Research on the Communication Effects and Mass Media Credibility in China: The Foundational Theory, Evaluation Methods and Empirical Analysis

This book establishes a measurement index to quantify China’s mass media public credibility, based on extensive research and the encapsulation of measurement theories and approaches related to media public credibility, as well as numerous empirical case studies from the international academic community over the past hundred years. The investigation into the current state of Chinese mass media public credibility and discussion on practical approaches to enhancing such public credibility is highly significant in the context of research on media public credibility. The book focuses on two fundamental issues: i) investigating the basic factors the Chinese audience values as the yardstick for media credibility, and ii) formulating a media public credibility measurement scale. Relying on data from investigations, the authors analyze the importance of various assessment benchmarks for measuring media public credibility and the characteristics of public credibility assessment. Lastly, a measurement scale is created by screening and analyzing measurement indices with statistical methods such as exploratory and authenticated factor analyses and credibility and validity testing, which is of high theoretical and practical scientific value.

Professor Yu Guoming, Changjiang Scholar, and member of the sub-committee of Journalism and Communication Studies of the 7th Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council. Currently he is the director of the academic committee of the School of Journalism and Communication of Beijing Normal University, director of the Communication Innovation and Future Media Experimental Platform of Beijing Normal University, vice Chairman of the Beijing Association of Social Sciences, and Chairman of the Committee for Media Economic and Management in the Chinese Association for History of Journalism and Communication. He is the editor-in-chief of the Annual Report on China’s Media Development Index (Blue Book), the Annual Report on Public Opinion in China (Blue Book) and the Annual Report on Internet Marketing Development in China (Blue Book). He is the leader of empirical research in communication studies, the founder of media economics and one of the pioneers of cognitive neuroscience and communication in China. He has authored/co-authored 40 monographs, textbooks and bluebooks, and has published more than 900 journal articles. He is the frequently cited scholar in the discipline of journalism and communication.