Guo Jingjing, Wirza Mohd Zawawi Julia, Kamarudin Syafila
Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
Institute for Social Science Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
PLoS One. 2025 Jun 18;20(6):e0325967. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0325967. eCollection 2025.
Social media have become vital tools for governments during public health crises, enabling the timely dissemination of critical information, health guidance, and public engagement. In China, public engagement through social media, particularly TikTok, presents unique challenges during crises. This study investigates the factors that predict public engagement via the Chinese government's TikTok during a public health emergency, focusing on the roles of information quality, source credibility, multiple cues, immediate feedback, and trust as a mediating variable.
The study is grounded in the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) and Media Richness Theory (MRT) to frame the relationships between these variables. Data were collected through an online questionnaire survey employing convenience sampling, involving 614 respondents aged 18-40 from Hebei Province, China. Descriptive statistical analysis was performed using SPSS, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was employed to test the hypotheses.
The findings indicate that information quality and immediate feedback are significantly positively associated with public engagement via the Chinese government's TikTok. However, source credibility and multiple cues did not have a positive impact on public engagement. Additionally, the study reveals that trust mediates the relationships between information quality, source credibility, and immediate feedback with public engagement.
These results underscore the importance of trust in fostering public engagement and highlight the potential for enhancing government communication strategies on social media during crises. The study suggests that improving the quality of information and providing timely feedback can significantly increase public engagement through social media platforms like TikTok, particularly in the context of public health emergencies.
在公共卫生危机期间，社交媒体已成为政府的重要工具，能够及时传播关键信息、健康指导并促进公众参与。在中国，通过社交媒体，尤其是抖音进行公众参与在危机期间带来了独特的挑战。本研究调查了在突发公共卫生事件期间，预测通过中国政府抖音进行公众参与的因素，重点关注信息质量、来源可信度、多重线索、即时反馈以及信任作为中介变量的作用。
本研究以精细加工可能性模型（ELM）和媒体丰富度理论（MRT）为基础，来构建这些变量之间的关系。通过便利抽样的在线问卷调查收集数据，涉及来自中国河北省的614名年龄在18 - 40岁之间的受访者。使用SPSS进行描述性统计分析，并采用结构方程模型（SEM）来检验假设。
研究结果表明，信息质量和即时反馈与通过中国政府抖音进行的公众参与显著正相关。然而，来源可信度和多重线索对公众参与没有积极影响。此外，研究还表明，信任在信息质量、来源可信度和即时反馈与公众参与之间的关系中起中介作用。
这些结果强调了信任在促进公众参与方面的重要性，并突出了在危机期间加强政府在社交媒体上沟通策略的潜力。该研究表明，提高信息质量并提供及时反馈可以显著增加通过抖音等社交媒体平台进行的公众参与，特别是在突发公共卫生事件的背景下。
