Government Publicity Research Articles

Re-envisioning vocational education: critical discourse analysis of a government publicity campaign in Hong Kong

PurposeVocational education in Hong Kong suffers from an image problem. Stakeholders often perceive it as a second-best option for those who fail to advance in academic education. In 2016, to promote vocational education, the Hong Kong government launched a publicity campaign and rebranded vocational education and training (VET) as vocational and professional education and training (VPET). This study critically analyzes the new discourse crafted by this campaign and assesses its potential to change VPET’s status.Design/methodology/approachThis study applies critical discourse analysis to the set of television public service advertisements produced as part of the government publicity campaign.FindingsThe messaging of the publicity campaign consists of two major discursive strategies. One stresses the ability to find self-fulfillment through VPET. The other stresses the academic ability and middle-class status of VPET students as well as the non-manual and high-end career opportunities for graduates. While the first strategy offers a new basis on which to value VPET, the second recreates assumptions about the value of academic achievement and what constitutes respectable employment, even as it attempts to challenge stereotypes. It reinforces that the ultimate goal of education is financial gain and social status. It overlooks other values of education and the potential value of VPET in enhancing individual choice and agency.Research limitations/implicationsDiscourse analysis does not provide information about audience perceptions and interpretations.Social implicationsThe government could consider reframing their messaging in terms of the diverse values and experiences of VPET students. Highlighting the values that VPET students themselves see in their education provides alternative discourses that can better challenge hegemonic ideas.Originality/valueTo the best of our knowledge, this is the first discourse analysis of the government’s publicity campaign to promote VPET.

Analysis of low-carbon technology transfer strategies based on a quadrilateral evolutionary game

Promoting low-carbon technology transfer is crucial for reducing global greenhouse gas emissions, combating climate change, and fostering sustainable development. Based on the “efficient market” and “active government” concepts, a “government-intermediary-receiver-sender” game model was constructed, identifying evolutionary stable strategies and key factors affecting strategy selection. It was found that (1) receiver and sender needs and government policy incentives increase intermediaries' willingness to participate, reducing input costs and shifting government support from incentives to compensatory regulations; (2) optimal strategies emerge when incentives for low-carbon technology senders, receivers, and intermediaries, and penalties for serious defaults by senders and receivers exceed a threshold, fostering high participation willingness and leading to government implementation of compensatory regulations; (3) differentiated penalties are necessary to avoid a sender-receiver prisoner's dilemma but only ensure one side's willingness to participate, while government incentive-based regulation can overcome negative constraints and promote active participation from both sender and receiver. Compensatory regulations encourage sustained technology transfer costs and reduce incentive costs, with optimization focusing on lowering government publicity costs and increasing economic benefits for intermediaries.

Impacts of Capital Endowment on Farmers’ Choices in Fertilizer-Reduction and Efficiency-Increasing Technologies (Preferences, Influences, and Mechanisms): A Case Study of Apple Farmers in the Provinces of Shaanxi and Gansu, China

On the basis of data collected from 1208 apple farmers in the provinces of Shaanxi and Gansu, this study utilizes the weighted-frequency method to investigate the priority sequence of farmers’ preferences in choosing fertilizer-reduction and efficiency-increasing technologies. Subsequently, ordered-probit models, a mediating-effect model, and a moderating-effect model are employed to empirically analyze the influence of capital endowment on farmers’ choices related to fertilizer-reduction and efficiency-increasing technologies and their underlying mechanisms. The study further examines how agricultural-technology extension moderates these mechanisms. The main findings are: (1) The priority sequence of farmers’ choices concerning fertilizer-reduction and efficiency-increasing technologies is as follows: organic fertilizer substitution, new efficient fertilizers, soil testing and formula fertilization, green manure cultivation, straw mulching, fertilizer-reduction application, and deep mechanical application. (2) Capital endowment significantly enhances farmers’ choices in fertilizer-reduction and efficiency-increasing technologies. (3) The mechanism analyses indicate that capital endowment can promote farmers’ choices in fertilizer-reduction and efficiency-increasing technologies by improving their information-acquisition capabilities. (4) Moderation effects reveal that agricultural-technology extension methods, such as technical training, financial subsidies, and government publicity, significantly and positively moderate the relationship between information-acquisition capabilities and farmers’ choices in fertilizer-reduction and efficiency-increasing technologies. The moderating effects of educational attainment and generational differences on different agricultural-technology extension methods are heterogeneous. Technical training, financial subsidies, and government publicity can effectively enhance the positive impact of information-acquisition capabilities on farmers with a higher educational attainment. Financial subsidies can effectively strengthen the positive impact of information-acquisition capabilities on the older generation of farmers. Therefore, it is recommended to prioritize the accumulation of farmers’ capital endowment, improve their information-acquisition capabilities, and intensify agricultural-technology extension efforts, especially taking into account farmers’ educational attainment and generational differences.

