The Effect of Website Interactivity on Political Involvement
The Moderating Role of Political Cynicism
Abstract
Abstract. This study examines the extent to which interactive communication on political websites affects various forms of citizens’ involvement in politics, and the moderating role of political cynicism in this relationship. Based on the outcomes of a laboratory experiment with a single-factor (interactivity: low vs. medium vs. high interactivity) between-subjects design, we found that interactive political websites have a positive effect on citizen involvement, and this effect is particularly present for websites with high levels of interactivity. We also demonstrate that interactivity effects are, to some extent, contingent on citizens’ political cynicism. For higher levels of political cynicism, deviations in the level of interactivity make less of a difference in their impact on political involvement.
References
2003). The divided electorate: Media use and political involvement. Journal of Politics, 65(3), 759–784. doi: 10.1111/1468-2508.00211
(2010). Substance matters: How news content can reduce political cynicism. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 22(4), 433–457. doi: 10.1093/ijpor/edq033
(2009). Videomalaise or virtuous circle? The influence of the news media on political trust. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 14(4), 410–433. doi: 10.1177/1940161209336224
(2003). Toward a more robust theory and measure of social presence: Review and suggested criteria. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 12(5), 456–480. doi: 10.1162/105474603322761270
(2001). The new media and our political communication discontents: Democratizing cyberspace. Information, Communication & Society, 4(1), 1–13. doi: 10.1080/713768514
(2013). An experimental test of the impact of style and rhetoric on the perception of right-wing populist and mainstream party leaders. Acta Politica, 48(2), 192–208. doi: 10.1057/ap.2012.27
(2009). Does Internet use affect engagement? A meta-analysis of research. Political Communication, 26(2), 193–211. doi: 10.1080/10584600902854363
(2015). Social media use and participation: A meta-analysis of current research. Information, Communication & Society, 18(5), 524–538. doi: 10.1080/1369118X.2015.1008542
(2016). Interactivity between candidates and citizens on a social networking site: Effects on perceptions and vote intentions. Journal of Experimental Political Science, 3, 84–96. doi: 10.1017/XPS.2014.29
(2007). The mediated moderation model of interactivity. Media Psychology, 9(3), 647–672. doi: 10.1080/15213260701283269
(1997). Spiral of cynicism: The press and the public good. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
(2008). Political cynicism. The international encyclopedia of communication. Hoboken, NJ: Blackwell.
(2008). The effects of strategic news on political cynicism and vote choice among young voters. Journal of Communication, 58(3), 550–567. doi: 10.1111/j.1460-2466.2008.00399.x
(2003). A “mix of attributes” approach to the study of media effects and new communication technologies. Journal of Communication, 53(3), 395–410. doi: 10.1111/j.1460-2466.2003.tb02598.x
(2005). Interactivity and vividness effects on social presence and involvement with a web-based advertisement. Journal of Business Research, 58(3), 387–396.
(2010). Twitter use by the US congress. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 61(8), 1612–1621. doi: 10.1002/asi.21344
(2013). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
(2011). Internet use and political participation: Reflections on the mobilization/normalization controversy. The Information Society, 27(1), 1–15. doi: 10.1080/01972243.2011.534360
(2009). Building an architecture of participation? Political parties and web 2.0 in Britain. Journal of Information Technology & Politics, 6(3–4), 232–250. doi: 10.1080/19331680903028438
(2007). Populism as political communication style: An empirical study of political parties’ discourse in Belgium. European Journal of Political Research, 46(3), 319–345. doi: 10.1111/j.1475-6765.2006.00690.x
(2010). Effects of interactivity on website involvement and purchase intention. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 11(1), 34–59.
(2006). Organizational blogs and the human voice: Relational strategies and relational outcomes. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11(2), 395–414. doi: 10.1111/j.1083-6101.2006.00019.x
(2006). Connections between Internet use and political efficacy, knowledge, and participation. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 50(2), 173–192. doi: 10.1207/s15506878jobem5002_1
(2014a). Getting connected: The effects of online political communication on citizens’ political involvement. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: University of Amsterdam.
