominence with its opposite. For example, comparing the relative
importance of mountains with flat lands highlighted the fact that the
former were not only present in the representations, but had a pre-
dominant place in them, clearly outweighing flat landscape. This
makes for a more persuasive claim that specific aspects of each repre-
sentation influenced tourists’ imagination. The congruence also seems
to hold for all perceptions related to the Chinese question; views
related to modernization and Westernization; the friendly and reli-
gious character of Tibetans; and the mountainous, cold, and harsh
environment. Some aspects related to the Chinese and modernization
questions were not predominant in the literal sense, but rather
through their relative absence. The predominance of some percep-
tions in media artifacts is slightly more difficult to assess (clean/pris-
tine nature, beautiful environment, and poverty). Nevertheless, a
good case could be made that these were clearly shown.
However, media effects should not be overstated, as some observa-
tions suggest a ‘‘negotiated’’ or even an ‘‘oppositional’’ impact (Hall’s
second and third hypotheses). A case in point is that individual tour-
ists’ images rarely contain every predominant feature shown in repre-
sentations. For instance, although ‘‘Seven Years in Tibet’’ depicted
Tibetans as religious and friendly, the Chinese as violent, and the land-
scape as mountainous; individual tourists remembered only a few, not
all, of these features. This attests to a partial impact and shows that
individuals make their own meanings out of media productions, and
thus should not be conceived of as passive receivers. Furthermore,
some tourists held images that were clearly opposed to the representa-
tions they had consulted (for instance, a few imagined Tibetans as lazy
or aggressive before their arrival). This would support Hall’s third
hypothesis (audiences may interpret media messages in ways opposi-
tional to the encoded messages).
What accounts for negotiated and oppositional readings? One expla-
nation suggested by reception analysis lies in individuals’ different cul-
tural and social backgrounds. In a nutshell, each person interprets
messages differently given the cultural and social milieus from which
s/he comes. For instance, throughout the paper, differences in percep-
tions among various types of tourists (backpackers vs tour groups; West-
erners vs non-Westerners) were noted, illustrating that each one of
them filters projected images in contrasting ways. Audience ethno-
graphy is one way to study such diversity, as are more positivist method-
ologies which have focused on sociodemographic characteristics
(Baloglu 1997; Baloglu and McCleary 1999). Similarly, views of nature
or of a foreign country vary over time and across space. For instance, a
 JULIEN MERCILLE 1051

high altitude mountainous landscape can today be seen as ‘‘beautiful’’

by most Westerners, but this perception has varied historically and geo-
graphically (Bishop 1989). Put another way, imagination is influenced
by popular culture and by other types of representations and wider
discourses than those specifically related to Tibet. For example, it is
possible that the perception that Tibetans were ‘‘poor’’ arose from
the influence of wider discourses about development and the Third
World which situate Tibet in a group of countries called developing
or under-developed (and hence poor). These discourses also shape
ideas about foreign lands and people, pointing to the limits of a study
focusing exclusively on media artifacts specific to one destination.

CONCLUSION
This article attempted to clarify the influence of the mass media on
destination image by describing empirically the congruence between
the two within the theoretical framework of effects research. This fills
an important gap in the tourism literature, which thus far has focused
only on the role played by one element of the phenomenon. On the
one hand, and as shown above, the image of Tibet projected by media
productions corresponds to a significant extent to tourists’ imagina-
tion, suggesting a relatively strong influence, both in what is shown
and what is omitted about the place. For instance, it is argued that
important absences in media productions, such as Sinification and
Westernization, led to tourists being surprised by Tibet’s relatively high
level of development and Chinese presence upon arrival. To para-
phrase Urry (1990), most tourists’ gaze did not include signs of mod-
ernization and Sinification, since it had been constructed by
representations which did not include those signs. On the other hand,
media effects are not deterministic or homogeneous. The cultural and
social background of each individual must be taken into account to
understand the differences in interpretations and decoding of mes-
sages, noted on several occasions in this paper. In sum, in the case
of Tibet, the basic conclusion of this study is that the effect of the
media lies somewhere between Hall’s first and second hypotheses
(between a strong and negotiated influence).
To conclude, some practical implications of the findings may be sug-
gested. As Bishop demonstrates, the association of a destination with
popular culture, and especially with Hollywood, can lead the locals
to become caught up in disputes with which they have nothing to
do. Following him, Tibetan culture did become entangled recently in
‘‘scathing criticisms of the Hollywood film industry’’, most notably its
‘‘idealizing narrative formulas’’ and its ‘‘promotion of American cul-
tural hegemony’’ (2000:645). Therefore, from a critical scholarship
perspective, it is recommended that since representations may exert
a significant influence on image, promoters should act responsibly
by projecting images of destinations that are not harmful to locals.
In the case of Tibet, some have argued (Norbu 1998; Lopez 1994) that
this recommendation should translate into less exoticized depictions,
1052 MEDIA EFFECTS

which may be ultimately harmful to Tibetans, constraining them in

their relations with other nations to play the Shangri-La card
continuously.

Acknowledgments—The author thanks P.P. Karan, Doug Kellner, Paul Kingsbury, René Jean
Ravault, Anna Secor, and Dick Ulack for helpful comments on the paper, Marie-Stéfanie
Taschereau for precious assistance in the field, and Taro Futamura, Hye Kyung, John May,
and Mitch Snider for translating and proofreading the questionnaires.

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Submitted 29 May 2003. Resubmitted 10 February 2004. Resubmitted 25 April 2004.

Resubmitted 18 December 2004. Accepted 23 February 2005. Final version 28 February
2005. Coordinating Editor: William C. Gartner