Pro-liberalism vs. Nationalism

How critical opinion leaders challenge the persuasive effect of propaganda in China

Bibliographic Data

ID21790241
AuthorsYating Pan (0000-0002-6398-7899, Tsinghua University, corresponding author), Zhan Shu (0000-0002-1374-1698, University of Nottingham)
Year2024
Volume17
Issue3
Pages271-287
Publication date2024-07-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueChinese Journal of Communication (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1754-4769 • E-ISSN: 1754-4750
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17544750.2023.2293860
OpenAlexW4389885124
LanguageEN
References cited50

In Chinese cyberspace, mass media and opinion leaders struggle over socio-political discourses. While the former propagates positive views on national policies, the latter often expresses dissenting opinions that challenge authoritarian rule. In the context of China–US competition, do citizens still perceive non-state sources as more credible? Taking the Belt and Road Initiative as the issue, this experimental study investigates how Chinese netizens process conflicting information from a government-owned news agency and two opinion leaders with varying levels of source credibility. Our findings reveal that high-credibility propagandistic news is effective, whereas low-credibility propaganda is not. Furthermore, an opinion leader perceived as independent surpasses government propaganda in influence, regardless of information credibility. However, when an opinion leader is perceived as backed by a rival nation, the former’s influence is counterproductive unless their message credibility exceeds that of propaganda. This study sheds light on the prevalence of nationalistic sentiment in China, which has raised concerns about the manipulation of Chinese netizens by hostile forces

Authoritarianism · China · Credibility · Democracy · Dissenting opinion · Nationalism · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Public opinion · Public relations · Sociology · Law · Media Influence and Politics · Media Studies and Communication · Social Media and Politics

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