How the use of soft propaganda inflate Chinese self-mage

Last registered on October 17, 2022
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
How the use of soft propaganda inflate Chinese self-mage
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0010200
Initial registration date
October 11, 2022

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
October 17, 2022, 5:18 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
China
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Siyu Liang
Affiliation
UCLA
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2022-11-01
End date
2022-12-20
Keywords
Behavior
Additional Keywords
Propaganda
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
China’s global reputation and soft power have been overestimated by the Chinese public (Huang 2021). What leads to the inflated national image? How the use of propaganda shapes the Chinese public’s national image? Huang (2021) posits that Chinese propaganda, with its omnipresent praise of the country and censorship of negative news, explains the escalating national narcissism. In recent years, the Chinese government has shifted part of the propaganda from traditional media to social media, as it is more widespread and targets a larger audience. Using an online survey experiment, I examine the effectiveness of positive foreign views in increasing the credibility of Chinese propaganda and whether such exposure results in the overconfident Chinese public regarding their world reputation.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Liang, Siyu. 2022. "How the use of soft propaganda inflate Chinese self-mage." AEA RCT Registry. October 17. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.10200-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2022-11-01
Intervention End Date
2022-12-20

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
media trust, national self-image, and perception of soft power
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
I plan to conduct an online survey experiment among the Chinese public. The online survey experiment will investigate participants’ trust towards different narratives and if exposure to such videos inflates respondents’ self-image in China.
Experimental Design Details
In particular, respondents will be randomly assigned to one of three treatments: video with an American interviewee, video with a Chinese interviewee, or nothing (the control treatment). The interview content is identical. The only difference is the nationality of the interviewee, which will be mentioned during the interview. Participants will first receive pre-treatment questions. Then, participants will be randomly assigned to an original short interview video about COVID or freedom in China. After watching the video, participants will answer China’s national image question and reassess whether watching the video increases or decreases their perception of China’s international view. Finally, participants answer questions regarding their trustworthiness of the video. Demographic questions are asked at the beginning of the experiment.
Randomization Method
Survey - randomly assignment
Randomization Unit
individual randomization for video content (COVID vs freedom) and video narrative (Chinese vs Foreigners)
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
N/A
Sample size: planned number of observations
2000
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Treatment: 400 -- foreigners/COVID; 400 -- Chinese/COVID; 400 -- foreigners/freedom;400 -- Chinese/freedom
Control: 400
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
North General Institutional Review Board
IRB Approval Date
2022-10-04
IRB Approval Number
IRB#22-000386
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials