Party and candidate websites: A comparative explanatory analysis.

Author(s)
Sanne Kruikemeier, Adrian Paul Aparaschivei, Hajo Boomgaarden, Guda van Noort, Rens Vliegenthart
Abstract

This study provides a systematic investigation of party and candidate websites across five countries. It examines three prominent features of current online political communication (interactivity, political personalization, and mobilization). Furthermore it assesses to what extent country, party, and source characteristics explain differences in the usage of these features. In total, 63 websites and 416 pages in Germany, Romania, Hungary, the Netherlands, and Great Britain were subject to a systematic content analysis. The findings suggest that differences in party and source characteristics explain variation in levels of mobilization, interactivity, and personalization, with, for example, party websites trying to mobilize citizens while websites belonging to politicians are used as a platform for self-promotion. In general, results show that the division of countries into East and West European is less important.

Organisation(s)
External organisation(s)
University of Amsterdam (UvA), National University of Political Studies and Public Administration
Journal
Mass Communication and Society
Volume
18
Pages
821-850
No. of pages
30
ISSN
1520-5436
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/15205436.2015.1051233
Publication date
2015
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
508009 Media research
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Communication
Portal url
https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/party-and-candidate-websites-a-comparative-explanatory-analysis(16b50db9-6a5a-4206-913b-03d87acbafe2).html