Only hearing what they want to hear:Assessing when and why performance information triggers intentions to coproduce

While performance information is often used to communicate the importance of public policies and stimulate civic engagement, we know little about the processes that connect the two. This study proposes a conceptual model that links performance information to a specific form of public engagement: coproduction. Drawing on insights from information aversion theory, we argue that the effect of performance information on engagement in coproduction depends on levels of policy understanding and the valence of performance information that individuals are exposed to. Specifically, we predict that individuals exposed to positive performance information will understand the policy better than those exposed to negative performance information. Further, we predict that higher levels of policy understanding will increase coproduction engagement intentions. These predictions are examined using two experiments and a representative sample of US residents (n = 836). Findings indicate that participants best understood positive information and that understanding significantly increased coproduction engagement intentions

Only hearing what they want to hear: Assessing when and why performance information triggers intentions to coproduce

While performance information is often used to communicate the importance of public policies and stimulate civic engagement, we know little about the processes that connect the two. This study proposes a conceptual model that links performance information to a specific form of public engagement: coproduction. Drawing on insights from information aversion theory, we argue that the effect of performance information on engagement in coproduction depends on levels of policy understanding and the valence of performance information that individuals are exposed to. Specifically, we predict that individuals exposed to positive performance information will understand the policy better than those exposed to negative performance information. Further, we predict that higher levels of policy understanding will increase coproduction engagement intentions. These predictions are examined using two experiments and a representative sample of US residents (n = 836). Findings indicate that participants best understood positive information and that understanding significantly increased coproduction engagement intentions

Altruism and vaccination intentions:Evidence from behavioral experiments

Vaccine hesitancy has been on the rise throughout the past two decades, especially in high income countries where existing pro-vaccination public health communication strategies have proven ineffective. We argue that appealing to other-regarding preferences is one way of improving the effectiveness of public health communication strategies. To test this argument, we assess how vaccination intentions are influenced by the presence of people who cannot vaccinate, such as the immunosuppressed, newborns or pregnant women, using a laboratory experiment where there is a passive player whose welfare depends on the decisions of other, active players. Results suggest that pro-vaccine messages targeting altruism can increase vaccination intentions by: (i) invoking past experiences of dependence and vulnerability; (ii) stressing cooperation as a social norm; and (iii) emphasizing the presence of vulnerable individuals in a given society

