How international students build a positive relationship with a hosting country: Examination of strategic public, message and channel of national public relations

Given the important role of interpersonal communication, this study explicates the antecedents of supportive intentions in the context of national public relations. The results demonstrate (a) international students’ potentiality as a strategic public for a national PR, (b) food as a focal message to link them to Korean culture, (c) sanitation and cleanliness as specific contents to take care of, and more notably (d) social support as an enhancer and face-to-face interaction as an effective communication channel for shaping favorable behavioral intentions to revisit and recommend South Korea to family and friends in their home countries. Specifically among female students, social interaction appears to be the most influential factor in predicting positive word-of-mouth intentions directly and indirectly through their own experience, while male students primarily depend on their own experience of Korean food in forming supportive intentions.