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<p>Amidst sluggish growth, Chinese authorities have sought to spin the narrative about their economy. But does “soft” propaganda—positive messaging, selective presentation of facts, redirection of anger—actually work? Considerable research has been conducted on economic blame in liberal democracies and, to a lesser extent, competitive authoritarian regimes. Yet, closed autocracies have received less attention. We use a survey experiment conducted in China in 2023 to examine the effects of state media messaging offering rosy reports of the economy, explaining that the country has entered a “new normal” stage of slower but more sustainable growth, or criticizing American “economic coercion.” Our finding shows that while some of these messages achieve their intended goal of diverting blame, all can potentially backfire, leading people to blame the government <i>more</i> for their problems.</p>

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Propaganda and Blame Attribution during Economic Downturns: Evidence from China

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年3月20日

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  • Manfred Elfstrom,
  • Xiaojun Li

摘要

Amidst sluggish growth, Chinese authorities have sought to spin the narrative about their economy. But does “soft” propaganda—positive messaging, selective presentation of facts, redirection of anger—actually work? Considerable research has been conducted on economic blame in liberal democracies and, to a lesser extent, competitive authoritarian regimes. Yet, closed autocracies have received less attention. We use a survey experiment conducted in China in 2023 to examine the effects of state media messaging offering rosy reports of the economy, explaining that the country has entered a “new normal” stage of slower but more sustainable growth, or criticizing American “economic coercion.” Our finding shows that while some of these messages achieve their intended goal of diverting blame, all can potentially backfire, leading people to blame the government more for their problems.