Understanding Who is Blamed for COVID-19: Dynamics of Conspiratorial Beliefs, Blame Attribution, Perceived Economic Threat, and Consumer Ethnocentrism

Kim, S; Tam, L; Taylor, M

Understanding Who is Blamed for COVID-19: Dynamics of Conspiratorial Beliefs, Blame Attribution, Perceived Economic Threat, and Consumer Ethnocentrism

Kim, S

Tam, L Taylor, M

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Publisher:: Taylor and Francis Group
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: International Journal of Strategic Communication, 2023
Issue Date:: 2023-07-06

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Kim, S https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8968-0249
dc.contributor.author	Tam, L
dc.contributor.author	Taylor, M
dc.date.accessioned	2023-10-04T03:58:52Z
dc.date.available	2023-10-04T03:58:52Z
dc.date.issued	2023-07-06
dc.identifier.citation	International Journal of Strategic Communication, 2023
dc.identifier.issn	1553-118X
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/172467
dc.description.abstract	This study investigates individuals’ conspiratorial beliefs about China’s role in the COVID-19 pandemic and their effects on their attitudes toward China. While many conspiracy theories about China had been propagated on both traditional and social media, little is known about how this affected individuals’ views on China’s responsibility in the COVID-19 pandemic and the effects of such views. An online survey was conducted with a nationally representative sample of 521 Australian citizens in October 2021. The findings showed that individuals who believed in conspiracy theories regarding China’s role in causing the COVID-19 pandemic (a) attributed blame to China, (b) perceived China as an economic threat to Australia, and (c) exhibited stronger preferences for Australian products over Chinese products. This study will contribute to strategic communication scholarship and practice with key insights into how and why specific groups of individuals develop or adopt conspiratorial beliefs during a crisis
dc.language	en
dc.publisher	Taylor and Francis Group
dc.relation.ispartof	International Journal of Strategic Communication
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1080/1553118X.2023.2235332
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/embargoedAccess
dc.rights	“This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in [International Journal of Strategic Communication, 2023], available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1553118X.2023.2235332?af=R”
dc.subject	20 Language, Communication and Culture
dc.subject.classification	47 Language, communication and culture
dc.title	Understanding Who is Blamed for COVID-19: Dynamics of Conspiratorial Beliefs, Blame Attribution, Perceived Economic Threat, and Consumer Ethnocentrism
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.for	20 Language, Communication and Culture
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences/Public Communication Program
utslib.copyright.status	embargoed	*
pubs.consider-herdc	true
utslib.copyright.embargo	2025-04-18T00:00:00+1000Z
dc.date.updated	2023-10-04T03:58:51Z
pubs.publication-status	Accepted

Abstract:

This study investigates individuals’ conspiratorial beliefs about China’s role in the COVID-19 pandemic and their effects on their attitudes toward China. While many conspiracy theories about China had been propagated on both traditional and social media, little is known about how this affected individuals’ views on China’s responsibility in the COVID-19 pandemic and the effects of such views. An online survey was conducted with a nationally representative sample of 521 Australian citizens in October 2021. The findings showed that individuals who believed in conspiracy theories regarding China’s role in causing the COVID-19 pandemic (a) attributed blame to China, (b) perceived China as an economic threat to Australia, and (c) exhibited stronger preferences for Australian products over Chinese products. This study will contribute to strategic communication scholarship and practice with key insights into how and why specific groups of individuals develop or adopt conspiratorial beliefs during a crisis

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/172467