Replication Data for: Placebo-Augmented PICA Design (PICA-2): Assessing the Influence of Foreign Propaganda

Most media experiments analyze the impact of messages chosen by researchers, often on topics participants might avoid. Addressing this limitation, the innovative ``preference-incorporating choice and assignment" (PICA) design allows researchers to estimate causal effects among viewer subgroups with different content preferences. Building on this, we propose a novel placebo-augmented PICA design that more efficiently estimates these causal effects, along with a falsification test that helps detect violations of core assumptions. We use this new method to study whether Chinese and American propaganda cultivate support for their competing political models in Africa, a subject of broad scholarly and policy interest. A survey experiment conducted in five African countries shows that propaganda's effects are especially large for those who would ordinarily choose not to watch it. Our results highlight both the value of the experimental design and the challenge faced by the two global powers in influencing foreign public opinion.