How to use government short videos to promote policy compliance: evidence from China (Preprint)

Abstract

Policy compliance is an important research topic during epidemic outbreaks. Understanding how government short videos promote citizens’ policy compliance in times of epidemic outbreaks is worthy of attention.

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Based on grounded theory, qualitative data are first collected through semi-structured interviews. Subsequently, a theoretical model of government short videos influencing policy compliance in times of COVID-19 is constructed through open, axial, and selective coding.

Results showed that government short videos have significant effects on policy compliance through four cognitive appraisals: epidemic, policy, government-public relationship, and social influence. In addition, resilience as an individual feature moderates the relationship between these cognitive appraisals and compliance.

Findings enrich the research on citizen policy compliance from the perspective of social media technology and also provide targeted guidance on how government short videos may be used to promote policy compliance during pandemics.