Anti-japanese Protests, Social Media Hate Speech and Television Shows in China

Abstract: Can stereotypes in entertainment media explain the recent rise in negative sentiment against foreigners? Despite close economic ties, anti-Japanese sentiment is high in China. I assemble detailed information on Chinese TV broadcasts during 2012 and document that around 20 percent of all TV shows aired during prime time were historical TV dramas set during the Japanese occupation of China during World War II. To identify the causal effect of media on sentiment, I exploit high-frequency data and exogenous variation in the likelihood of viewing Sino-Japanese war dramas due to channel positions and substitution between similar programmes. I show that exposure to these TV shows lead to a significant increase in anti-Japanese protests and anti-Japanese hate speech on social media across China. These effects are driven by privately rather than state-produced TV shows. Using high-frequency internet search data, I show suggestive evidence that exposure to these historical TV dramas only reduces consumption of conspicuously Japanese goods.