Influencing Factors of Trust in Zibo Government in the Context of TikTok Use among Chinese Young Adults

Abstract

TikTok, as a newly emerging social media tool, has been widely used in China especially among Chinese young adults. After China has relaxed its controls of the COVID-19 pandemic policy, there are a great many comments from TikTok young adult users expressing their desire to travel to Zibo city (a city in Shandong), which shows their trust in Zibo government. Therefore, it is imperative to explore the influencing factors of trust in Zibo government in the context of TikTok use among Chinese young adults in this study. Snowball sampling technique was adapted in this study and eight interviewees who are TikTok users aged from 18 to 29 years old were selected. In-depth interview is used in this study to understand the influencing factors of trust in Zibo government from the perspective of eight young adult users. By employing social support theory, the finding indicates that emotional support, financial support and informational support all pays an important role in TikTok young adult users' trust in Zibo government. As a conclusion, in order to promote sustainable development and young adults' trust in government, policymakers are supposed to pay more attention to providing emotional support, financial support and informational support from the government.