Cognitive Study on the Classification Policy of Domestic Waste among Residents in Nanning City

Nanning is one of the 46 key cities in China to establish a municipal solid waste classification system before the end of 2020, and the garbage classification work ranks in the top in many quarters. At the same time, it still faces some difficulties in the implementation of waste classification policy. Exploring people's understanding of domestic waste classification is of great significance to the improvement of waste classification policy and the implementation of waste classification work. Based on the data obtained from the field survey and questionnaire survey of Nanning residents, this paper obtains the residents' cognition of domestic waste classification policy, and obtains the influencing factors of residents' cognition of domestic waste classification policy through empirical analysis. The results show that the factors affecting residents' cognition are government regulation, publicity and education, incentive mechanism, public participation and supporting facilities, while individual wishes and behaviors, charging mechanism and community management have no significant impact on the domestic waste classification policy. According to the analysis results, this paper discusses the problems and reasons existing in the cognition of urban residents' domestic waste classification policy, and puts forward some suggestions for improvement and optimization. First, strengthen publicity and education to promote residents' cognition; The second is to strengthen government control and improve detailed policies and regulations; Third, pay attention to the supervision and implementation of reward and punishment measures, and promote the standardized implementation of classification behavior; The fourth is to build and improve the garbage classification and treatment system; Fifth, broaden the channels of public participation.

An evolutionary game study of cockroach control strategies in residential households

Cockroach control in Beijing's residential households is supported by the local government previously but now it is paid by the residents themselves. Under the new residential household cockroach control strategy, the evolutionary game theory is applied in this study to construct an evolutionary game model for the choice behaviour of both PCO (Pest Control Operation) enterprises and the local governments under government regulation. The evolutionary stabilization strategies under different situations were suggested and the key factors for the evolutionary game behaviour were analyzed through Matlab simulation. It was found that the benefits and costs of the local governments' promotion for the cockroach eradication activities, the incremental benefits of PCO enterprises through government publicity and the subsidies for the activities, and the additional costs of PCO enterprises to participate in cockroach eradication activities are the key factors. The incremental benefits from the publicity of the activities and the government subsidies can be used to incent the PCO enterprises’ activities, which may be failure without the government promotion. This study confirms the decisive role of the strategic choices of PCO enterprises and the government for effective cockroach eradication activities. Therefore, before the campaign is launched, it is necessary to take into account the economic benefits of PCO enterprises and the public interests of the governments so that the game system can evolve out of the "ineffective" and undesirable "locked" state and evolve towards the ideal state, while would be a basis for other anti- pest efforts.

