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Cited by 22Public Relations and Crisis CommunicationE-Government and Public ServicesCommunication and COVID-19 Impact

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 79 of the 79 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Does AI-Generated Care-Based Message Increase Trust in Government? The Pivotal Role of AI Knowledge in Government Crisis Response

Open access
Zhan, Emily S., Zheng, Qi, Dong, Chuqing, Thorson, Esther·2025·International Journal of Strategic Communication
DOI 10.1080/1553118x.2025.2471527
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Abstract

The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) presents new opportunities for governments to respond to crises with greater efficiency. However, current studies have paid limited attention to AI’s role in crisis communication and its potential impact on public perceptions of government trust when crisis communication strategies vary. In this study, we conducted a 2 (Disclosure of AI usage: No, Yes) by 3 (Crisis Response Strategies: Instruction-based, Care-based, Integrated) online-between-subject experiment to explore how AI and crisis response strategies influence trust in government. Additionally, we tested the moderating role of AI knowledge to see if the diffusion of AI influenced people’s trust in government in the crisis context. The results reveal that among the crisis response strategies, the integration of instruction-based and care-based approaches elicited the highest level of trust in government. A three-way interaction showed that a higher level of AI knowledge elevated trust for those who saw messages incorporating a care-based approach by generative AI.

Overview

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Crossref · 10.1080/1553118x.2025.2471527

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79 of 79 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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Show all 79 references

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. Chiancone, C. (2023). Smart government: Practical uses for artificial intelligence in local government. Independently published.

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Metadata

Authors
Zhan, E. S., Zheng, Q., Dong, C., & Thorson, E.
Affiliations
Michigan State University (US)
Corresponding author
Zhan, Emily S.
ORCID
Venue
International Journal of Strategic Communication
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Published
2025-03-15
Volume
19
Issue
2
Pages
176-199
ISSN
  • 1553-118X (ISSN-L)
  • 1553-1198
DOI
10.1080/1553118x.2025.2471527
OpenAlex
W4408609600
Semantic Scholar
77a614b6439505885edf20a3aaacf9772112c8bb
Cited by
22
References
79
Citations by year
2026: 19 · 2025: 3
FWCI
22.81
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
International Journal of Strategic Communication (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Funders
  • School of Journalism
  • MichiganState University
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Communication › Public Relations and Crisis Communication
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › E-Government and Public Services
  • Social Sciences › Communication › Communication and COVID-19 Impact
Keywords
generative AI, crisis communication, public trust in government, AI knowledge, AI disclosure, crisis response strategies, public perception of government

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Bibliographic data: Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, Crossref.

Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).

Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.