Framing Action in Intangible Cultural Heritage Public Service advertisements: Stakeholder Perspectives on Participation and Persuasion
List of Authors
Awan Ismail, Xie Rui
Keyword
Intangible Cultural Heritage; Public Service Advertisement; Action Framing; Participation; Persuasion
Abstract
Intangible cultural heritage (ICH) relies on public participation for its continuity, and public service advertisements (PSAs) have become an important communication strategy in promoting awareness and engagement. However, existing research often treats action as a presumed downstream effect of persuasion, paying limited attention to how action itself is defined and facilitated within communicative practices. This study examines how “action” is conceptualized, positioned, and distributed in ICH public service advertisements from the perspectives of key stakeholders.Adopting an action-oriented framing perspective, the study draws on qualitative interviews with twelve stakeholders directly involved in the production, management, and practice of ICH public service advertisements, including producers, policy implementers, and heritage inheritors. Through systematic coding and cross-case comparison, three interrelated patterns emerge. First, while action is widely endorsed as a normative goal, it is narrowly framed as low-threshold and everyday participation rather than sustained or professional engagement. Second, action is temporally deferred beyond the moment of media exposure, with advertisements positioned as triggers rather than sites of participation. Third, responsibility for facilitating action is unevenly distributed, resulting in structural misalignment among producers, policy actors, and inheritors.By conceptualizing action as a framed and negotiated construct rather than a fixed endpoint of persuasion, this study extends framing theory and rethinks persuasive communication in cultural contexts. It highlights how participation is simultaneously promoted, postponed, and displaced within ICH public communication, offering insights into the gap between participatory ideals and communicative practice.