Citizens' Satisfaction with Air Quality and Key Factors in ChinaUsing the Anchoring Vignettes Method

This study uses the anchoring vignettes method to accurately measure citizens' perceptions of air quality by correcting for the measurement errors which often exist in subjective satisfaction indexes. Our study shows that there is significant variation in satisfaction with air quality before and after using the anchoring vignettes method, especially when calculating and comparing satisfaction levels with the city-level air quality index. In addition, we found that the actual air pollution does indeed decrease citizens' satisfaction with it, but that the relationship between the two is non-linear. However, among the relevant pollution indicators, citizens are more easily influenced by PM2.5 rather than by SO2 and dust emission concentrations. Finally, our research also found evidence to support the idea that public expectations of air quality in China affect satisfaction levels. Our findings therefore challenge the idea that the relationship between actual and perceived air quality is straightforward, and also confirm that expectation theory holds true for levels of satisfaction with air quality.