Polemik terkait investasi asing di tengah masyarakat difasilitasi oleh inkonsistensi pemberitaan di media dan kemunculan berita-berita provokatif. Meski demikian, bagaimana mekanisme informasi mempengaruhi sikap terhadap investasi asing belum banyak dielaborasi. Penelitian survei-eksperimental between-subjects dilakukan untuk mengetahui bagaimana konten informasi politik dalam pemberitaan media multimodal yang berisi ancaman simbolis dan ekonomi (realistis) dari dua negara investor yang berbeda (Tiongkok dan Arab Saudi) dapat mempengaruhi pembentukan sikap individu terhadap kebijakan investasi asing. Empat jenis persepsi ancaman diteliti pengaruhnya berdasarkan Integrated Threat Theory [1] – yaitu ancaman simbolis (ancaman terhadap nilai-nilai dalam kelompok), ancaman ekonomi (ancaman realistis terhadap sumber daya kelompok), kecemasan dalam hubungan antarkelompok, dan stereotip negatif. Dengan menggunakan media survei daring, 378 partisipan terbagi ke dalam 4 kelompok dengan desain 2 (cue Tiongkok, cue Arab Saudi) x 2 (ancaman simbolis, ancaman ekonomi) dan satu kelompok kontrol. Pengujian hipotesis dilakukan dengan ordinary least square path analysis menggunakan PROCESS Macro SPSS. Analisis mediasi menunjukkan pemaparan informasi berisi ancaman mempengaruhi pembentukan sikap negatif terhadap investasi asing hanya melalui pemrosesan sistematis dengan mengaktivasi persepsi ancaman ekonomi dan simbolis. Meski demikian, pengaruh pemaparan informasi pada sikap terhadap investasi asing ini hanya terjadi pada kelompok yang menerima informasi ancaman ekonomi (β = 0,269; BootSE = 0,078; 95% CI [0,118; 0,428]) dan ancaman simbolis (β = 0,098; BootSE = 0,044; 95%CI [0,013; 0,188]) yang berasal dari investor Tiongkok. Hasil ini mengindikasikan dukungan terhadap investasi asing masih tidak terlepas dari pengaruh sentimen etnis yang mengakar di Indonesia.

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Foreign investment has always been a polemic in Indonesian public, facilitated by inconsistency and provocative tones on several media outlets. Yet, how this information can influence people's attitude towards foreign investment has not been explored. Between-subjects survey-experimental study was conducted to understand how political information containing economic (realistic) and symbolic threats of foreign investment on multimodal news from two different countries (China and Saudi Arabia) can influence attitude towards foreign investment. Four threats perceived were derived from Integrated Threat Theory-- symbolic threat (threat towards ingroup values), economic threat (realistic threat towards ingroup‘s resources), intergroup anxiety and negative stereotypes. Using online survey platform, 378 participants were grouped into 4 experimental groups with 2 (cue: China, Saudi Arabia) x 2 (threat: symbolic, economic) with 1 control group. Hypothesis were tested using ordinary least square path analysis with PROCESS Macro for SPSS. Mediation analysis showed exposure to threat laden information influences the formation of negative attitude towards foreign investment through systematic processing by activating both economic and symbolic threat perceptions. This effect only appeared on participants exposed by information containing economic threat (β = 0,269; BootSE = 0,078; 95% CI [0,118; 0,428]) and symbolic threat (β = 0,098; BootSE = 0,044; 95%CI [0,013; 0,188]) from China. This result indicates that support towards foreign investment is still heavily related to ethnic sentiment deeply rooted in Indonesia.