Cross-Media Usage Repertoires and Their Political Impacts: The Case of China

Authors

  • Qiong Gong Erasmus University Rotterdam
  • Marc Verboord Erasmus University Rotterdam
  • Susanne Janssen Erasmus University Rotterdam

Keywords:

media repertoire, political trust, political interest, online political engagement, social media, traditional media, China

Abstract

This study takes a repertoire-oriented approach to examining how social and traditional media usage affect political engagement in China. Building on previous studies and giving them a new direction, we examine how various social media platforms and traditional media outlets are combined in cross-media repertoires of young Chinese adults. We do this with the help of survey data collected in mainland China. Using the Step-3 approach of latent class analysis, we then consider how these repertoires can be explained by various individual and contextual factors and what impact the repertoires themselves have on various forms of political involvement. The study identifies 6 distinctive media repertoires: digitally focused, communication oriented, minimal users, moderate omnivores, voracious omnivores, and print interested. Repertoires are mainly correlated with age, education, and perceived media credibility. In China, young adults with the most omnivorous and print-oriented media repertoires display the highest levels of political trust, political interest, and online political engagement. The study also discusses the implications of these results.

Author Biographies

Qiong Gong, Erasmus University Rotterdam

Qiong Gong (MA) is a researcher, Department of Media and Communication, Erasmus University Rotterdam. Her research interest focuses on social media use, political communication and health communication. Phone number +31 645692657.

Marc Verboord, Erasmus University Rotterdam

Marc Verboord is Associate Professor of media and culture, Department of Media and Communication, Erasmus University Rotterdam. His research interests concern a wide range of issues in the sociology of culture and media, with a particular focus on cultural globalization and the impact of the new media on the cultural field.

Susanne Janssen, Erasmus University Rotterdam

Susanne Janssen is Professor of Sociology of Media and Culture, Department of Media and Communication, Erasmus University Rotterdam. Her research and teaching activities lie in the fields of cultural sociology, media and communications research, and the sociology of the arts and literature.

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Published

2020-07-11

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Articles