Master’s Thesis
The Mobilization Effects of Online Campaigns: An Experimental Study of Online Environmental Petitions
Siriluk Sriprasit Student ID: 10583858 siriluksriprasit@gmail.com 27 June 2014 Thesis Supervisor: Dr. Sanne Kruikemeier
This thesis research is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Erasmus Mundus Master’s Degree in Journalism, Media and Globalization (Specialism in Media and Politics).
Master’s programme in Communication Science, Graduate School of Communication University of Amsterdam (UvA)
Abstract
Online media and communication are an essential part of most political campaigns of today; they enable citizen to take part in political activism in many new forms, such as online petitioning. This study examines the mobilizing power of three characteristics, i.e., tone, picture, and interactive cues, of online petitions. The research uses a 2 (negative vs. positive tone) x 2 (with vs. without image) x 2 (with vs. without interactive cues) in between subject design. The findings reveal that the negative tone of online petitions positively affect Internet users more than positive ones in terms of the intent to sign the online petition and behavioral intentions (e.g., seeking for more information, sending the petitions and talking about the petitions to their friends, family and colleagues, etc.). The study also shows that interactive cues of online petitions specifically increased a perceived credibility of the online petitions, while tones and images do not. We also found that the combination of all three characteristics produce the most mobilizing power among respondents in seeking for more information about the presented issue in the online petitions. The findings suggest that online petitioners should take the characteristics of an online petition into consideration in order to generate more mobilized and effective online petitions in the future.
Key words: mobilization effects, online petition, online campaign, online activism, tones, images, interactive-cues
INTRODUCTION
Online media and communication are an essential part of most socio-political campaigns of today; they enable and facilitate citizen political involvement in various forms (Anduiza et al., 2012, p. 359). Among online activism and participation, online petitioning is probably one of the most mature areas, which actually has an impact on political processes (Cruickshank & Smith, 2009, p. 10). Many studies also revealed that online petitions are proven to be one of the most active, effective, democratic, and participatory tools (Cruickshank & Smith, 2009;
Panagiotopoulos & Elliman, 2012). About 44% of young American people responded that they have signed an online petition in the preceding 12 months (Pew Research Center, 2013).
Although a number of studies in a past decade explored the use of online petitions; most research mainly focuses on the impact aspect (Anduiza et al., 2010; Christensen, 2011; Breuer & Farooq, 2012; Panagiotopoulos & Elliman, 2012) that is when an online petition has influenced political outcomes. Many studies also concluded that online petitioning has
become a promising tool for governments to engage citizens in democratic processes and policy-making (Panagiotopoulos et al., 2011; Panagiotopoulos & Elliman, 2012; Cruickshank &Smith, 2009), including paving a way to the e-democracy idea (e.g. managerial,
consultative, and participatory, see Chadwick & May, 2003) (Chawick, 2009).
Online petitions are often employed by governmental organizations to seek for support or endorsement among citizens in enforcing certain policies (Cruickshank & Smith, 2009; Panagiotopoulos & Elliman, 2012). Besides, online petitions are also commonly used among non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and Internet users for political and social changes. Online petitions serve as a collective action, which aim to utilize such mobilization efforts in the sphere of digital activism (Panagiotopoulos & Elliman, 2012, p. 3). However, no research has yet paid attention to the mobilization effects of online petitions, especially since most online petitions seem to be strategically crafted in a unique way to mobilize supporters.
When reviewing previous research, it becomes evident that media scholars disagree about the mobilizing power of online-petitions (Vissers et al., 2012). Some evidence suggests that negative tone campaigns mobilize people to act more than positive tone ones (Schuck & De Vreese, 2012). Yet, previous research found mixed results: both negative and positive emotions (which are the consequent phenomena of tones) mobilize people to take action. Moreover, quite a number of previous political communication studies about mobilization effects mainly focused on political campaigns and turnout (Schuck & De Vreese, 2012;
Lecheler & de Vreese, 2012; Lecheler et al., 2013), and have not yet paid much attention to the specific characteristics of online petitions. Thus, this current study aims to fill this academic void and implied the negative vs. positive tone in investigating the mobilization effects of online petitions, although image and interactive cues were also examined as effective factors of mobilizing elements of online petitions in our study.
To conclude, this study aims to answer the following questions: (1) what are the most effective characteristics (i.e., tones, images, and web-cues) of online petitions that mobilize online citizens to sign them?; and, (2) to what extent do those characteristics (i.e., tones, images, and web-cues) of online petitions interact in mobilizing online citizens to sign them?
In the following, this paper reviews a theoretical framework, which is focusing on mobilization of tones, images, and web-features in previous political mobilization studies. Second, the methodology part of the research discussed the general design and procedure of our experiment. The following section describes the results, which reveal a moderate mobilizing power of a negative tone, presence of image and web-cues (interactive features). The last section elaborates on the discussion and the implication of the research findings, limitations and recommendations for a future study.
