Defusing environmental activism through scientific greening: Government framing strategy and its effects in China

Using a mixed-method approach, we explore how the Chinese government frames environmentally controversial projects as well as how citizens may react to the government's framing strategy. Through content analysis of state-run media reports on paraxylene (a chemical product with many industrial implications, also known as PX) and waste incineration plants, we identify the government's most salient framing tactic as scientific greening—positively depicting such projects as technologically advanced, reliable, and green, often citing experts and scientific sources. Through a survey experiment among 280 college students, we test the effects of such positive frames as well as the negative frames that highlight environmental risks and the comprehensive frames that present both positive and negative information. We find that although the positive scientific-greening frames can increase one's tolerance of proposed projects in general, they may also enhance their not-in-my-backyard inclination as compared with the control group. Importantly, both the positive scientific-greening frames and the negative frames reduce citizens' intent to engage in environmental protests. We also find that the negative frames are particularly influential for respondents who have low trust in government. Our findings contribute to the understanding of how framing affects environmental activism in China and elsewhere.