How the Image of Grassroots Public Servants Affects Differential Trust in Local Governments: Evidence Based on Stereotype Content Models

An in-depth investigation into the unbalanced structure of government trust is necessary to improve both research in government trust and governance efficiency. Previous research has focused on the differences in trust between central and local governments, but there has been little research on why trust differences arise within the different levels of local governments. This study, which proposes the concept of “differential trust in local governments”, regards the trust gap between county and township governments, city and county governments, and provincial and municipal governments as a function of public perceptions of the image of grassroots civil servants. Based on a stereotype content model, this paper provides evidence that the image of grassroots public servants affects trust in differential local governments based on the two dimensions of ability and enthusiasm. Empirical research finds that: (1) public perceptions of a more positive image of grassroots civil servants is conducive to narrowing the trust gap between high-level and low-level local governments, and this mitigating effect is achieved by increasing trust in low-level local governments; (2) The influence of the image of grassroots civil servants on trust in different levels of local governments reveals differing characteristics, with both enthusiasm and ability affecting trust in. As the level of government rises, the influence of trust in officials gradually weakens, while the influence of their perceived competence becomes increasingly prominent. This paper makes the following contributions: first, it expands the research boundary of the concept of trust in different local governments. Second, through the use of behavioral experiments, it discusses the causal relationship between citizens' perceptions of grassroots civil servants and the trust gap in local governments at different levels, thus providing a new micro-interpretation perspective for in-depth investigations of the sources of trust in local governments of different orders. Third, the research results help to explain how public attitudes toward grassroots civil servants as government agents shift to trust evaluations of local governments and the boundary conditions where this shift occurs, providing enlightenment about how to reduce the trust gap toward different levels of local governments and to improve the governance efficiency of local governments. The research results also provide enlightenment about the management of local governments. Good image management is not only a personal problem of grassroots civil servants, but it can also transfer and affect public trust in local governments. Aimed at the need for targeted image management of government officials at different levels, “soft governance” variables, such as service attitudes and enthusiasm, and “hard governance” elements, such as professionalism and capacity building, are important criteria to repair the trust gap in local governments. For lower-level local governments, it is necessary to enhance the image of the government in terms of enthusiasm, while for higher-level local governments, it is necessary to strengthen the government image management strategy in terms of capacity building.