Spatial characteristics and influencing factors of risk perception of haze in China: The case study of publishing online comments about haze news on Sina

Haze has become an important factor to harm people's health. In the face of the harm of haze, people express risk perception behavior through publishing online comments on haze news. To a certain extent, online comments affect the government's decision to deal with haze. However, most of the previous efforts only focused on several cities from a micro perspective whereas the existing research lacks to explore the regional differences of risk perception behavior of the whole country from a macro perspective. The macro perspective of research can help policymakers to formulate strategies of haze control according to local conditions. Therefore, it is important to understand the risk perception behavior of publishing online comments and haze from the macro perspective. In this study, we use quantitative methods to study the spatial-temporal characteristics of online comments and PM2.5 in 334 cities in China from 2014 to 2018. From the spatial perspective, the spatial characteristics of online comments are quite different from those of PM2.5 at the city level. It can be seen that the spatial mismatch can affect the government's strategy of haze control according to local conditions. From the perspective of influencing factors, we find that the risk perception behavior of publishing online comments conforms to the theory of environmental risk perception. Firstly, the local social development level is the largest driving force accelerating risk perception behavior. Secondly, information channel also has significantly positive effect on public risk perception behavior. Finally, the harmful degree of haze has the least positive effect on people's risk perception behavior. This gives us enlightenment. The number of online comments does not reflect the harmful degree of haze in dif-ferent regions. We suggest that online comments should not be the main reference factor for policymakers to make strategies. (c) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The study reveals significant spatial-temporal variations in risk perception behavior of online comments and PM2.5 in 334 cities in China, highlighting the importance of tailoring haze control strategies to local conditions. Local social development level and information channels have a strong influence on public risk perception behavior, while the number of online comments may not necessarily reflect the severity of haze in different regions.