Analysis of the Mediation Effect of Information Processing
Government trust significantly associated with heuristic processing (b = 0.28, t = 8.56, 95% CI = [0.22, 0.34], p< .001), supporting Hypothesis 2. However, government trust did not predict system processing (b = −0.02, t = 0.45, 95% CI = [−0.09, 0.05], p = .65), indicating that Hypothesis 3 was not supported. When information processing methods and government trust were both entered into the regression equation, heuristic processing significantly negatively associated with risk perception (b = -0.10, t = -3.15, 95% CI = [-0.17, -0.04],p = .002). Therefore, the mediating effect of heuristic processing in government trust and risk perception was significant, supporting Hypothesis 4. System processing did not predict risk perception (b = -0.00, t = 0.06, 95% CI = [-0.05, 0.05], p = .95), and the mediating effect was not significant; thus, Hypothesis 5 was not supported.
STUDY 3
Study 3 re-examine whether government trust impacts information processing methods and subsequent risk perception.