Verification of policy information and citizen attitudes toward government under COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from survey experiment in South Korea

Abstract

This study examines how citizens' attitudes toward government are affected by verifying or correcting their prior knowledge of governmental policy concerning the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a survey experiment, we asked respondents about their knowledge of the stimulus check provided by local governments in South Korea. We then provided the correct answer to half of the respondents at random. For outcome variables, we measured satisfaction with the stimulus check, trust in the government, and intention to pay extra taxes. We found that only verifying correct prior knowledge, not correcting incorrect knowledge, improved respondents' attitudes. Subgroup analysis revealed that the verification effect occurred specifically among those whose income remained stable during the pandemic, regardless of whether their political orientation was congruent with their local government. Our findings suggest that rather than publicly releasing policy-related information to citizens indiscriminately, verifying the information through closer communication with well-informed citizens can be a more effective strategy to improve citizens' policy efficacy and attitudes toward the government.