Semiotic Construction of Uzbekistan in YouTube Food Travel Vlogs: Implications for Nation Branding and Tourism Development Iroda Mukhammadieva

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This dissertation investigates how YouTube food travel vloggers semiotically construct destination images of Uzbekistan and how international viewers interpret those constructions, using a two-study design that bridges production analysis and audience reception. Despite the documented influence of digital content creators on tourism flows and destination selection, two gaps persist: systematic understanding of the multimodal semiotic mechanisms through which food travel vloggers construct destination meanings remains limited, and whether those mechanisms produce the effects analysts predict in actual viewers remains empirically untested. Study 1 addresses the first gap through a multimodal discourse analysis of six YouTube videos （with over 28 million views and a total duration of 2 hours and 14 minutes） from Mark Wiens and the Best Ever Food Review Show. Systematic coding of 60 video segments across visual, verbal, aural, and gestural modes: grounded in Kress and van Leeuwen's （2020） visual grammar, Halliday's （1978） systemic functional linguistics, van Leeuwen's （1999） sound semiotics, and Norris's （2004） multimodal interaction analysis reveals 25 statistically significant differences between the two creators. These differences identify two distinct semiotic profiles: a ＂parasocial intimacy＂ model characterised by direct gaze （89.2%）, second-person address （78.4%）, satisfaction expressions （32.4%）, and minimal editing （16.2%）, and a ＂cinematic documentary＂ model characterised by first-person narration （56.5%）, constructed visuals （60.9%）, and heritage narratives （34.8%）. Shared genre conventions centred on food composition, upbeat music, positive evaluation, and sharing gestures constitute a stable semiotic grammar that transcends individual creator style. Study 2 addresses the second gap through a two-round comparative reception design in which twelve participants （eleven international viewers and one Uzbek national insider） spanning ten distinct nationalities, including visitors with prior Uzbekistan experience, watched both creators' Tashkent videos and completed separate interviews after each viewing. The comparative design directly tests whether the 25 semiotic differences identified in the production analysis correspond to the differences viewers perceive. Reception analysis reveals five findings that the production analysis could not anticipate: prior destination experience inverts the sponsorship trust effect, producing a spectrum from institutional trust through experiential scepticism to insider community validation; parasocial connection and emotional contagion are separable viewer outcomes, with the same semiotic inputs generating five distinct response tiers from deep accumulated bonding to audio-primary engagement that bypasses visual strategies entirely; each viewer constructs authenticity through a distinct personal heuristic rather than passively accepting the creator's authentication claims; all eleven international viewers independently identify a cultural depth deficit that the Uzbek insider does not share, revealing the ＂missing culture＂ complaint as an outsider phenomenon; and the same video produces divergent development perceptions shaped by the viewer's own cultural reference frame rather than by the video's content. The comparative design reveals that the two semiotic profiles produce different kinds of viewer relationships rather than different intensities of the same relationship, and that production frequency does not predict reception salience, with the most frequently deployed semiotic resource （background music at 71.7%） being the least consciously registered by viewers. Destination image is not transmitted from vlog to viewer but co- constructed between them, with each viewer building a different Uzbekistan from the same source material. For emerging tourism markets, the findings position YouTube food vlogs as effective but audience-dependent gastrodiplomacy instruments, with implications for multi-creator destination branding strategies, transparent sponsorship disclosure as an ESG-aligned governance practice, inclusive cultural representation, and the distinct engagement patterns of diaspora audiences.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• 1 Introduction 9
