Can information backfire? How corruption experience and media information shape anti-corruption willingness

Abstract

A persistent gap exists between anti-corruption information dissemination and citizens’ responses, raising questions about how anti-corruption willingness is formed. This study develops a theoretical framework linking corruption experience as an individual frame with media information as a media frame. Drawing on a survey experiment, the study finds that passive bribery experience is associated with lower anti-corruption willingness than active bribery experience, and that quantitative information exerts a stronger influence than narrative information. Media information moderates the effect of corruption experience: quantitative information increases anti-corruption willingness among citizens with active bribery experience while suppressing it among those with passive bribery experience. These findings show that anti-corruption willingness is shaped not only by corruption experience, but also by how such experience interacts with information format. The study offers practical implications for designing more targeted anti-corruption communication strategies.