Non-compliance towards Elite Cues: The Persuasion Paths of Perceptions towards China and the US

<ns3:p>This study aims to uncover why non-compliance with elite cues occurred between Duterte’s foreign policy outlooks towards the US and China and the Philippine public’s perceptions of the two great powers. Looking at published survey reports in 2020 and 2021, inconsistencies between elite perceptions and the Philippine public’s attitudes occurred with Duterte aligning with China and going against the US during his six-year presidential term (2016–2022) on one side of the spectrum, and the favorable perception of the Philippine public towards the US and perceived untrustworthiness towards China on the other. What explains the non-compliance with elite cues in the Philippines? To make sense of the empirical puzzle, this study argues for the dominance of the ‘central processing route’ in Petty and Cacioppo’s ‘Elaboration Likelihood Model,’ which reveals the underlying processes relevant to the psychology of cue taking. The central processing route, which affirms that attitudes are primarily formed by substantive content and the weighing out of different argument strengths, can make sense of the unique external outlook embraced by the Philippine public during Duterte’s leadership period. The findings of this study are as follows: Respondents are critical of China due to the greater involvement of respondents towards the US-China contestations; the strong cultural and historical ties between the Philippines and the US, which undermine the peripheral processing route centered around Duterte’s personalities, and the long-term pattern considered that strengthens arguments on China’s lack of cooperation in the South China Sea.</ns3:p>