Factors affecting Chinese farmers' environment-friendly pesticide application behavior: A meta-analysis

Excessive chemical pesticide application in China has caused serious agriculture environmental pollution in the country. To address this, understanding farmers' environment-friendly pesticide application behavior (FEPAB) is important. However, the divergence in findings of different empirical studies is a major challenge for forming appropriate policies. Using a meta-analysis of 67 empirical studies, this study quantitatively synthesizes the existing research and explores the key factors affecting FEPAB in China and how the influence of different factors on FEPAB changes over time. The results show that: (1) Pesticide application knowledge has the strongest promoting effect on FEPAB, followed by pesticide residue awareness, government subsidies, production safety awareness, environmental pollution awareness, and family income. Meanwhile, Green pesticide price has the strongest inhibiting effect on FEPAB, followed by risk attitude, government publicity and education, household size, land fragmentation, farm income ratio, farm size, and health. (2) The effects of family income, environmental pollution awareness, and pesticide residue awareness on FEPAB strengthen over time. Thus, FEPAB can be promoted by publicizing the application of environment-friendly pesticides, improving farmers' awareness about environmental pollution and the negative impacts of pesticide residues, diversifying farmers' income channels, and increasing subsidies for green pesticide purchases.

Evolutionary analysis of stakeholder behavior in green retrofitting of traditional residential buildings based on dissemination and game models.

To achieve carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals in China, green retrofitting of traditional residential buildings is the one of the important ways. Therefore, the dynamics process of the change of the resident group intention to retrofit and its impact on the behavior of the tripartite game between the government, investment retrofitting enterprises and residents needs to be analyzed. Firstly, a dissemination model of green retrofitting intentions among resident groups is constructed, and it is coupled with the tripartite game model. Then, through numerical simulation, the dissemination laws of intention for green retrofitting among resident groups and its influence on the evolution process of the tripartite game are analyzed. The results show that: (1) The rate at which the triad of government, investment retrofitting enterprises and residents reaches steady state is influenced by the impact of changes in the level of social climate on the rate of conversion of potential and participating residents to immune residents. When the rate of enterprises investment and residents participation increases, the rate of government choice of incentive strategies decreases; (2) greater government regulation and subsidies will increase the intention of residents and retrofitting enterprises to participate. The ideal steady state without government incentives can be achieved when the group size of participating residents is increased by improving the level of government publicity and education and the technology level of the enterprises; (3) the intention of enterprises to invest is closely related to the cognitive benefits and the level of risk perception of residents. The conclusions of the study can be used as a reference for the government to make green retrofitting policies for traditional residential buildings.

Evolutionary analysis of resident groups’ intention to participate in green retrofit PPP projects of traditional apartment complexes

Green retrofit PPP projects of traditional apartment complexes play an important role in promoting the green and low-carbon transformation of the construction industry and achieving China's "double carbon" goals. The integrated retrofit of apartment complexes presupposes that the resident groups agree to the retrofit. Therefore, it is necessary to study the evolutionary mechanism of residents' intention to green retrofit and the transformation process of their behavior, and to explore how to enhance residents' intention to participate. First, the dissemination model of residents' intention to green retrofit is constructed. Then, the strategic interaction among government, social capitals and residents under the PPP model is introduced into the dissemination model to define the state transformation probability of resident groups. Finally, the evolution laws of residents' intention to green retrofit are analyzed. The results show that: (1) the behavior of government regulation and social capitals' effort to retrofit can motivate the number of the resident agreeing to green retrofit to meet the proportional limit, (2) the faster the government chooses the strategy of regulation and the social capitals choose the strategy of effort to retrofit, the faster the number of residents agreeing to green retrofit reaches a steady state, (3) when the level of government publicity and education is too low, the cost of government regulation or the subsidy given to residents is too high, the green retrofit of traditional apartment complexes cannot be achieved. The research conclusions can provide a reference for the government to formulate green retrofit policies.

