A photo taken on Aug. 10, 2022, shows cows waiting to be milked on a dairy farm near Cambridge in New Zealand’s Waikato region on Oct. 11, 2022. William West/AFP via Getty Images
In the minds of most of its trading partners, New Zealand is still defined by its exports of lamb, dairy, and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, according to a survey of foreign consumers by government agency New Zealand Story.
Each year, the survey asks people from other countries about three randomly selected attributes of 35, which together measure a nation’s “soft power”—its ability to attract investment, trade, tourism, education, and talent through reputation and brand perception—rather than through “hard power” or coercion.