A REVIEW OF THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Online petition as political participation
Recently, people participating in the digital world witness more of the advocacy work and campaigning activism that imitate the traditional forms of activism, e.g., advocacy, e-donation, and signing online petitions, etc. With the abundant online-technological
availability, among those campaigning strategic tools, online petitioning is considered to be one of the first collective action practices –which emerged from Internet users or e-citizens (Panagiotopoulos et al., 2011; Panagiototopoulos & Al-Debei, 2010). Previous studies
revealed that e-petitioning is probably one of the most mature areas of online political-participation that is actually impacting on political processes (Cruickshank & Smith, 2009).
The basic concept of petitioning, as Panagiotopoulos and Elliman (2012) summarized, is present when a group of networked citizens place a single-issue request before an authority or organization asking it to undertake certain actions (p. 3). Online petitions or e-petitions contain a digital space where endorsers can type their names and normally include e-mail addresses, and locations (countries/zip codes). Those names will be collected and later delivered to an authority or an organization. The number of signatures to an online petition is the weight of public sentiment. In other words, the number of signatures defines the success of an online petition (Panagiotopoulos & Elliman, 2012, p. 3).
Many scholars studied the roles of online petitions, such as Cruickshank and Smith (2009), Christensen (2011), Panagiotopoulos et al. (2011), Panagiotopoulos and Elliman (2012), and Breuer and Farooq (2012). The findings suggest that online petitions have a positive impact on real world situations in putting pressure and influencing policy-making procedures. Their studies also revealed that online petitions could be a promising tool for local and national governments in engaging citizens in their democratic administration, e.g., setting the agenda, making and determining policy, etc.
Similarly, as Chadwick (2009) has introduced the idea of a so-called e-democracy, which refers to the emergence of the relationship between democracy, new media, and
information and communication technology (ICT). For example, Avaaz.org, an online petition web-based organization, shows that their campaigns have led to successful changes by
altering political outcomes and influencing policy-making (Christensen, 2011; Breur & Farooq, 2012). The organization also published statements on its website that highlighted the impact and success of their campaigns (Christen, 2011). Avaaz members and staff also
organized many protests with $12 million-budget a year, which are all from about 30,000 people making donations online to Avaaz every month (Cadwalladr, 2013).
However, in this particular phenomenon of Internet users engaging in online petitions and e-donations, no study explores the mobilization effects of online petitions regarding their campaigning messages, tones and web-cues (e.g., images, interactivity, and credibility). This study thus aims to answer: what are the most effective characteristics of an online petition that mobilizes Internet users to sign it?
Effects of tones in political mobilization
There are many studies focusing on online petitioning as a part of online activism, most of the studies intensively measured its impact; namely, whether it helped citizens to alter political outcomes in responding to their demands. However, there are no studies measuring the mobilization effects of online petitions. Conceptually, mobilization is defined as the activity of rousing masses of people both to express their views politically and also to undertake political action (Bealey & Johnson, 1999). Thus, signing an online petition and/or donating to a cause are also perceived as political mobilization.
To convey a message via an online petition, mobilizing elements are very important, e.g., texts, tones, images, web-cues, website designs, etc. Therefore, in this particular study, the researchers deployed the concept of framing and tones in contemplating some of the mobilizing elements of online petitions. Based on the previous theoretical and empirical studies, frames are evident to have an effect on how citizens understand content about, for instance, politics (Lecheler & De Vreese, 2012, p. 186). Scholars like Entman (1993),
McAdam et al. (1996), Snow and Benford (2000), Matthes (2010), and D’Angelo (2011) also conceptualized framing as the strategic efforts by a group of people to selection and
treatment recommendation. These help shape the understanding of audience –and motivate them to take collective action.
In addition, although the art of articulation (or framing) is crucial in any campaign trying to gain support, in the world of online activism, the downside of this new tool should not be overlooked. Vissers et al. (2012) pointed out the effectiveness of the digital
mobilization that deleting unwanted emails easily happens and the trash bin is the final destination for a vast majority of all potentially mobilizing e-mail messages (p. 153). The specific messages, headlines, tones, images, and specific terms, become important as mobilization effects. The above-mentioned concepts of framing therefore are useful in understanding some of the mobilizing elements of online petitions.
As online petitioning functions as a collective tool, online citizens use petitions to put pressure on governments and to demand for positive changes. Many previous studies revealed that, for instance, climate change issues are often framed negatively, e.g., losses, risks,
dangers, undesirable attributes, etc., instead of framed positively, e.g., gains, hopes, collective action, desirable attributes, etc. However, negative or positive frames that inspire people to take further action is still a complicated issue, since there is little evidence regarding the framing effects on people’s attitudes and intentions (Morton et al., 2011; Dickinson et al., 2013). Therefore, it is very essential to examine which frames produce a stronger behavioral intention or a mobilizing power to act further, i.e., to sign an online petition.
