How The Exhibitions Affect A City's Image

The 21st century is Image Era. Both business competition and non-business competition are focusing on the competition of "exterior", that is to say, the image. The 21st century is a time for cities, a time for era when cities become main characters in global competition. Therefore, image competition among cities will be in evitable. To create the distinctiveness and the tension of city image is critical problems for all cities. Numbers of cities hold exhibitions to reach the goal.My thesis is trying to analyze exhibitions in conception, feature, and motivation with communication theories and social analytical methods from form to content. The whole thesis argues that the exhibition plays an important part in shaping a city's image according to the presumed conclusion that "exhibition is a comprehensive method to mold a city's image".The thesis uses China International cartoon and Animation Festival as an example, tracing its development, highlighting various propaganda methods of exhibition, including the format and the function, which results in the title "capital of cartoon" for Hangzhou, discussing the social benefits such as the personalization of government image, the animation of the industrial development, the development of the urban environment, and the enhancement of the quality of life and the cultural cohesion. With an expectation to create better exhibition brands for satisfying city image, the thesis makes several suggestions through the analysis of all problems of the China International Cartoon and Animation Festival.