Uşak Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi/UUSBD 2017 10/3 Marka İmajı Açısından Uşak Şehir Algısı: Üniversite Öğrencileri Üzerine Bir Saha Araştırması 1 Uşak City Perception From Brand Image: A Field Research on University Students Özlem DUĞAN 2 Semra AKINCI 3 Extended Abstract Introduction Image of a city consists of the perception of the minds of people who see that city and have experiences of living and experiencing it. Although it is difficult to create a positive perception of people's minds, it is necessary to be among the cities competing in the globalizing world. Having a positive city image today brings many advantages. Keeping the historical, touristic and cultural values and making the cities a modern, livable brand will increase the appeal for the city. It is possible to increase the number of tourists coming to the city, to increase the number of students coming to the university in that city, contributition to the city economically, but only if the city has a positive image. For this reason cities that want to gain a competitive advantage should determine the characteristics that will enable them to become a brand and benefit from them. It is an important question how city brands are perceived and how their images are (Özdemir ve Karaca, 2009:114). This problem can be solved only by preserving the historical, touristic and cultural values of the city and making these values into trademarks and increasing the number of brands. However, it is difficult to say that all cities have become brands. Because many cities have failed to become brands for various reasons. This study was carried out in 1 Bu çalışma Uşak Üniversitesi Bilimsel Araştırma Projeleri Koordinasyon birimi tarafından “Marka İmajı Açısından Uşak Şehir Algısı: Üniversite Öğrencileri Üzerine Bir Saha Araştırması” adlı BAP Projesi olarak desteklenmektedir. 2 Yrd. Doç. Dr., Uşak Üniversitesi, İletişim Fakültesi, ozlem.dugan@usak.edu.tr 3 Arş. Gör., Uşak Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, semra.akinci@usak.edu.tr Bu makale iThenticate programı ile taranmıştır. Makale Gönderim Tarihi: 21/09/2017- Kabul Tarihi: 01/10/2017