Power of emotions in political mobilization
Although assessing negative and positive frames is regarded as rational decision-making process, in which the public evaluate several constituents (e.g., cause, effect, solution, remedy, etc.), scholars have come to acknowledge that emotions are actually a powerful and relevant force within this political communication process (Lecheler et al., 2013, p. 190). The previous research has shown that negative messages have more impact on consequent
attitudes and evaluation than positive messages. This is because people pay more attention to and weigh negative parts more heavily, therefore producing greater interest and involvement, (e.g., in election campaigns; Schuck & De Vreese, 2012, p. 58). However, there is still a debate in the existing empirical studies of news frames of whether negative or positive (or both) emotions produce a stronger mobilizing and motivating effect.
Lecheler et al. (2013) studied discrete emotions as they function as mediators in changing a person’s attitudes and opinions. They found that anger (negative) and enthusiasm (positive) mediate a framing effect, which lead to opinion change, while fear (negative) and contentment (positive) do not. Their findings also pointed out that anger and enthusiasm can both be classified as emotions high in arousal and low in avoidance-behavior (Lecheler et al., 2013, p. 202). Nevertheless, in the same study, their analysis showed a more significant main effect of positive news framing, which contributed to higher of support for the relevant political issues (Lecheler et al., 2013). Taken together, because it is unclear whether positive or negative tones affect citizens’ intention to sign online petitions, we propose the following hypotheses to the first research question.
H1a: The online petition that has a negative message (vs. positive message) mobilizes Internet users to sign an online petition, positively affects their attitudes and emotions
towards the petition, and positively affects their perceived credibility of the petition; and, H1b: The online petition that has a positive message (vs. negative message) mobilizes Internet users to sign an online petition, positively affects their attitudes and emotions
towards the petition, and positively affects their perceived credibility of the petition.
Presence of Images and interactive cues for mobilizing
Besides framing effects and emotional reactions, showing a picture is believed to have an impact on how audiences perceive the communicating message. While framing and tones involve a textual presentation of information in ways that are either more negative (losses,
prevention, and undesirable attributes) or more positive (gains, promotion, and desirable attributes; Morton et al., 2011), images also involve visual communication. Images act to draw in audiences through vivid and emotive portrayals, and in doing so; they facilitate both cognitive and affective processing (O’Neill, 2013, p. 10).
The studies on the use of imagery for climate change engagement (O’Neill et al., 2013) suggested that imagery plays a role in either increasing the sense of importance of the issue or in promoting feelings of being able to do something about the situation (their study focused on climate change). Resonating with O’Neill et al. (2013), in the research by Lester and Cottle (2009), again focused on climate change television news images, they argued that the visualization can convey powerful symbolic messages for processes of mobilization and political response (p. 929).
Moreover, in an experimental study conducted by Seo et al. (2013), it is found that textual communication with images significantly produced more fear response (in negative condition) than in the no-image condition. Hence, this current study deployed the use of images in hypothesizing that including a picture in an online petition could attract or trigger a higher emotional response (either negatively or positively) and then mobilize Internet users to sign it. This discussion results in the following hypothesis.
H1c: The online petition that contains an image (vs. no image) mobilizes Internet users to sign an online petition, positively affects their attitudes and emotions towards the petition, and positively affects their perceived creditability of the petition.
Furthermore, as the Internet is growing as a new medium, the reliance on a medium became an issue that relates to the perception of its credibility (Starvositu & Sundar, 2008, p. 65). Yet, the enormous amount of information presently available online has resulted in considerable research on information and source credibility (Metzger et al., 2010). In this regard, many scholars examined perceived credibility among Internet users, their studies
revealed that the interactive cues of a website are important to increase heuristic processes and perceived credibility (Fogg, 2003; Metzger, 2007; Metzger et al., 2010; Kim, 2012). Those interactive cues are for instance, names of the author and/or organization, contact information, author’s and organization’s qualification or credentials, hyperlinks, digital space for comment, etc. (Metzger, 2007; Kim, 2012).
The study conducted by Fogg (2003) assesses the credibility of websites and that the success of most websites today depends on whether users perceive the site to be credible. These interactive cues increase the potential of online information to be noticed and
perceived, thus positively affecting an Internet user’s evaluation of online information (Fogg, 2003). Therefore, based on the aforementioned concepts of online information and heuristic cues of a website, this current study also measures those concepts as the implication of mobilization effects of online petitions. In other words, this implication is expected to increase the behavioral intention of signing an online petition. This discussion results in the following hypothesis.
