Evaluating social perceptions and diffusion networks of green travel: A case of China with Weibo

Green travel has received positive attention from the Chinese government as a carbon-neutrality tool, but public discourse is mixed. This paper assesses social perceptions and diffusion networks of green travel in China using Weibo, a popular social network. We design a framework integrating sentiment analysis, topic modeling, and network analysis to explore patterns in sentiments and topics on green travel in different socio-demographic groups, and to identify communities and opinion leaders. We find government campaigns are most engaging while focusing on demonstrations and examples of green travel. With increasing age, the proportion of positive sentiment rises while neutral sentiment declines, with little change in negative sentiment. Men are three times more likely than women to show interest in new energy vehicles, and this interest increases with age. Individual users account for a lower proportion of positive sentiment compared to institutions. Governments focus on traffic pollution, whereas media and enterprises emphasis electric vehicles. The largest community of interaction consists of various green travel service companies. Opinion leaders typically include influential governments, companies and celebrities. We conclude by discussing how our detailed findings on public discourse about green travel can help policymakers design targeted interventions to increase green travel acceptance among specific groups.