Regional branding in the context of national identity: based on the experience of sociological research in Adygea, Dagestan and Kabardino-Balkaria

Modern global instability determines the need for a scientific search for effective mechanisms to strengthen national identity. The regional structure of Russia, and competition between the regions for resources, both human and financial, motivates the formation of a positive image of the region under which the author understands brand. The brand should be accepted by the residents of the region, as they transmit the favorable or unfavorable atmosphere of the region to the outside. The polyethnic and polyconfessional character of such Russian regions as Adygea, Dagestan and Kabardino-Balkaria allows us to consider their socio-cultural uniqueness as a source for territory branding and activation of national identity. Despite the fact that the residents of these regions fix the problems of socio-economic nature (low living standards and incomes of the population, lack of development prospects for young people, unemployment and insufficient development of production), the residents of the regions consider the above territories as attractive for living. Loyalty to the region of residence positively affects the image of the region in its perception by internal and external audiences. The brand of the territory is the basis of both regional and national Russian identity, and it should correlate with the values and ideas shared by the residents of both a particular region and the country as a whole.