H1d: The online petition that contains interactive cues (vs. no interactive cues) mobilizes Internet users to sign an online petition, affects their attitudes and emotions towards petition, and positively affects their perceived credibility of the petition.
Interaction between mobilizing characteristics
To understand the mobilization effects of online petitions, we may have to take all factors into account. Eveland (2003) stated that online media (e.g., websites), which are different in informational structure compared to traditional media, are high in interactivity. Thus, media effects of online media or new media are fundamentally distinct from earlier technologies (Garrett et al., 2012). One of the core propositions to study media effects is that researchers cannot simply isolate single attributes and manipulate them in the laboratory. Instead, they should study media effects in a multidimensional mix of attributes –as occurring in the real
world (Eveland, 2003 p. 403). To put it simply, researchers need to consider not only the effects of each attribute independently, but also how the attributes interact.
Regarding this aspect of media effects, we argue that the interaction among three attributes (i.e., textual tones, images, and web-cues) of online petitions play an important role in mobilizing Internet users to sign the petitions. The three characteristics can potentially influence each other, and produce varying mobilization effects. According to Eveland (2003), the characteristics of online communication can work together and have a summative effect on an audience. Put another way, tones, images, and web-cues can work together and have a collective impact on an audience (i.e. online petition viewers). To test this assumption, we formulated the following hypothesis to the second research question as follows.
H2a: The online petition that contains all characteristics; tones (either negative or positive) and images (either presence or absence of images) and web-cues (either presence or interactive cues), mobilize Internet users to sign the petition.
METHOD
To investigate the underlying characteristics that mobilize citizens to sign online petitions, we conducted an online experiment among a sample of online citizens across countries
throughout conventional social-media platforms. The experimental online survey was designed via Qualtrics Online Survey Software and was distributed by posting the URL link in social-media platforms, e.g., Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Academia.edu (a social networking website for academics).
As a research subject, we chose the environmental issue-based online petition and it was presented under the hosting name ‘AVAAZ.org’, a well-known online petition based organization. The testing materials were designed to display the endangered orangutans issue in Sumatra, Indonesia. By choosing this orangutans issue, it made our experimental design
easier to put into practice, because in real-life context, the animals are often portrayed in such environmental campaigns, e.g., polar bears, seals, birds, etc. (Dickenson et al., 2013).
General design
The measurement was designed into eight different versions of online petitions, which contain different fabricated statements and different stimuli –each condition was expected to
influence Internet users’ behavioral intention (i.e., signing an online-petition). The research deployed the 2x2x2 in between subject design. The research model refers to 2
(negative/positive message tone) x 2 (with/without image) x 2 (with/without web-cues), e.g., a number indicating people who have already signed the online petition; hyperlinks of
organization’s contacts; and social media hyperlink buttons of Email, Facebook and Twitter.
Sample
We recruited a total of 145 Internet users (64.8% female, between the ages of 19 and 60 [M = 29.20, SD = 6.412]) from conveniently random methods by positing the online survey’s URL link in social media sites (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Academic.edu), from May 22 to June 6, 2014.
Procedure
In the experimental procedure, participants were exposed to one of the eight conditions, which was an online petition containing either of the negative or positive, with or without an image, and with or without web-cues features. Then, all participants received the online post-test questionnaire, containing a manipulation check (see below) and the mediator and
dependent variables. An analysis between condition randomization checks on tones, images, and web-cues revealed significant effects, and recognition of the mediators and main
dependent variables between-group differences for the sample (see appendix A for an example of the stimulus materials).
Stimulus material
There are three stimulus materials; namely, (1) tones of textual campaign messages [negative (n=71) vs. positive (n=74)], (2) image [absence of image (n=72) vs. presence of image
(n=73)], and (3) web-cues [absence web-cues (n=73) vs. presence of web-cues (n=72)]. In the negative and positive textual materials –although contained the same issue of “habitats of orangutans in Indonesia are threatened by palm oil plantation industry due to deforestation”, the two texts were fabricated and highlighted into very negative and very positive tones. Therefore, the negative and positive textual conditions, in this current study, contain the negative/positive valence of words; the negative tones, e.g., threat, endangered, killed, catastrophe, etc. versus the positive tones, e.g., wonderful, amazing, powerful, shine, etc.
Moreover, in the image stimulus material –an image of ‘a baby orangutan on a tree’ was chosen and sufficiently expected to be a neutral image. For the web-cues stimulus
materials, there are; for instance, a bar showing number of people who are already signed that online petition, social media hyperlinks, and AVAAZ’s contact hyperlink. In total, there are eight conditions appearing in the form of an online petition.
