The effect of partisan media and news slant on Americans' perception of China and Chinese products: an experimental study in an online news environment
Year: 2016
Type: article
Abstract: Research in country image has received both kudos and questioning in the field of international marketing.China's country image is one of the most intriguing and controversial topics.Based on the three components (i.e., cognitive, affective, and conative) of country image, this study analyzed China's image in terms of country beliefs, people affect, desired interaction as well as product beliefs and purchase intention.By integrating priming with the Heuristic-Systematic Model, this research used a 2×2 pretest-posttest experimental factorial design to measure changes in Americans' perception of China's image after their exposure to the news stimuli about China from a partisan news website.Two manipulated factors were media partisanship (congruent or incongruent partisan media) and news slant (positive or negative coverage of China).The results did not demonstrate any priming effect of news coverage.However, media partisanship had a significant influence on country beliefs and purchase intention related to China.Significant interaction effects between news slant and media partisanship on country beliefs and desired interaction were also found.In addition, people perceived a congruent partisan media source as more credible than an incongruent source, but are more willing to like and share a positive news article about China than a negative one on social media.The results advocated a multidimensional approach to country image research and a refined view of news priming effects by taking the heuristic of media source into account.Implications on news media and international marketing were also discussed. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTIONWith the accelerating pace of globalization, the political, economic, and cultural exchanges between different countries are becoming more and more active.Two largest economies in the world, U.S. and China, are also striving to strengthen their ties in various fields including foreign trade, cultural exchanges, business cooperation, and others.Along with increasingly frequent Sino-American interactions, unprecedented changes are taking place.On one hand, starting from the economic reform and opening-up policy in 1978, China successfully transformed from planned economy to market-based economy and brought about booming retailing businesses, huge foreign investments, and thriving manufacturing industry.With its enhanced manufacturing facilities and attractive cheap labor, China has become an outsourcing hotspot for global corporations leading to its export/GDP ratio being around 35% or even higher, in comparison with 8% for the U.S. and 13% for India (Koopman, Wang, & Wei, 2008).As a result, products with the "made in China" label have flooded into the U.S. market despite the fact that many American citizens may have very little or no knowledge about this faraway mystic land in the east called China as well as its geography, history, and culture.On the other hand, the advancement of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in recent years has not only facilitated the ongoing process of globalization, but is also revolutionizing the ways how general Americans consume news and acquire information about foreign countries and international issues.One significant role information and communication technologies play is a convenient and real-time source of information and news about China.Traced back to the Usenet groups in the mid-1990s (Cohen, 2002), the Internet, as an emerging news medium, has gained its
Author: Chen Yang
Institution: Bowling Green State University
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2603858186