Symbolic Bureaucratic Representation and Client Cooperation: Experimental Insights From Four Daily Public Service Scenarios in China
通过在中国对1600名全国代表性样本进行四项联合实验，研究了五种身份信号（性别、年龄、口音、党派、真人vs AI聊天机器人）的象征性代表效应，发现身份一致性对公众合作意愿有异质性影响，且公众对主动代表的期望是重要中介因素。
ABSTRACT Representative bureaucracy studies have explored the potential impact of symbolic representation on clients' attitudes and behaviors, even in the absence of direct action by bureaucrats. Through four original conjoint experiments conducted with a nationally representative sample of 1600 participants in China, we analyze the symbolic representation effects of five most commonly observable identity signals, including gender, age, accent, party affiliation, and human voice (versus AI chatbot), across two types of bureaucrat‐initiated contacts and two types of client‐initiated contacts. Our findings contribute to the existing literature by demonstrating that identity congruence has heterogeneous symbolic representation effects; clients' expectations about active representation serve as a significant mediating factor influencing their willingness to cooperate with bureaucrats.