Each online petition contains one of these following conditions: (1) negative tone/no image/no web-cues; (2) negative tone/with image/no web-cues; (3) negative tone/no
image/with the web-cues; (4) negative tone/with image/with the web-cues; (5) positive tone/no image/no web-cues; (6) positive tone/with image/with no web-cues; (7) positive tone/with no image/with the web-cues; and (8) positive tone/with image/with the web-cues.
Manipulation check
We operated a manipulation check of the stimulus materials twice. The first time, our stimulus materials revealed no statistical significant effects at the p-value < .05, .01, .001 in between groups (N = 49), especially, ‘tone’ [the negative tone (M = 4.39, SD = 2.29) vs. the
positive tone (M = 5.03, SD = 2.24)(F(1,48) = 1.09, p =.320) (N = 55)]. Therefore, a manipulation check question was asked respondents (N = 15) for the second time.
Firstly, regarding the ‘tone’ condition, i.e., if the online petition they had just seen was either more negative or more positive in terms of the tones towards orangutans situation in Sumatra, Indonesia (“please indicate the degree to which you agree or disagree to each of the
following phrases accurately describe the online petition”, e.g., is very positive, is uplifting, is hopeful, etc.), on a seven-point scale (1 = totally disagree to 7 = totally agree), respondents in
the negative condition rated the stimulus more negatively (M = 2.28, SD = 1.11) compared to respondents in the positive condition (M = 6.33, SD = 1.21) (F(1,11) = 39.44, p <.001).
Secondly, the ‘image’ condition (i.e., “contains photograph/pictures”) was asked to check the manipulation. Respondents in the condition with an image rated the stimulus higher (M = 6.00, SD = .00) compared to respondents in no image condition (M = 4.50, SD = 3.83) (F(1,9) = .751, p = .409).
Lastly, the question about ‘web-cues’ (“contains information about how many people signed the online petition”) was asked and respondents in web-cues condition rated the stimulus higher (M = 5.25, SD = .95), compared to respondents in non-web-cues condition, significantly (M = 2.00, SD = 2.64) (F(1, 9) = 5.04, p <.05).
Measures
We measured the main dependent variables of behavioral intention, corresponding with our stimulus manipulation: tones, images, and web-cues, including other dependent variables, behavioral intentions regarding the online petition and intention to sign the online petitions by using a seven-point scale (1 = strongly disagree/ totally unlikely to 7 = strongly agree/ totally
likely). In this study, we measured the mobilization effects as are defined as behavioral
intention in three different ways, namely: (1) the inclined response of signing the online petition respondents had just seen (“How likely it is that you will sign the online petition”, on
a seven-point scale) (M = 3.85, SD = 1.91); (2) the determination of signing the online petition (“How determined do you feel to sign the online petition”, on a bipolar scale, not at
all determined: very determined) (M = 3.64, SD = 1.82); and, (3) other behavioral intentions
(“…want to read more about orangutans”, “…will look up information about orangutans”,
“…will send the online petition about orangutans to friends/family/colleagues”, on a
seven-point scale) (M = 3.69, SD = 1.36). We also measured the extent to which an individual felt the specific emotions and attitudes in reference to the stimulus manipulation using a bipolar scale, e.g., un-stimulated/stimulated, un-aroused/aroused, etc.
RESULTS
In our analysis, we tested the mobilization effects of tones [negative (n = 71) vs. positive textual messages (n = 70)], image [no image (n = 69) vs. contains image (n = 72)], and web-cues [no web-web-cues (n = 72) vs. contained web-web-cues (n = 69)] of online environmental
petitions. The results revealed that the negative online petition contributed more to behavioral intentions regarding the online petition and determination to sign the online petition. In our sample, the results do not successfully reveal a statistical significance of intention to sign online petitions. However, we found that across the different dependent variables of
mobilization effects, the negative tone and web-cues contributed to more power of mobilizing than positive tone and non-web-cues condition, while the containing an image (vs. no image) condition revealed mixed results.
Intention to sign the online petition
As mentioned previously, the findings showed no statistical significance of tone on the main mobilization effects. However, respondents in negative tone condition are more determined to sign the online petition (M = 3.76, SD = 1.76) than the positive tone condition (M = 3.52, SD = 1.88) (F(1,142) = .622, p = .432), while in the image and web-cues condition revealed
mixed and inconsistent results in between groups on determination to sign the online petition. Moreover, in the web-cues condition, we found that respondents in the web-cues containing condition rated higher intention, e.g., to seek more information and willing to forward the petition to their friends and family (M = 3.75, SD = 1.32), than in the non-web-cues condition (M = 3.63, SD = 1.41) (F(1,143) = .261, p = .610).
