Measuring up in a pandemic: information attention, source credibility, and public evaluation of the government COVID-19 response in mainland China

Abstract

This study examines the interaction effects of attention to COVID-19 information and perceived source credibility on the evaluation of government performance in the Hubei province of mainland China; the study is based on two waves of panel data drawn from a sample of 1896 respondents. The results demonstrated that COVID-19 information attention positively influences the evaluation of both central and local government performance. These direct relationships are contingent on the perceived source credibility of central and local government institutions, but they are not influenced by the perceived credibility of social media sources. More interestingly, there is a negative moderating effect of the perceived credibility of local institution sources on the relationship between COVID-19 information attention and the evaluation of central government performance. This study extends the current research on the impacts of information consumption on political attitudes by integrating various theories or hypotheses (e.g. cognitive media model, attitudinal policy feedback, message persuasion, and informational incongruity).

Keywords:

• COVID-19 pandemic
• information attention
• source credibility
• performance evaluation
• Chinese government

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Yuanhang Lu

Yuanhang Lu (Ph.D., Hong Kong Baptist University) is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the School of Communication, Hong Kong Baptist University. Dr. Lu’s research interests include crisis communication, political communication, and social network analysis.

Xi Chen

Xi Chen (Ph.D., The Chinese University of Hong Kong) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Social Policy, Lingnan University. Dr. Chen’s research interests include social determinants of health, mental health, crime and deviance, substance abuse, and health inequality.

Yi-Hui Christine Huang

Yi-Hui Christine Huang (Ph.D., University of Maryland) is the Chair Professor of Communication and Media at City University of Hong Kong and International Communication Association (ICA) Fellow. Prof. Huang’s research interests cover strategic communication, risk communication in health and technology, crisis communication, relationship management, conflict resolution, and cross-cultural communication.

Fen Lin

Fen Lin (Ph.D., University of Chicago) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Media and Communication, City University of Hong Kong. Dr. Lin’s research interests include the sociology of media and journalism.