Is citizen satisfaction affected by the equivalent framing effect? A study based on situations involving poor government performance

Abstract

Although numerous studies have confirmed the existence and possible limitations of the equivalent framing effect in performance information evaluation, few studies have examined the conditions under which this framing effect works or does not work. This paper explores the equivalent framing effect of citizen satisfaction in the case of poor government performance by using two investigation experiments, and examines the boundary conditions of this effect in terms of performance information sources and trust in government. The results show that citizen satisfaction is higher when performance information is framed positively, rather than negatively. The findings demonstrate that the equivalent framing effect of citizen satisfaction is moderated by performance information sources and trust in government. This result indicates that equivalent framing effect has a certain fragility, showing heterogeneity with different sources of performance information and different levels of public trust in the government. Truthfully reporting poor performance is the basic requirement for local governments. This study reminds government staff that, on the one hand, low performance is not a scourge, and small changes in poor performance reports may significantly change citizen satisfaction. On the other hand, it is not a panacea to improve citizen satisfaction simply by changing the presentation of performance information. The government should make more efforts to improve the public's confidence in performance information and the government.