Even though our sample showed the general mobilization effect of negative tone higher than the positive tone of online petitions, the positive tone attracted higher attention of viewing the online petitions. Respondents in positive tone condition rated higher attention paid to reading online petition (“I didn’t take the task of evaluating online petition seriously”, on a seven-point scale of disagree-to-agree) (M = 2.95, SD = 1.75) than respondents in
negative tone condition (M = 3.28, SD = 1.73) (F(1,140) = 1.27, p = .261). In this same dependent variable of paying attention to online petitions, the image and web-cues conditions also showed the positive contribution to attention effects.
For the same question, respondents viewing online petition with an image indicated higher attention paid to it (M = 2.99, SD = 1.87) than respondents viewing online petition with no image (M = 3.23, SD = 1.61) (F(1,140) = .667, p = .416). As same as respondents viewing the online petition with web-cues indicated higher attention paid to it (M = 3.06, SD = 1.89) than no web-cues condition (M = 3.15, SD = 1.59) (F(1,140) = .106, p = .745). However, the effects of all tone, image, and web-cues regarding the intention to sign the petition, were small and revealed no statistical significance.
Attitudes
We also checked the significance of tones, images, and web-cues on attitudes changes. The image and web-cues conditions revealed inconsistent findings, while in the tone condition emphasized consistent results. After viewing the online petition, the mean score among respondents who had read the negative message rated that the petition does influence their
opinions higher (M = 3.96, SD = 1.74) than respondents who had read the positive message (M = 3.84, SD = 1.80) (F(1,140) = .165, p = .686), although it shows no statistical
significance. Moreover, measuring whether “the online petition changes respondents’
attitudes towards orangutans” –the negative tone condition viewers rated it higher (M = 3.86, SD = 1.58) than the positive tone condition viewers (M = 3.52, SD = 1.77) (F(1,140) = 1.40, p
= .239). In other words, although the Univariate Analysis of Variance shows no statistical significance, our sample revealed that the negative tone contributed slightly higher effects than the positive tone of online petition in changing their attitudes.
Emotions
In terms of emotional effects, our sample showed consistently positive results across different conditions of negative tone, containing an image and web-cues, although revealed no
statistical significance. By asking that “the online petition made you feel un-stimulated:
stimulated/ un-aroused: aroused”, (on a seven-point scale), respondents in negative tone
condition rated feeling stimulated higher (M = 3.83, SD = 1.75) than in positive tone condition (M = 3.44, SD = 1.29) (F(1,134) = .027, p = .871). Respondents in negative tone condition rated feeling aroused higher (M = 3.67, SD = 1.64) than in positive tone condition (M = 3.28, SD = 1.32) (F(1,134) = .058, p = .810).
Moreover, respondents in having image condition rated feeling stimulated higher (M = 4.04, SD = 1.53) than in no-image condition (M = 3.65, SD = 1.58) (F(1,140)=2.266, p = .134). Respondents in the image containing condition rated feeling aroused higher (M = 3.77,
SD = 1.56) than in no-image condition (M = 3.54, SD = 1.51) (F(1,140)=.863, p = .354). In
the web-cues condition, respondents rated feeling stimulated higher (M = 3.99, SD = 1.59) than in non-web-cues condition (M = 3.71, SD = 1.54) (F(1,140)=1.112, p = .293).
Respondents in the web-cues condition also rated feeling aroused higher (M = 3.74, SD = 1.53) than in the non-web-cues condition (M = 3.57, SD = 1.53) (F(1,140)=.451, p = .503).
Credibility
Lastly, in this current study, we also checked the effects of tones, images, and web-cues on the perceived credibility of an online petition. Our sample revealed interesting and statistical significance results, specifically the effects due to the web-cues. We asked respondents after viewing the online petition to indicate their perceived credibility towards it on a bipolar scale (e.g., “low/high quality”, “not at all/high believable”, “not very/very convincing”,
“unimportant/important”, “untrustworthy/trustworthy”, and “unreliable/reliable”).
Respondents in negative tone condition rated online petition they had seen as being more believable and more convincing (M = 4.20, SD = 1.53) than respondents in positive tone condition (M = 3.90, SD = 1.53) (F(1,140)=1.337, p = .249). Moreover, respondents who had seen online petition with an image perceived it as having higher quality (M = 4.24, SD = 1.35) than online petition with no image (M = 3.92, SD = 1.62) (F(1,140)=1.659, p = .200). Online petitions that contain images were also consistently rated as more believable,
important, trustworthy and reliable, than online petitions that do not contain images.
However, the mean scores between containing image and non-image groups were not hugely different, hence, they revealed no statistical significance.
Interestingly, our analysis showed a significant effect of web-cues (vs. no web-cues) on perceived credibility, as web-cues appearance positively contributes to a higher perception of the credibility of online petitions. There was a significant effect of web-cues on the
perceived credibility of online petitions at the p< .05 level, as respondents in web-cues condition rated the quality of petition higher (M = 4.33, SD = 1.50) than in non-web-cues condition (M = 3.83, SD = 1.47) (F(1,140)=3.938, p=.049).
