How social media incidental news exposure influences identification with traditional Chinese medicine

Identification with traditional Chinese medicine culture among international audiences has received limited research attention, particularly regarding how social media incidental news exposure relates to this outcome. Thus, we examined the link between incidental news exposure and international identification with traditional Chinese medicine culture, and investigated whether sense of belonging and emotional susceptibility mediated this relationship. We analyzed survey data from 665 participants from six countries and used path analysis with bootstrapped resampling to test our hypotheses. Results revealed that incidental news exposure was positively related to identification with traditional Chinese medicine culture, and both sense of belonging and emotional susceptibility played mediating roles. These findings clarify the relationship between incidental news exposure and cultural identification, and highlight the psychological processes involved in international communication of traditional Chinese medicine.