Platform Algorithms, Cultural Proximity, And Audience Engagement: How Chinese Variety Shows Navigate Cross-Cultural Transmission in Malaysia’s Multi-Ethnic Media Landscape

Abstract

Against the backdrop of streaming media platforms that deeply reconfigure the global media ecology, this study takes Malaysia as the research field, and systematically examines the interactions between platform algorithms, cultural proximity and audience engagement in the cross-communication process of Chinese variety programmes through an interpretive mixed-methods research approach. Based on 304 valid questionnaires (covering three ethnic groups: Chinese, Malays and Indians) and 24 semi-structured in-depth interviews, the study integrates cultural proximity theory (Straubhaar, 1991), use and gratification theory (Katz et al., 1973), and platform algorithms as a research framework. The quantitative results showed that the perceived cultural proximity of Chinese audiences (M = 4.12) was significantly higher than that of Malays (M = 2.76) and Indians (M = 2.63), and that the differentiation in viewing motivation among the three ethnic groups was focused on the dimension of cultural identity rather than the dimension of entertainment motivation; after controlling for demographic variables, the platform algorithm perceptions had a higher independent explanatory power of audience engagement (β = .38) than that of cultural proximity perceptions (β = .29), and the moderating effect was particularly significant among Malay and Indian audiences. Qualitative analyses identified three modes of cultural identity negotiation in the interview texts, namely ‘cultural mirroring’, ‘entertainment consumption’, and ‘critical distance’, which revealed the inherent hierarchy of audience meaning-making practices across communication processes. This study proposes an integrated concept of ‘algorithmically mediated cultural proximity’ to bridge the gap between streaming media platform research and cross-cultural communication theory, and provides empirical evidence for a precise international communication strategy for Chinese media content.