本研究透過民意調查方法來瞭解民眾對國軍的印象,從中挖掘民眾對國軍印象不佳的成因,並分析國軍印象對於民眾整體國防支持態度的影響。藉由針對民調開放題的文字探勘,本文指出軍紀不彰、訓練鬆散、體制封閉及官僚等是民眾對國軍印象不佳的主要理由,不同性別和年齡層的受訪者在乎的因素也不盡相同。我們的迴歸模型進一步發現民眾對國軍印象的好壞對於新制教召、提升國防預算與國軍防衛台灣信心的支持度具有關鍵性的影響。在既有關於國軍形象的文獻基礎上,本文認為國軍的形象塑造工程需傾聽民意、對症下藥,並嘗試以「客製化」的形象塑造逐步化解不同背景民眾對國軍的「刻板印象」。
This study explored why people form an unfavorable impression on Taiwan's military and analyzed the impacts of military images on public attitudes toward military. By mining the textual responses from the open-ended survey question, we revealed that poor military disciplines, lack of training, and bureaucratic environment and system were frequently mentioned by the respondents as the main sources of making poor impressions on Taiwan's military. Moreover, while women addressed issues related to the problem of indiscipline or isolated system of the military, men were more likely to make poor impressions based on their military service experiences. Our multivariate regression analyses further discovered that people's impressions on the military had consistent and strong impact on their attitudes toward the new military reservist training program, the increase of national defense budget, and the confidence in the capabilities of defending Taiwan. To enhance its image and defuse stereotype, Taiwan's military should listen to the public and try to shape "customized" image to correspond with different audiences.