Identifying negative images and it's causes towards Iran's export nation brand

 Review of researches in the field of nation brand shows a few studies in recognizing and examining negative images of exporting countries. Identifying negative image about a country's export activities and finding the root causes of these mentalities used as a first step in planning national branding programs. This will be doubly important, especially for countries that are politically different from the mainstream of international media or faces some negative stereotypes among foreign consumers. The objective is to identify the negative images toward the export aspect of Iran's nation brand and to investigate the causes of these mentalities.    The researcher's philosophical approach based on the perspective of pragmatism. This qualitativ research conducted based on in-depth interviews and data analysis based on the grounded theory approach using content analysis. The statistical population includes knowledgeable and active people in exporting to Iraq and Syria and using theoretical sampling and snowball method, 26 interviews conducted to achieve theoretical adequacy.    Negative images toward Iran's export nation brand include 14 concepts were identified in four categories of images related to 1."Iranian export product" including improper packaging, non-compliance with standards, unstable product presence, unstable product quality, surplus product Domestic needs, 2."Iranian exporter" including: fraud in trade, lack of commitment in trade, lack of expertise in trade, lack of trust in the other party, 3." the export environment" including: large number of intermediaries, high rate of trade disputes, confusion in trade and 4."Export consequences" including damage to domestic production, sanctions problems. Exporter’s wrong view to export including: "short-term view to export", "contemptuous view to export market" and wrong view of policymakers in this field including: "exports as a surplus of domestic demand" and a "partiality approach in export management", are among the most important formation roots of negative images toward export aspect of Iran's nation brand. Three categories including political roots, ethnic roots and religious roots are also effective as underlying factors in reinforcing these negative mentalities.    The concepts related to "Iranian product" and "Iranian exporter" include the largest number of negative images of Iran's export nation brand. "Establishing an evaluation system to assess the qualifications of exporters", "creating collective trade mark", "strengthening chambers of commerce", "establishing export consortia" and "developing export management companies" are the suggestions to address the roots of these negative mentalities. Then, unfavorable economic conditions in countries of export-target because that price as a determining factor, reduces the impact of consumer political animosity in response to foreign products. However, in the face of equal price and product quality, political hostility will affect consumer behavior. In other words, consumer animosity, even at low levels, reduces the competitiveness of the product in foreign market, even if it does not lead to a boycott of the export product. It should be noted that political animosity if combined or strengthened by cultural animosity (religious animosity (Shia-Sunni) and ethnic animosity (Arab-Iranian) in this study), will have a strong and lasting effect on consumer behavior.