There was also a significant effect of web-cues on the perceived credibility of online petition at the p< .01 level as respondents in the web-cue condition rated online petition of being more trustworthy (M = 4.61, SD = 1.37) than in the non-web-cues condition (M = 3.86,
SD = 1.43) (F(1,140)=.169, p=.002). Moreover, respondents in the web-cues condition rated
online petition of being more reliable (M = 4.54, SD = 1.53) than in non-web-cues condition (M = 3.85, SD = 1.42) (F(1,140)=7.840, p=.006). In summation, our analyses only partially support the first and the third research hypothesis (H1 and H3), while partially rejecting the second hypothesis. However, the analyses provide a firm support for the last research hypotheses (H4) according to our sample.
Interaction between mobilizing characteristics
To answer the second research question of the interaction between all three characteristics, i.e., tones, images, and web-cues –we found that their interactions generally produce a positive outcome of mobilization effects. In our sample, the findings revealed the significant effects of the online petitions that contain ‘textual tones and an image’ on intentions to sign the petition (p = .033) at the level of p < .05. Moreover, we found that respondents who had seen online petitions, which have all three elements (tones, images and interactive cues), they tended to seek for more information about orangutans (p = .045), at the p < .05 level.
Furthermore, by checking the Mean score of all possible interactions of three characteristics to several dependent variables of behavioral intentions, we found a several interesting results as follows:
(a) Respondents who had seen ‘the positive online petition with an image and no
web-cues’ rated the highest mean in showing the intention to sign it (M = 4.24, SD = 2.26, n = 20)
compared to other conditions.
(b) Respondents in ‘the negative tone, no image and no web-cues’ rated the highest mean in wanting to read more about orangutans (M = 4.67, SD = 1.68, n = 18) compared to other conditions.
(c) Respondents in ‘the negative tone, no image, and with web-cues’ rated the highest mean in willing to contribute something other than signing the online petition (M = 3.58, SD = 1.71, n = 19) compared to other conditions.
(d) Respondents in ‘the negative tone, no image, and with web-cues’ rated the highest mean in willing to send the online petition to friends, family, and colleagues (M = 3.47, SD = 1.95, n = 19) compared to other conditions.
(e) Respondents in ‘the negative tone, no image, and with web-cues’ rated the highest mean in willing to talk about the orangutans with friends, family, and colleagues (M = 4.24,
SD = 1.59, n = 19) compared to other conditions.
(f) Respondents in ‘the negative tone, no image and no web-cues’ rated the highest mean in feeling more concerned about the orangutans (M = 4.83, SD = 1.38, n = 18) compared to other conditions.
(g) Respondents in ‘the negative tone, no image and with web-cues’ rated the highest mean in willing to looking up for more information about orangutans (M = 4.58, SD = 1.57, n = 19) compared to other conditions.
(h) Lastly, respondents in ‘the negative tone, no image and with web-cues’ rated the highest mean in feeling determined to sign the online petition (M = 4.00, SD = 1.79, n = 19) compared to other conditions.
DISCUSSION
Many scholars studied to what extent web mobilization (e.g., visiting political websites, seeking for political information, sending e-mail to a political organization, posting a message about politics in a forum, etc.), leads to increased online political activism (Esser & De
Vreese, 2007; Visser et al., 2012; Oser et al., 2013). Many scholars also examined textual and visual framing of socio-political campaigns, and the mobilization effects in turnout (Lecheler
& De Vreese, 2012; Lecheler et al., 2013). There is no study to date that focused on the mobilization effects of online petitions. This study aims to fill this academic void.
Previous studies revealed that negative tones tend to inspire people to take further action and affect people’s attitudes and intentions more than positive tones (Morton et al., 2011; Dickinson et al., 2013, Lecheler et al., 2013). Our study findings also partially resonate with existing studies. We found that online petitions that have a negative message generally mobilize Internet users to sign an online petition, and positively affect their emotions and perceived credibility of the petition, while a positive message does not. Hence, it seems that online petitions with a negative tone are more serious, important, and trustworthy, thus producing a stronger motivating effects and credibility than those petitions with a positive tone (Schuck & De Vreese, 2012; Lecheler et al., 2013). However, since our study shows no statistically significant effect of tones on mobilization effects, further studies and more extensive research are needed. Future examinations shall also take the design of ‘tone’ stimulus material to be more negative and more positive into a serious consideration.