Research on the Restrictive Factors of Vigorous Promotion of Prefabricated Buildings in Yancheng under the Background of “Double Carbon”

In the field of construction, the promotion of prefabricated buildings has been strongly supported by the state due to its low-carbon, environmental protection and high-efficiency characteristics. The process of design, prefabrication, and installation, is restricted by factors such as unsound policy standards, insufficient technological innovation, lack of professional talents, and high costs, which have led to the slow development of prefabricated buildings in China. The main factors that restrict the development of prefabricated buildings in Yancheng are identified from the researcher’s point of view by literature review and questionnaire survey method. The degree of centrality and cause of each constraint has been analyzed by the decision-making laboratory method (DEMATEL), and the interpretation structure method (ISM) was used to build a multi-level hierarchical structure model of constraints, the logical relationship, hierarchical relationship and relative importance of each constraint are clarified. It is concluded that industry policies, imperfect standards and insufficient government publicity are the fundamental reasons to hinder the development of prefabricated buildings in Yancheng. According to the order of the centrality, the main restrictive factors are determined, which benefits the establishment of the homologous counterplan for the vigorous promotion of prefabricated buildings in Yancheng.

The Influence of Government Regulation on Farmers’ Green Production Behavior—From the Perspective of the Market Structure

To clarify the factors influencing the green production behavior of peach farmers, this paper uses the survey data of 741 peach farmers in 19 provinces and cities in China, it uses a multiple ordered probit model to empirically analyze the impact of the government regulations on the green production behavior of peach farmers, from the perspective of the market structure. This paper also analyzes its intermediary role in this process, and it analyzes the possible heterogeneity at both the planting scale and the regional level. The results show the following: (1) Government regulation has a positive and significant impact on the green production behavior of peach farmers. Specifically, government supervision and inspection, alongside green subsidies, can positively promote the implementation of green production behavior by peach farmers, but government publicity and training have not played a good role. (2) The market structure plays a partial intermediary role, rather than a complete intermediary role, in the government regulation affecting the green production behavior of peach farmers. (3) The impact of the government regulation on the green production behavior of peach farmers is heterogeneous. Specifically, compared with small farmers, the impact on large-scale farmers is higher; however, the influence of the three methods of government regulation on the green production behavior of peach farmers varies from region to region. Therefore, in order to promote the implementation of green production, the government should introduce appropriate local policies, strongly support new agricultural business entities, draw clear guidelines for the market, and play the role of "night watchman".

Exploring the role of green government publicity influencing people's pro-environmental behaviors.

In recent years government publicity was extensively used to convey environmental issues; therefore, it is important to explore the role of green government publicity influencing people's pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs). This study is to uncover the impact of China's green government publicity on people's willingness to use green packaging. This research collected data from Guangzhou of China, we used convenient sampling and online questionnaire survey to gather data, and there were 584 effective samples. Using the statistical software Amos17.0, the results reveal that green government publicity has a significant effect on environmental concerns and moral obligation. Environmental concerns and moral obligation both have positive effects on PEBs. In addition, Environmental concerns and moral obligation all have mediating effects in the relationship between green government publicity and people's PEBs.

Covid-19 and public responsibility

Abstract This paper offers an analysis of a British government publicity campaign during the third national lockdown, which began in England in January 2021. When it came to enforcing lockdown rules, the government’s messaging in the Linguistic Landscape (LL) and elsewhere focused on individualising responsibility for the pandemic. This framing favoured the political interests of the government by apportioning blame for the highest death toll in Europe to the British public’s reckless behaviour, which conveniently elides the government’s own role in the crisis. Drawing on data from social media and the LL, I analyse the publicity campaign according to a Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis approach, taking into account the multiple semiotic systems employed to communicate the campaign’s underlying neoliberal ideology.

Consumers' decoy effect when purchasing pork with traceability technologies.

Despite government investment, policy guidance, and publicity, it has been difficult to establish a traceable food market in China over the past 2 decades. Once a food safety problem occurs, it is difficult to implement effective traceability, recall, and accountability along the food supply chain. How to use the decoy effect to promote the development of China traceable food market? As bounded rationality, a decoy effect exists when adding an alternative to a choice set increases the chance an existing alternative to be chosen. However, few studies have examined the decoy effect in food purchases. Based on consumers in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China, we show the decoy effect in traceable pork hindquarter purchases and that the effects differ across product quality and price attributes. The effects are heterogeneous across consumers and are less likely to occur among those who had a personal annual income of more than 50,000 yuan (USD $7,000), were married, and had minor children in the family. These findings have implications on leveraging the influence of the decoy effect on consumer behavior and facilitating the construction of food traceability systems.

