The effect of media system diversity on intercultural communication competence under one-way media flow

One-way media flow describes the process by which media products are exported from developed countries to developing countries but seldom the other way around. One possible outcome from this unbalanced trend is the difference in media diversity of countries on two ends -- exporting countries will result in a more homogenized media environment consisting of similar messages from the dominant culture while importing countries will result in a more heterogeneous media environment comprised of messages from various cultural backgrounds. Using cultivation theory and the transportation-imagery model as foundations, this study posits that individuals cultivated in importing countries will be able to become transported into a wider range of narratives, leading to differences in intercultural communication competence due to long-term media exposure. The U.S. was chosen to represent an exporting media environment while China was chosen to represent an importing media environment. Results confirm that Chinese audiences are exposed to a greater amount of foreign content than U.S. audiences, although that foreign content as a whole originates from fewer countries than what is consumed in the U.S. Yet, outside of the media environment, U.S. participants have higher intercultural sensitivity and significantly more interpersonal interaction with people from other cultures than the Chinese participants. No significant difference was found on transportation or identification when participants read narratives emphasizing characters from different cultures.