Understanding the democratic role of perceived online political micro-targeting: Longitudinal effects on trust in democracy and political interest

Author(s)
Jörg Matthes, Melanie Hirsch, Marlis Stubenvoll, Alice Binder, Sanne Kruikemeier, Sophie Lecheler, Lukas P. Otto
Abstract

With the increasing availability of big digital voter data, there are rising concerns that online political micro-targeting (PMT) may be harmful for democratic societies. However, PMT may also be beneficial to democracy because it targets voters with content that matches with their predispositions, potentially increasing political interest. For both, harmful and beneficial outcomes of PMT, we lack empirical evidence on the side of citizens. In a two-wave panel survey study, we tested the reciprocal relationships over time between perceived online PMT, trust in democracy, and political interest. We found that perceived online PMT leads to a decrease of trust in democracy, but also to an increase in political interest. The effect on political interest was independent from age. No reciprocal effects of trust in democracy and political interest on perceived PMT were observed. Overall, the results suggest that the democratic implications of PMT are more nuanced than previously assumed.

Organisation(s)
Department of Communication
External organisation(s)
University of Amsterdam (UvA)
Journal
Journal of Information Technology & Politics
Volume
19
Pages
435-448
No. of pages
14
ISSN
1933-1681
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/19331681.2021.2016542
Publication date
12-2021
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
508007 Communication science
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Computer Science(all), Sociology and Political Science, Public Administration
Portal url
https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/understanding-the-democratic-role-of-perceived-online-political-microtargeting-longitudinal-effects-on-trust-in-democracy-and-political-interest(e52919cc-7713-425b-97ec-c592577d34d1).html