Media Propaganda and Political Participation

Last registered on January 22, 2025

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Media Propaganda and Political Participation
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0015232
Initial registration date
January 20, 2025

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
January 22, 2025, 8:39 AM EST

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

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
Renmin University of China, School of Finance. PhD candidate (starting AY 2025) at Tsinghua University, PBC School of Finance

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
Renmin University of China, School of Finance
PI Affiliation
Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Antai College of Economics and Management

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2024-03-08
End date
2025-11-15
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
This study examines the impact of media-driven political messaging on citizens' political participation. Using a randomized controlled trial (RCT) involving over 2,000 participants, we exposed participants to program segments portraying different aspects of government officials. The results show that viewing these videos significantly reduced participants' willingness to engage in political participation. This phenomenon may be related to shifts in participants' perceptions of the relationship between government and citizens. These findings suggest that while such videos appear to encourage political engagement on the surface, they may, to some extent, reinforce existing authoritarian governance.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Miao, Meng, Xinyue Xiong and Zhengyu Zuo. 2025. "Media Propaganda and Political Participation." AEA RCT Registry. January 22. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.15232-1.0
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The intervention in this study involved randomly assigning participants to view video segments portraying different aspects of local government officials in China. These segments presented scenarios of interactions between officials and the public, allowing participants to observe how government officials perform and respond in the context of public affairs.
Intervention Start Date
2024-03-09
Intervention End Date
2025-02-17

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The primary outcome of this study is political participation willingness, specifically defined as the likelihood of participants expressing their willingness to file complaints or provide feedback to the government after viewing the intervention videos.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Political participation willingness is measured through a survey based on hypothetical scenarios. Specifically, we use scenarios such as traffic congestion or noise pollution to assess participants’ willingness to report issues to either central or local government as an indicator of political engagement. These responses are aggregated into a comprehensive participation willingness index, where higher scores indicate greater political engagement. To ensure the robustness of the results, the index is standardized, and we control for potential confounders such as demographic variables and participants’ baseline perceptions of government responsiveness.
Additionally, participants’ willingness to participate may vary depending on the severity of the issues presented. To account for the impact of issue severity on willingness to engage, we included follow-up questions in each scenario to quantify the severity of the problem. For example, in the case of traffic congestion, severity levels include delays of 30 minutes, 45 minutes, 1 hour, or more than 1 hour. For noise pollution, severity levels include durations of three days, one week, half a month, and a month or longer. Participants were asked to evaluate their likelihood of reporting the issue under these varying levels of severity.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Participants were first provided with a general description of videos portraying government officials and were asked whether they had prior exposure to such content and their overall impressions. They were then randomly assigned to several groups: some groups watched short video clips showing interactions between government officials and the public, while others did not watch any videos. The content of the videos varied in terms of presentation styles, showcasing different portrayals of government officials. Finally, participants completed a survey that included hypothetical scenarios to measure their attitudes toward the government and their willingness to provide feedback or report problems. The study controlled for individual differences and prior experiences to evaluate the broader effects of such videos on public perceptions and behaviors.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization is conducted using a computer algorithm embedded in the survey platform. Upon consenting to participate, each individual is randomly assigned to one of the three treatment groups (video types) or the control group. Randomization ensures equal probability of assignment and minimizes selection bias.
Randomization Unit
The unit of randomization is the individual participant. Each participant is independently assigned to one of the three treatment groups or the control group.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
This study is not clustered. The unit of randomization is the individual participant.
Sample size: planned number of observations
Approximately 2,000 participants will be recruited for this study.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Participants will be randomly assigned to one control group and three treatment groups, with an equal allocation across groups:
Control group: ~500 participants (no video shown)
Critique-focused group: ~500 participants
Dialogue-focused group: ~500 participants
Praise-focused group: ~500 participants
Each treatment group will view one of the three distinct types of video clips, while the control group will only respond to questions based on a written description.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Renmin University of China, School of Finance
IRB Approval Date
2024-05-07
IRB Approval Number
N/A