Risk, affect, and policy support: public perception of air pollution in China

ABSTRACT

Air pollution is a critical environmental problem that has spurred great public concern in China. This study examines how issue salience, environmental value, risk perception, and affective response influence information seeking, objective knowledge, and policy support related to this issue. The recent release of a controversial environmental documentary on Chinese social media, Under the Dome, also prompted us to explore the impact of exposure to this documentary on Chinese social media users’ information seeking and policy support related to air pollution. Results showed that risk perception and negative affect influenced information seeking and policy support both directly and indirectly. Also, exposure to the documentary moderated the effects of key variables on information seeking and policy support. However, contrary to our expectations, no significant relationship was found between information seeking and objective knowledge. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings were discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Information seeking
• policy support
• air pollution
• China

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Jialing Huang (M.A., University of Miami) is a doctoral student in the Department of Communication at the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York. Her research focuses on viewers’ cognitive and emotional responses to mass media.

Janet Z. Yang (Ph.D., Cornell University) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at the University at Buffalo, the State University of New York. Her research centers on the communication of risk information related to science, health, and environmental issues. She is particularly interested in how cognitive and affective evaluations of risk influence individuals’ decision making.