(iPoster) How Public Commitments Shape National Image? Evidence from “Dual Carbon Goal”

• In Event: Poster Session: Information Technology and Politics & Science, Technology, and Environment
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: Science, Technology, and Environment

Abstract

Public diplomacy (PD) can improve national image through the mechanisms of providing substantial interests and enhancing mutual understanding. This study aims to explore whether public diplomacy can yield comparable outcomes in the absence of these two conditions, a situation frequently observed in the context of making public commitments. By studying China’s Dual Carbon Goals, a pivotal public commitment aimed at addressing climate change and framed as a national image building (NIB) project, we argue that two key dimensions of public commitments—the involvement of a country’s highest leader and the clarity of his/her public commitments—serve as effective signaling in shaping the country’s benevolent image in global governance. This study employs two complementary approaches. First, we conduct a cross-national experiment in Chile and Mexico to explore how different types of signaling—distinguished by the involvement of the country’s highest leader and the clarity of commitments—affect national image and uncover the underlying mechanisms. Second, we collect 2,102,228 climate-related articles about China to analyze the impact of “Dual Carbon Goals” on media sentiment using a regression discontinuity design (RDD). The findings reveal that NIB efforts are most effective when public commitments are clear and announced by the country’s highest leader. Contrary to conventional expectations, these positive effects do not stem from the anticipated audience costs, where failing to fulfill commitments would lead to reputational penalties. Instead, the effect is mediated by perceptions of China’s capacity to fulfill its promises, particularly in achieving carbon peak and neutrality goals. This effect is further amplified among participants who view climate change as a critical global challenge. Analysis of climate-related articles corroborates these findings, demonstrating that the “Dual Carbon Goals” has garnered more favorable media coverage of China, thereby reinforcing the robustness of experimental results. This study contributes to the literature on public diplomacy by examining the effect of a discursive approach diverging from traditional PD strategies reliant on sunk costs in building a benevolent national image. It validates the effectiveness of the ‘tying hands’ signaling, while offering an alternative mechanism that operates beyond generating audience costs. The findings also provide practical insights into the design of effective PD strategies, particularly emphasizing the importance of combining leadership presence with clear signaling in global policy initiatives.

Author

• Yike CHEN, Zhejiang University