Multi-Level Determinants of Acceptance in Centralized Pesticide Delivery among Farmers: Evidence from Huangshan City, China

Highly toxic pesticides bring negative externalities to water pollution, which increase the demand for green pesticides that are low-toxic and high-efficiency. With the implementation of the unique the Centralized Pesticide Distribution (CPD) policy aiming to reduce the use of chemical pesticides in Huangshan, we try to explore the factors that affect farmers’ acceptance of CPD and thus change their pesticides selection. Based on the theory of farmers’ ecological rationality, we build a decision-making ecosystem on accepting CPD and assuming that farmers’ behavior is determined hierarchically by factors, then the Logistic-AISM model is used for empirical testing using data collected from 233 representative farmers. The results show that the proportion of agri-income and participation in cooperatives fundamentally affected choices for CPD acceptance through two middle-level indirect factor: government publicity and the availability of agri-information by changing farmers’ cognition on pesticides and production status. Thus, CPD may be improved by selling a richer variety of insecticides and implementing more publicity. Lessons from China inspire other intensive farming countries to promote green pesticides by: expanding the sales channel of green agri-products, playing the auxiliary role of cooperatives, and inventing more eco-friendly pesticides.

How to reduce overpackaging of food in China: Analysis based on evolutionary game

At the beginning of the 21st century, China was calling for a reduction in packages, but to this day overpackaging of food in China remains a serious problem. It is widely believed that the government needs further legislation, and researchers also think that consumers' environmental awareness should be raised. Focusing on food overpackaging, this paper develops a tripartite evolutionary game model of government, enterprises, and consumers, and introduces the effort level of government enforcement and publicity to explore the best strategy for government. The results show that (1) the government must adopt penalties and environmental publicity, otherwise, it is difficult to develop an evolutionary stable strategy (ESS) that enterprises give up overpackaging by only relying on consumers' power. (2) The increase of the initial size of government and the environmental awareness of consumers have significant positive effects on promoting enterprises to return to normal packaging, but the increase of the initial proportion of consumers against overpackaging does not always forward the evolution of the government. (3) Best strategy for government is primarily influenced by the initial size of government and consumers. When the initial sizes rise, enforcement needs to improve while environmental publicity is adjusted to a basic level, which allows the government to achieve both low-cost and environmental goals. This study provides theoretical and practical values for reducing food overpackaging in China, and the conclusions provide a reference for the government to formulate effective packaging policies.

The Universal Laws of Propaganda: World War I and the Origins of Government Manufacture of Opinion

ABSTRACT The Great War transformed propaganda as, indeed, it transformed warfare. Over the course of the conflict, from 1914 to 1918, propaganda became, for the first time, a pervasive, systematic instrument of every government that threw troops into battle. The belligerent governments employed similar approaches to shaping mass opinion. This study identifies nine laws of propaganda – that is, seminal characteristics and consequences – that emerged from the war and continue today. We draw on primary sources and unpublished materials located in political archives in the United States, Germany and Britain to explore the relationship between media, war, intelligence, and government publicity activities during 1914–1918.

Exploring British advertising and marketing history through records of The National Archives of the UK

PurposeThis paper aims to showcase the range of historical records held at The National Archives of the UK which are potentially highly useful to researchers in marketing and advertising history, but have so far been under-appreciated in these fields.Design/methodology/approachBy taking key record collections, primarily intellectual property records and records of government publicity, and examining them from the perspective of different fields of study, the potential of these collections is brought to light. This paper also draws out key examples of past research with these collections to show both the effectiveness of these records as sources for research and at the same time the limited way they have so far been approached by academics.FindingsThis review of the records demonstrates how researchers working in advertising and marketing history fields might supplement their research or open up new research avenues with the benefit of new sources. It shows how assumptions about government archives need to be reconsidered to avoid missing research opportunities.Practical implicationsSharing knowledge and increasing connections between government archives and academics in these fields may encourage archives to improve their own approaches to archival practice and academic engagement, to make records more accessible to these new research audiences. This would of course be beneficial both to researchers and government archives.Originality/valueThis paper provides a detailed examination of government records in the specific context of the field of marketing history. This unique focus makes a valuable contribution to the literature exploring historical sources for this field.

