The effect of biased expectation of news media on persuasion in a government crisis: An application of Expectancy Violation Theory

Publication Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

2-2015

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate how publics perceive news coverage of a government crisis based on their biased perception of news media. More specifically, this study applied Expectancy Violation Theory (EVT) and conducted an experimental study of 321 Korean participants through a 2 (message type: expectation-confirmed vs. expectation-disconfirmed message) X 2 (news media type: anti-government vs. pro-government) between-subject design. The results showed that participants were more likely to perceive an expectation-disconfirmed message as more impartial than an expectation-confirmed message when they perceived news media as favorable to the government. On the contrary, respondents were more apt to evaluate an expectation-confirmed message as fairer than an expectation-disconfirmed message when they perceived news media as unfavorable to the government. Theoretical and practical implications are further discussed.

Keywords

Crisis Management, Biased Perception of News Media, Expectancy Violation Theory

Discipline

Business and Corporate Communications | Social Influence and Political Communication

Research Areas

Corporate Communication

Publication

Korean Journal of Advertising

Volume

26

Issue

2

First Page

343

Last Page

359

ISSN

1225-0554

Identifier

10.14377/KJA2015.2.28.343

Publisher

Han'guk Kwanggo Hongbo Hakhoe

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.14377/KJA2015.2.28.343

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