Detecting information behavior patterns of multiple subjects in tax-related emergency events

Purpose The frequent events of tax evasion by public figures in recent years have sparked intense public controversy, which may affect the social cognition of the public, especially of minors. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct in-depth analysis on the tax-related events, explore the information behavior of key subjects (e.g. the public, the public figure involved) in consecutive tax-related events, so as to effectively support the prevention and governance of similar events. Design/methodology/approach This paper selected three tax-related events involving public figures and conducted multi-dimensional analysis on the information behaviors of multiple subjects in the events. Specifically, we conducted static and dynamic analysis on the 136,041 microblogs generated by the public, and we conducted discourse analysis on the microblogs posted by the public figures, so as to obtain differentiated information behavior patterns. Meanwhile, by vertically comparing subjects’ information behaviors in the events that occur in sequence, we identified the regular changes in behavioral patterns. Findings The experimental results indicate that multiple subjects have differentiated information behavior patterns in tax-related emergency events, and these patterns undergo significant regular changes with the frequent occurrence of similar events, accompanied by differentiated changing polarities. Specifically, all subjects significantly improved their event response speed. Meanwhile, the public is becoming more “tolerant”, the public figures involved are more perfunctory, while the government and media are more pragmatic. Originality/value Multi-granularity and multi-dimensional analysis of tax-related emergency events can deeply identify the information behavior of multiple subjects, providing practical and effective basis for the prevention and governance of similar events. Meanwhile, the comparison of multiple similar events can evaluate the governance effectiveness to support continuous optimization of strategies. In addition, the research ideas and methods presented in this paper expand the perspective of emergency event research.