The effects of symbols and information on citizens’ trust

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1. The effects of symbols and information on citizens’ trust The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Saar Alon-Barkat Evidence from a survey experiment TAD14 2018
2. Alon-Barkat, TAD 2018 GOV. COMMUNICATIONS AND TRUST
3. GOV. COMMUNICATIONS AND TRUST Substantive information Symbolic elements • Marvel 2015: USPS commercial • Karens et al. 2016: EC logo • Alon-Barkat and Gilad 2017: Cartoons of Israeli elecrtic company • Teodoro and An 2018: US federal Agency names Alon-Barkat, TAD 2018
4. INFORMATION AND SYMBOLS - EXAMPLES Alon-Barkat, TAD 2018
5. INFORMATION AND SYMBOLS - EXAMPLES Alon-Barkat, TAD 2018
6. INFORMATION AND SYMBOLS - EXAMPLES Alon-Barkat, TAD 2018
7. INFORMATION AND SYMBOLS - EXAMPLES Alon-Barkat, TAD 2018
8. INFORMATION AND SYMBOLS - EXAMPLES Alon-Barkat, TAD 2018
9. Petty and Cacioppo 1986 ELABORATION LIKELIHOOD MODEL (ELM) ELABORATION CONTINUUM Low Peripheral route High Central route Alon-Barkat, TAD 2018
10. ELABORATION LIKELIHOOD MODEL (ELM) Symbols can shape trust via: • Functioning as cues (direct) • Decreasing elaboration (moderated mediation) Alon-Barkat, TAD 2018
11. Israel’s Environmental Protection Ministry EMPIRICAL CASE Alon-Barkat, TAD 2018
12. Population: N=859 (mean age = 36.34) 2 Policy plans per subject: • Air-pollution. • Recycling. Factorial design: 2 (information) x 3 (symbols). EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN Alon-Barkat, TAD 2018
13. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN Fake-symbols Real symbols (treatment) No-symbols Alon-Barkat, TAD 2018
14. Information: EPM is working to reduce the air-pollution in the Haifa-Bay through: EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN (Weak) (Strong) • Decreasing the supervision of the factories in Haifa-Bay… • Increasing the supervision of the factories in Haifa- Bay… • Raising citizens’ awareness of the efforts to improve air quality… • Reduction of smoke emissions from vehicles in Haifa Bay… Alon-Barkat, TAD 2018
15. Outcome variable: trust in policy (6 items). Elaboration of policy plan: • Reaction time (log) • Memory test EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN Alon-Barkat, TAD 2018
16. RESULTS Main effects: Alon-Barkat, TAD 2018
17. RESULTS Interaction: symbols x information: Alon-Barkat, TAD 2018
18. RESULTS Within subject analysis: Alon-Barkat, TAD 2018
19. RESULTS Symbols’ effect on elaboration: Alon-Barkat, TAD 2018
20. RESULTS Moderated mediation: Causal mediation analysis (Imai et al.) Effect of symbols is partly mediated for the weak policy (but not the strong policy). Prop. Mediated: 15-28% Alon-Barkat, TAD 2018
21. SUMMARY Symbols increased citizens’ trust in policy The effect of symbols was greater for the “weak” policy plan. The interaction is partly explained by the negative effect of symbols on elaboration. Alon-Barkat, TAD 2018
22. DISCUSSION Normative implications of branding/ symbolic communication on democracy. Relations between symbols and biases. Additional implications of ELM for behavioral PA. Alon-Barkat, TAD 2018
23. T H A N K Y O U Your thoughts and comments are welcome Saar Alon-Barkat | saar.barkat@mail.huji.ac.il
24. Supplementary materials
32. Petty, Cacioppo, and Schumann 1983: Research design