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This study aims to statistically verify the links of income and education with information and communication technology (ICT) diffusion across 191 countries of the world taking into account a total of 9 indicators best representing the socio-economic variables.

Multivariate regression analysis was used as a prime method to rigorously test the relationships of income and education with ICT diffusion across 191 countries. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (V. 22) was used to analyze and predict patterns in the data.

The results support the hypotheses that income and education are positively related to ICT diffusion. The findings statistically confirm that poverty is a leading cause of digital divide worldwide.

Academic, policy and practice groups should work in collaboration to fight against digital divide. Present results also imply that digital divide shall never end but rather it can be controlled to an extent with multiple collaborative efforts.

Prior research assignments on the digital divide concentrate on exploring the links between few socio-economic and ICT variables in select few regions theoretically. The present work addresses this literature gap by developing and testing two hypotheses to statistically investigate the relationships between a broad set of socio-economic and ICT indicators.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the role of a place’s name as the carrier of identity and heritage from the residents’ perspective. The authors assess the extent to which names of municipalities carry the place’s heritage, and how this can further be transferred to the place brand. The context is a situation in which a municipality changes its name, or is at the risk of doing so, as a result of municipal consolidation.

The authors conducted a large survey in the south-western Finland in spring 2013. The survey questionnaire was posted to 5,020 randomly selected residents, and the final sample comprised 1,380 recipients. The authors offer a framework for operationalising place heritage, comprising four components: history, place essence, symbols and residential permanence.

Most respondents attached importance to the name of their home town. The majority also felt that a name change would mean losing part of the place’s history. A strong place heritage proved to correlate positively with the importance of the municipality name.

The developed framework for place heritage can serve as a tool for place branding studies and practical place branding. A stable name has an essential role in branding places. The authorities should understand the crucial relationship between place name, heritage and identity, and their importance to the residents.

To the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to report empirical research on the relation between place names and place branding from the heritage perspective.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the country image of Finland among potential travellers and potential consumers of Finnish products. Three research questions are addressed, each of which contributes to the overall aim: What is the level of awareness about Finland among the respondents? How is the awareness constructed in terms of dimensions? Where does the image stem from (the source)?

A survey was conducted among US, French and Swiss university students. Given the high number of respondents who had not visited Finland, the analysis focused on non‐visitors. Six hypotheses were formulated based on existing theory.

Awareness is a key indicator of people's knowledge about the existence of a country. Branding may be an elementary tool in enhancing awareness as well as altering or reinforcing stereotypical views. The results of this study bring out the cross‐cultural aspects.

Including the respondents’ sources of information enhances the results of previous studies on country image. The findings contribute to the theoretical discussion on the source of the image and the factors that affect it.

Knowledge of the information sources and their role in image building will help destination marketers to influence potential travellers, including non‐visitors, and thereby increase the likelihood of a first or repeat visit.

To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to focus on awareness of a country among non‐visitors.