(2014b). How political candidates use twitter and the impact on votes. Computers in Human Behavior, 34, 131–139. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2014.01.025
(2013). Getting closer: The effects of personalized and interactive online political communication. European Journal of Communication, 28(1), 53–66. doi: 10.1177/0267323112464837
(2012). Are they talking to me? Cognitive and affective effects of interactivity in politicians’ twitter communication. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 15(10), 515–535. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2012.0228
(2011). Informing, engaging, mobilizing or interacting: Searching for a European model of web campaigning. European Journal of Communication, 26(3), 195–213. doi: 10.1177/0267323111416182
(2002). What is interactivity and is it always such a good thing? Implications of definition, person, and situation for the influence of interactivity on advertising effectiveness. Journal of Advertising, 31(4), 53–64. doi: 10.1177/019251219401500301
(2005). Views from inside the net: How websites affect young adults political interest. Journal of Politics, 67(4), 1122–1142. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2508.2005.00353.x
(2002). Measures of perceived interactivity: An exploration of the role of direction of communication, user control, and time in shaping perceptions of interactivity. Journal of Advertising, 31(3), 29–42.Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4189224
(2000). A virtuous circle: Political communications in postindustrial societies. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
(2015). How does interactivity persuade? An experimental test of interactivity on cognitive absorption, elaboration, and attitudes. Journal of Communication, 65(2), 213–236. doi: 10.1111/jcom.12147
(2002). Exploring relationships among media use frequency, perceived media importance, and media satisfaction in political disaffection and efficacy. Mass Communication and Society, 5(2), 141–163. doi: 10.1207/S15327825MCS0502_3
(2013). Cynics all around? the impact of election news on political cynicism in comparative perspective. Journal of Communication, 63(2), 287–311. doi: 10.1111/jcom.12023
(2008). Innovation or normalization in e-campaigning? A longitudinal content and structural analysis of German party websites in the 2002 and 2005 national elections. European Journal of Communication, 23(4), 449–470. doi: 10.1177/0267323108096994
(1976). The social psychology of telecommunications. London, UK: Wiley.
(2007). Interactivity and political attitude formation: A mediation model of online information processing. Journal of Information Technology & Politics, 4(2), 29–61. doi: 10.1080/19331680802076082
(2014). Getting personal? The impact of social media on preferential voting. Political Behavior, 36(1), 215–234.
(2004). Interactivity-as-product and interactivity-as-process. The Information Society, 20(5), 391–394. doi: 10.1080/01972240490508081
(2003). Explicating web site interactivity. Communication Research, 30(1), 30–59. doi: 10.1177/0093650202239025
(2003). Cues to identity in CMC: The impact on person perception and subsequent interaction outcomes. Amsterdam: University of Amsterdam.
(2007). Examining Internet interactivity effects on young adult political information efficacy. American Behavioral Scientist, 50(9), 1183–1194. doi: 10.1177/0002764207300041
(2006). Evolution of online campaigning: Increasing interactivity in candidate web sites and blogs through text and technical features. Mass Communication & Society, 9(1), 21–44. doi: 10.1207/s15327825mcs0901_2
(2009). The (potential) benefits of campaigning via social network sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 14(2), 221–243. doi: 10.1111/j.1083-6101.2009.01438.x
(2012). Interactivity in brand web sites: Cognitive, affective, and behavioral responses explained by consumers’ online flow experience. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 26(4), 223–234. doi: 10.1016/j.intmar.2011.11.002
(2011). The relation between actual and perceived interactivity: What makes the web sites of top global brands truly interactive? Journal of Advertising, 40(2), 77–92. doi: 10.2753/JOA0091-3367400206
(2005). Effects of campaign-to-user and text-based interactivity in political candidate campaign web sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 10(3). doi: 10.1111/j.1083-6101.2005.tb00253.x
(2005). The mediating role of perceived interactivity in the effect of actual interactivity on attitude toward the website. Journal of Interactive Advertising, 5(2), 29–39. doi: 10.1080/15252019.2005.10722099
(2007). Direct and differential effects of the Internet on political and civic engagement. Journal of Communication, 57(4), 704–718.
(