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Public reactions toward government-sponsored COVID-19 information in Japan

Author

Listed:
  • Gento Kato

    (Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science and International Relations, Nazarbayev University; Associate Researcher, Waseda Institute of Political Economy, Waseda University.)

  • Susumu Annaka

    (Assistant Professor, Waseda Institute for Advanced Study, Waseda University)

  • Masahisa Endo

    (Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, Waseda University.)

Abstract

Given the criticism of the Japanese government-sponsored information despite Japan’s relatively successful pandemic control, we designed a survey experiment to test how and when COVID-19 statistics and messages sponsored by the Japanese government influences people’s risk perception, policy evaluation, behavioral intentions, and future pandemic expectations. On average, government-sponsored statistics and messages rarely induced intended reactions from the public and could even cause backlash. Institutional trust partially played a moderating role in these effects but only slightly. Combined with outcome measures’ correlational analysis, the Japanese public was found to separate pandemic severity from government performance when forming attitudes and behaviors. This implication provides insights into the seeming disconnection between the pandemic state and government evaluation in Japan.

Suggested Citation

  • Gento Kato & Susumu Annaka & Masahisa Endo, 2022. "Public reactions toward government-sponsored COVID-19 information in Japan," Working Papers 2202, Waseda University, Faculty of Political Science and Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:wap:wpaper:2202
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Behnam Honarvar & Kamran B. Lankarani & Ali Kharmandar & Fatemeh Shaygani & Mohammadhassan Zahedroozgar & Mohammad Reza Rahmanian Haghighi & Sulmaz Ghahramani & Hossein Honarvar & Mohammad Mehdi Darya, 2020. "Knowledge, attitudes, risk perceptions, and practices of adults toward COVID-19: a population and field-based study from Iran," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 65(6), pages 731-739, July.
    2. John M. Barrios & Yael Hochberg, 2020. "Risk Perception Through the Lens of Politics in the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic," NBER Working Papers 27008, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Mudit Kapoor & Anup Malani & Shamika Ravi & Arnav Agrawal, 2020. "Authoritarian Governments Appear to Manipulate COVID Data," Papers 2007.09566, arXiv.org.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    COVID-19; government-sponsored information; public opinion; Japan; survey experiment;
    All these keywords.

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