Good news is good news for new economic powers

Although negativity bias is well-documented in media and communication studies, negative news may not always be more influential than positive news. This study adds to the literature by looking at how the positive-negative asymmetry varies with the characteristics of the objects. It examines the media effect on the public perception of three large emerging countries (China, India and South Africa) and their firms. The results indicate that both negative news and positive news influenced respondents’ evaluation of country image and firm attractiveness; the negativity bias was associated with political country image, and the positivity bias was associated with eco-technological country image, affective country image and firm attractiveness; the effect size of media salience on affective country image was higher than on eco-technological and political country image. Comparing the three countries, the study also found that national economic and political development level and international relations were relevant to understanding media salience and public perception of foreign countries.