{"title":"Media influence on public trust during crises: A comparative analysis of different media types and trust dimensions","authors":"Qing Zhang, Xiaojun Zhang","doi":"10.1111/1468-5973.12624","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>This study aims to reveal how media influence public trust during crises and whether these mechanisms vary by media type, trust dimensions, government levels, and regions. Using the COVID-19 pandemic as a case study, we surveyed 31 provincial-level regions in China from April 22 to 28, 2020, analysed the data with Stata 16.0, and drew the following conclusions. First, the mechanisms by which social media and traditional media influence public trust differ significantly. Social media can only directly impact outgroup trust or reduce both government trust and outgroup trust by lowering citizens' perceptions of government performance (CPGP). In contrast, traditional media directly enhance public trust across all dimensions and can also indirectly increase trust by boosting CPGP. Second, traditional media affect trust in both local and central governments, while social media have no significant effect. Third, citizens' perceptions of central and local government performance play distinct roles in this process. Finally, the impact of media on public trust varies between urban and rural areas and across different regions.</p>","PeriodicalId":47674,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.6000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management","FirstCategoryId":"91","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-5973.12624","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"MANAGEMENT","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This study aims to reveal how media influence public trust during crises and whether these mechanisms vary by media type, trust dimensions, government levels, and regions. Using the COVID-19 pandemic as a case study, we surveyed 31 provincial-level regions in China from April 22 to 28, 2020, analysed the data with Stata 16.0, and drew the following conclusions. First, the mechanisms by which social media and traditional media influence public trust differ significantly. Social media can only directly impact outgroup trust or reduce both government trust and outgroup trust by lowering citizens' perceptions of government performance (CPGP). In contrast, traditional media directly enhance public trust across all dimensions and can also indirectly increase trust by boosting CPGP. Second, traditional media affect trust in both local and central governments, while social media have no significant effect. Third, citizens' perceptions of central and local government performance play distinct roles in this process. Finally, the impact of media on public trust varies between urban and rural areas and across different regions.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management is an invaluable source of information on all aspects of contingency planning, scenario analysis and crisis management in both corporate and public sectors. It focuses on the opportunities and threats facing organizations and presents analysis and case studies of crisis prevention, crisis planning, recovery and turnaround management. With contributions from world-wide sources including corporations, governmental agencies, think tanks and influential academics, this publication provides a vital platform for the exchange of strategic and operational experience, information and knowledge.