“Domestic Shame Should Not Be Publicized”? The Influence Boundaries of “Fact-Value” Appeals under the Context Collapse

GONG He; MA Danfeng; DONG Xu

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Chinese Journal of Journalism & Communication ›› 2024, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (11) : 114-136.

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“Domestic Shame Should Not Be Publicized”? The Influence Boundaries of “Fact-Value” Appeals under the Context Collapse

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Abstract

In light of the ambiguous nature of value appeal and the emergence of novel crisis response strategies, this study integrates empirical data from China to investigate the potential influence of cultural characteristics such as “fact and value”, “public and private”, “internal and external”, and “domestic shame should not be publicized”. The research aims to provide theoretical insights and empirical evidence from China to complement the predominantly Western discourse on crisis communication. Three experiments (N1=193; N2=246; N3=243) revealed that factual appeals are more effective than value appeals; public values facilitate more effective apologies than organizational values; the internal letter format enhances participants’ perceptions of sincerity in apologies; and internal letters amplify the differential impact of public interests and organizational interests on the perception of apology, while attenuating the differential effects of public values and organizational values on perceptions of sincerity in apologies. This study also addresses its limitations and discusses both theoretical and practical implications.

Key words

crisis communication / the fact and value dichotomy / organizational value / public value / apology format

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GONG He , MA Danfeng , DONG Xu. “Domestic Shame Should Not Be Publicized”? The Influence Boundaries of “Fact-Value” Appeals under the Context Collapse[J]. Chinese Journal of Journalism & Communication. 2024, 46(11): 114-136

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Footnotes

1. 附录及附表见：https://osf.io/4jnkq/?view_only=a1b2bf6d860441d39e5ffe511a8d20fe

Funding

National Social Fund “The Study of Community Communication and Dialogue Mechanisms under the Approach of Collective Efficacy” Project(23BXW032)

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