전자정부와 온라인 매체 활용이 정부신뢰에 미치는 영향에 관한 연구

학위논문 (박사)-- 서울대학교 행정대학원 : 행정학과(행정학전공), 2013. 2. 임도빈.Citizens trust in government is important to the pursuit of a happy and prosperous society, as well as to achieving an effective government. For this reason, a substantial amount of scholarly resources are dedicated to deriving a better understanding of the factors that influence people to trust their government: many researchers have proposed, over the course of the past decade, that e-government may be used as a tool that drives trust in government to higher levels. The argument is that, by using e-government, citizens develop a better understanding of their government, as well as more reasonable expectations of government performance, which, in turn, leads to higher levels of trust in government. Guided by such logic, governments the world over have embraced e-government as a means of enhancing levels of citizens trust in government. Yet, empirical assessments of the relationship between citizens use of e-government and trust in government have returned mixed results, which caused many to question the utility of e-government as a means of building up citizens' trust in government. The objective of this study is to clarify the influence of citizens use of e-government on their levels of trust in government, by considering, in greater detail, the process by which citizens use of e-government may affect their levels of trust in government. To this end, this study suggests that citizens use of e-government influences the relationship between citizens predisposition to trust in general and their levels of trust in government. Additionally, perceptions of government performance are proposed to mediate the relationship between citizens predisposition to trust in general and trust in government. These relationships are examined within the context of Seoul, a city that is well known for its advanced e-government. In order to substantiate the analysis related to the use of the e-government itself, the influence stemming from citizens use of online mass media was also examined in parallel. The findings of this study indicate that citizens use of e-government positively influences the relationship between their predisposition to trust in general and their trust in government, but that this positive influence is mediated by their perceptions of the government's performance. In addition, the extent of this positive influence of e-government decreases with increased frequency of use of e-government. Another interesting finding was that citizens frequency of use of online mass-media, which is often argued to be negatively biased in its portrayal of government, was found to have effects on trust that are very similar to those that were found to result from the citizens use of e-government. These findings serve to clarify some of the confusion regarding the relationship between citizens use of e-government and trust in government. Additionally, they offer insight into how the government may make more effective use of this tool in order to foster higher levels of citizen trust in government.CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Background of Study 1 1.2 Why Trust in Government? 4 1.3 Purpose of this research 5 1.4 Organization of the study 7 1.5 Scope of this dissertation 7 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 11 2.1 Literature Review on trust in government 11 2.1.1 Defining trust as a concept 12 2.1.2 Defining government as a concept 20 2.1.3 Research related to trust in the Seoul Metropolitan government 24 2.1.4 Defining trust in government and outlining the antecedents of interest 26 2.2 Literature review of antecedents to trust in government 27 2.2.1 The Antecedent of Social Trust 28 2.2.2 The antecedents of citizens use of e-government and online mass media 40 2.2.3 The antecedent of perceived government performance 54 2.3 Conclusion 66 CHAPTER 3. DATA AND VARIABLES 68 3.1 Data collection and survey methods 69 3.2 Measures and variables 75 3.2.1 Measure of trust in government 75 3.2.2 Measure of perceptions of macro government performance 79 3.2.3 Measure of social trust 82 3.2.4 Measure of citizens use of e-government and online mass media 84 3.3 Concluding remarks 94 CHAPTER 4. ANALYSIS AND RESULTS 95 4.1 Mediated moderation and its relevance to this studys research questions 95 4.1.1 An explanation of mediated moderation 97 4.2 Variables to be included for analysis in this research 99 4.2.1 Relationships between variables 100 4.2.2 Hypotheses 106 4.2.3 Control variables to be included in this research 110 4.3 Analyses and results 119 4.3.1 Analysis of frequency of e-government use 119 4.3.2 Analysis of frequency of online mass media use 126 4.4 Conclusion 135 CHAPTER 5. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUDING REMARKS 137 5.1 Principal Findings 137 5.2 Discussion of Findings 140 5.2.1 Theoretical Explanations 140 5.2.2 External Validity of this studys findings 148 5.3 Policy Implications 152 5.4 Limitations of this Study and Implications for Future Research 157 5.5 Conclusion 159 Appendix 1: Effects for the relationship between e-government, social trust and trust in government (eq1) 161 Appendix 2: Effects for the relationship between e-government, social trust and perceptions of governemnt performance (eq2) 162 Appendix 3: Mediated Relationship for e-government use (eq3) 163 Appendix 4: Effects for the relationship between online mass media, social trust and trust in government (eq1) 164 Appendix 5: Effects for the relationship between online mass media, social trust and perceptions of governemnt performance (eq2) 165 Appendix 6: Mediated Relationship for online mass media use (eq3) 166 Appendix 7: Simple slopes analysis of direct effects for e-government use model 167 Appendix 8: Simple slopes analysis of the direct effects for online mass media model 168 BIBLIOGRAPRHY 169 국문초록 195 Acknowledgement 196Docto

Linking Decision-Making Procedures to Decision Acceptance and Citizen Voice : Evidence From Two Studies

Government decision-making procedures and transparency ensure responsive governance. Yet, there are few attempts to assess how these two factors shape citizens’ intentions to voice opposition to government decisions. We predict that the effect of decision-making procedures on voice is contingent upon the fairness of government decision-making procedures. We also hypothesize that the strength of this effect will vary according to how transparent the decision-making process is. We test these hypotheses using two survey experiments, where we assess how the effect of procedural fairness of a decision-making process on citizen voice varies according to the level of transparency. Findings reveal that participants are least inclined to voice opposition when a decision-making process is fair and transparency high. However, when a decision-making process is unfair, greater transparency did not increase voice. We conclude that transparency can stifle voice for fair decision-making procedures but does not stimulate voice when decision-making procedures are unfair

Linking Decision-Making Procedures to Decision Acceptance and Citizen Voice : Evidence From Two Studies

Government decision-making procedures and transparency ensure responsive governance. Yet, there are few attempts to assess how these two factors shape citizens’ intentions to voice opposition to government decisions. We predict that the effect of decision-making procedures on voice is contingent upon the fairness of government decision-making procedures. We also hypothesize that the strength of this effect will vary according to how transparent the decision-making process is. We test these hypotheses using two survey experiments, where we assess how the effect of procedural fairness of a decision-making process on citizen voice varies according to the level of transparency. Findings reveal that participants are least inclined to voice opposition when a decision-making process is fair and transparency high. However, when a decision-making process is unfair, greater transparency did not increase voice. We conclude that transparency can stifle voice for fair decision-making procedures but does not stimulate voice when decision-making procedures are unfair

Capturing the social relevance of government transparency and accountability using a behavioral lens

The link between transparency and accountability is an often discussed feature of good governance. Despite a great deal of attention, this relationship remains poorly understood. We argue that the adoption of a behavioral lens to evaluate the impact of transparency on accountability offers new opportunities to discover novel mechanisms that contribute to a more systematic understanding of when and why increasing government transparency enhances accountability. Shedding light on such mechanisms not only promises to improve existing theory, but to also render transparency more meaningful to the applied world. To make this argument, we highlight findings from four articles that form the basis of this symposium issue and discuss avenues for further research