• 1.1 Background 9
• 1.2 Research Problem 13
• 2 Literature Review 15
• 2.1 Tourism Semiotics and Destination Image: Social Semiotics and Multimodal Discourse Analysis 15
• 2.2 The Tourist Gaze and Visual Culture 19
• 2.3 Gastrodiplomacy and Nation Branding: Uzbekistan 23
• 2.3.1 Authenticity in Tourism and Mediated Contexts 28
• 2.4 YouTube Travel Vlogs, Social Semiotics, and Digital Tourism 30
• 2.5 Multimodal Semiotic Analysis in Tourism Research 35
• 2.5.1 Visual Mode 36
• 2.5.2 Verbal Mode 38
• 2.5.3 Aural Mode 40
• 2.5.4 Gestural Mode 42
• 2.6 Parasocial Interaction Theory 45
• 2.7 Destination Image Formation 47
• 2.8 Theoretical Integration 49
• 3 Research Questions 52
• 4 Research Methodology 53
• 4.1 Study 1: Video Content Analysis 53
• 4.1.1 Research Philosophy and Study Design 53
• 4.1.2 Data Collection 55
• 4.1.3 Analytical Framework 58
• 4.1.4 Data Analysis: Segmentation and Coding 64
• 4.2 Study 2: Semi-Structured Interviews 68
• 4.2.1 Research Philosophy and Study Design 68
• 4.2.2 Data Collection 73
• 4.2.3 Interview Protocol: Theoretical Domains and Question Mapping 83
• 4.2.4 Participant Protocol 84
• 4.2.5 Data Analysis: Coding 85
• 4.3 Ethical Considerations 87
• 5 Results 89
• 5.1 Coding Distribution and Codebook Summary 90
• 5.2 Visual Mode Findings 93
• 5.3 Verbal Mode Findings 96
• 5.4 Aural Mode Findings 97
• 5.5 Gestural Mode Findings 98
• 5.6 Thematic Analysis: Cross-Modal Destination Narratives 99
• 5.7 Cross-Modal Coordination Patterns 102
• 5.8 Comparative Analysis: Creator-Specific Semiotic Profiles 103
• 5.8.1 Statistically Significant Differences 103
• 5.8.2 Two Distinct Semiotic Profiles 106
• 5.8.3 Shared Genre Conventions 110
• 5.9 Viewer Reception Findings 111
• 5.9.1 Theme 1: The Sponsorship Trust Spectrum 111
• 5.9.2 Theme 2: Parasocial Connection and Emotional Contagion Are Separable 127
• 5.9.3 Theme 3: Viewer-Specific Authenticity Heuristics 140
• 5.9.4 Theme 4: The Cultural Depth Deficit: An Outsider Consensus 152
• 5.9.5 Theme 5: Development Perception as Viewer Construction 163
• 5.9.6 Additional Emergent Patterns 170
• 5.9.7 Viewer Reception of Multimodal Semiotic Resources: How Viewers Processed Visual, Verbal, Aural, and Gestural Modes. 180
• 5.9.8 Comparative Creator Evaluation: Complementary Functions and Sponsorship Implications 221
• 6 Discussion 226
• 6.1 Multimodal Semiotic Resources and Destination Construction (RQ1) 226
• 6.1.1 Visual Intimacy and the Collapse of Distance. 226
• 6.1.2 The Dual Function of Direct Gaze 230
• 6.1.3 Verbal Confidence and the Rhetoric of Superlatives 234
• 6.1.4 Aural Design and Affective Orchestration 242
• 6.1.5 Gestural Performance and Embodied Authenticity 248
• 6.2 Authenticity Construction and the Sponsorship Paradox (RQ2) 255
• 6.2.1 Layered Authentication Strategies 255
• 6.2.2 The Sponsorship Paradox 264
• 6.2.3 Orientalism, Resistance, and Cultural Representation 269
• 6.3 Implications for Nation Branding and Sustainable Tourism (RQ3) 274
• 6.3.1 Reach, Cost-Effectiveness, and the Long Tail 274
• 6.3.2 Gastrodiplomacy and the Plov Strategy 275
• 6.3.3 Implications for Nation Branding Strategy 280
• 6.4 Cross-Study Synthesis: How Production Strategies Meet Viewer Interpretation (RQ4) 286
• 6.4.1 Testing the Parasocial Intimacy Model Against Viewer Experience 286
• 6.4.2 The Sponsorship Paradox from Both Sides 293
• 6.4.3 What Viewers Want That the Parasocial Model Does Not Provide 298
• 6.4.4 Authenticity Is Not Constructed Once: It Is Negotiated by Every Viewer 304
• 6.4.5 The Same Video Constructs Different Countries for Different Viewers 309
• 6.4.6 Theoretical Implications 315
• Research Limitations 317
• Future Research Directions 323
• Conclusion 326
• References 329