Analysis on the Effect of China's Rural Endowment Insurance System Reform

In order to improve the living problems of the elderly in rural areas and provide security for the elderly of long-term residents in rural areas, taking the rural old-age insurance system as an example, this paper analyzes the effect of system reform in the market. This paper expounds the background of China's rural old-age insurance system reform, starting from the poor binding force of the existing insurance system; Poor scientificity and rationality; The government's publicity of the old-age insurance system is insufficient. It analyzes the problems of the insurance system from three aspects. Clarifying the reform of the insurance system can further improve the fairness and efficiency of the system, so as to reduce the risk of insurance, standardize the relevant business processes such as insurance payment, improve the growth of the value of the rural old-age insurance system in the market, and better meet the needs of social development. It is proposed that the reform of the old-age insurance system can promote the family pension work, and then ensure that the rural elderly have a safe, reliable and stable source of living funds.

Analysis of the Main Factors Affecting the Development of Fitness and Bodybuilding during a Pandemic: The Case of Leshan City

In the context of the new crown epidemic, Leshan City, Sichuan Province, analyzed the factors affecting fitness and bodybuilding sports in the region through literature analysis, questionnaires and mathematical statistics. The results showed that there are several factors affecting the development of fitness and bodybuilding sports, including direct factors such as insufficient facilities and coaches' level, and environmental factors such as lack of government publicity and support. After the analysis, the basic situation of the development of fitness and bodybuilding sports in Leshan City under the new crown epidemic at this stage was studied, and the problems existing at this stage were proposed, don't give relevant suggestions. To improve the development of fitness and bodybuilding sports in Leshan City, Sichuan Province, and promote the development of fitness and bodybuilding sports in China.

Simulating the Effect of Mixed Subsidy Policies on Urban Low-Value Recyclable Waste in China: A System Dynamics Approach.

Low-value recyclable waste accounts for a large portion of urban waste output in many modern cities. The improper management and disposal of LVRW result in environmental pollution and a waste of resources. Given the characteristics of a high recovery cost and low recovery income of low-value recyclables, it is difficult to obtain a satisfactory waste disposal effect by completely relying on the market mechanism. It is thus necessary for the government to implement effective subsidies for multiple subjects in the urban waste recycling system (UWRS). This study examines the independent roles of four subsidy policies—subsidy to the third-party waste disposal institutions, subsidy to a state-owned waste disposal institution, R&D subsidy for green technology, and subsidy for government publicity—and develops a system dynamics model to verify the performance of the UWRS under different combinations of subsidy-based policies under multiple scenarios. Data on urban waste disposal for Guangzhou from 2019 and 2020 were used to validate and simulate the model. A sensitivity analysis of the main exogenous variables was carried out, and the conclusions are as follows: (1) On the premise of a fixed subsidy capital pool, a mixed subsidy policy produced the best impact on the UWRS. (2) The total subsidy needed to reach a certain threshold; otherwise, the mixed subsidy policy did not improve the UWRS. The total subsidy produced diminishing returns once it had exceeded the threshold. (3) Appropriately reducing subsidies for the third-party waste disposal institutions within a reasonable range does not affect the performance of the UWRS. (4) The effect of government publicity has short-term advantages, while the long-term potential of green technology is greater. Multi-agent coordination and the guidance of the market mechanism are important priorities in the design of subsidy-based policies. In addition, the trade-off between subjects needs attention, and a plan for mixed subsidy policies needs to be designed and implemented according to the response periods of different policies. The research here provides theoretical support for the government for designing subsidy-based policies.