Influence of public health emergency on city image: the case of COVID-19 stigma on Wuhan city

Abstract This study explored the influence of COVID-19 stigma on the city image of Wuhan by adopting the associative group analysis method. The collected data were free associations of the word “Wuhan” from 39 non-Chinese participants residing outside of China. It found that there were 12 meaning categories related to the city image of Wuhan, half of which were related to COVID-19, and the other half were related to Wuhan city. 56.45% of the associated words were related to COVID-19 and 43.55% to Wuhan city. The results demonstrated that the city image of Wuhan was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, mediated by personal experience and perceived media reports. The associated words have constructed a “Wuhan-COVID-19” stereotype, including “Wuhan-birthplace of COVID” and “Wuhan-eating wild animals”. This reflected that the city image of Wuhan endured stigma in the global community. The study provided implications for eliminating stigma and reconstructing group relationships in the global community.