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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.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Sanne Kruikemeier
Sanne Kruikemeier (Ph.D., University of Amsterdam, 2014) is an assistant professor in the Amsterdam School of Communication Research at the University of Amsterdam. Her research interests include the content and effects of online communication in a political context.
Adrian Paul Aparaschivei
Adrian Paul Aparaschivei (Ph.D., National School of Political Science and Public Administration, Bucharest, 2014) is a political consultant. His research interest include the analysis of online communication strategies developed in an electoral context.
Hajo G. Boomgaarden
Hajo G. Boomgaarden (Ph.D., University of Amsterdam, 2007) is Professor for Empirical Social Science Methods with a Focus on Text Analysis at the Department of Methods for the Social Sciences at the University of Vienna. His research focusses on media effects in political communication and on the portrayal of political issues in the news and other communication environments.
Guda Van Noort
Guda Van Noort (Ph.D., VU University, 2008) is an associate professor in the Amsterdam School of Communication Research at the University of Amsterdam. Her research interests include the new and unique characteristics of new media, interactivity effects in brand websites, political websites, online games, and digital diplomacy in social media.
Rens Vliegenthart
Rens Vliegenthart (Ph.D., VU University, 2007) is a professor in Media and Society at the Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR) at the University of Amsterdam. His research focuses on the interactions between politicians, media and citizens.