The Effect of Website Interactivity on Political Involvement

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.

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