Revisiting the Communication Mediation Model in the Age of Social Media: Longitudinal Evidence From Climate Misinformation Responses in China

The Communication Mediation Model (CMM) posits that media attention stimulates interpersonal discussion, which shapes attitudes and behaviors. Yet its assumptions of linear sequencing and universal applicability remain underexamined. In the era of social media, communication flows are increasingly reciprocal and socially embedded, and response behaviors such as misinformation correction and fact-checking represent new forms of media engagement rather than merely offline actions. Using a three-wave panel survey in China (n = 499), this study revises the CMM in the context of climate change misinformation on social media by testing temporal pathways and audience heterogeneity. Results show that media attention stimulates interpersonal discussion, which in turn predicts correction, though these relationships unfold concurrently within a single time interval rather than following a staggered temporal order. Multigroup analysis reveals that public self-consciousness conditions pathway activation. Findings highlight how social media environments extend the behavioral scope of the CMM and complicate its assumed temporal order. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.