Moreover, when measuring the mobilizing power of imagery, our study did not choose a negative image (vs. a positive image) included in our stimulus material. That is because we tested the presence of images (vs. absence of images) as being part of heuristic cues instead of testing visual tones. This study partially supports our hypothesis since the online petitions with an image attract and draw more attention (Lester & Cottle, 2009; O’Neill et al., 2013; Seo et al., 2013) among respondents, but do not actually drive viewers to sign them. The mobilization effects of images in online petitions are still unclear. However, having a picture in an online petition generally produces more mobilization, attention, stimulation, and credibility. Nevertheless, all independent factors of tones (negative vs. positive), image (vs. no image), and web-cues (vs. no web-cues) have shown very small mobilization effects and no statistical significance.
As a matter of fact, the basic limitation of conceptualizing media effects is from studying a single attribute (Eveland, 2003), thus we have tested an interaction between attributes of three characteristics (i.e., tones, images, and web-cues). Our findings show that the negative (tone) campaigns generally mobilize Internet users more than the positive ones. Our second hypothesis is also partially supported, because the combined ‘tones/images/web-cues’ of online petitions do not mobilize Internet users to sign petitions. However, they positively affect respondents’ behavioral intentions, e.g., to seek for more information about orangutans. Repeatedly, our findings also suggest that the combination of negative tone and interactive features are the most powerful mobilizing characteristics of online petitions.
Besides the primary interest of our study, which focuses on the mobilization effects of online petitions, we also measured the validation of website credibility (i.e., online petition websites) among respondents. Web-credibility has always been a concern of mass
communication research and later in online media studies as an audience always evaluate the qualities of websites they get information (West, 1994). In other words, the higher perceived credibility of information on a website, the more likely those messages would be successful in communicating, convincing, and persuading (Ohanian, 1990; West, 1994; Fogg, 2003).
Accordingly, our study empirically showed that interactive web-cues play a crucial role in increasing credibility of online petitions in terms of its appearance –as it is to be perceived higher in quality, more important, trustworthy and reliable than non-web-cues petitions. The studies done by Fogg (2003), Metzger (2007), and Kim (2012) revealed that the interactive cues of the website (e.g., author’s and organization’s contact information,
hyperlinks, digital space for comment section, etc.), are important to help increase credibility of the website. However, this study does not measure the relationship of credibility in linking to the mobilization effect (i.e. signing online petition intention). In this case, it might be very
interesting to investigate a correlation between credibility and mobilization effects more extensively in a future study.
There are a number of limitations to our study. First, the size of the sample might be not sufficient to compare mean score between groups, thus our study produced less
statistically successful outcomes. Second, the distribution of the survey should be more among homogenous groups of people, who might share a common communicating language. Since our textual stimulus-material was presented in English language, and we distributed the survey to a wide range of Internet users across native and non-native English speakers
countries; the level and the degree of understanding English could vary the findings.
Third, deploying the environmental issue of orangutans in Sumatra, Indonesia, might not be a sufficient representation in fully measuring mobilization effects of tones, images and web-cues of our designed stimulus materials. We assume that some people may pay more attention to environmental issues than others, and some people may pay more attention to political, economic, or health related issues than environmental issues. Therefore, respondents might feel turned off already when they were exposed to environmental issue-based petition. We suggest that a future study should ask respondents of their news and/or informational preferences, which may affect their answers to the survey.
Fourth, we suggest future researchers to ask open-ended questions in surveys. This may be extremely useful to understand the mobilization effects of online petitions, although in a more descriptive and qualitative way, for instance, “why do you want or not want to sign
this online petition? Please explain.” Lastly, further research using regression statistics that
correspond with other variables, e.g., political interest, efficacy and involvement of individuals/respondents, would extend our understanding about mobilization effects from both external (being exposed to online petition) and internal perspectives (an individual’s experience and preference).
CONCLUSION
In this contemporary socio-political landscape, the digital communication technology (i.e. Internet) offers citizens new platforms and tools to influence politics. In recent years, as the Internet became more available to younger generations, they are able to engage in political activism in new forms (Esser & De Vreese, 2007). Online petitioning became a part of alternative approaches of online activism, along with online donating and online advocacy (Breuer & Faroog, 2012; Oser et al., 2013). Thus, studying the mobilization effects of online petitions is crucial in making successful online campaigns. Our study investigated some contributing factors of online petitions in mobilizing online citizens to endorse those petitions. We believe these empirical findings will be useful for online petitioners and campaigners to consider in order to produce more effective online petitions and online campaigns in the future.
Acknowledgements. I would like to thank the European Commission (Education and Culture),
which had provided financial support for my studies via the Erasmus Mundus Master’s Program in Journalism, Media and Globalization. I am also very grateful to my thesis supervisor, Dr. Sanne Kruikemeier, for her stimulating guidance, support and encouragement throughout the process of producing this work. Many thanks also to all Mundus friends and professors at Aarhus University and University of Amsterdam, and specifically thanks to Program Coordinator, Bettina Andersen. Moreover, I would like to thank my family and my dear friend Woranit Muangmala, who have been always supporting me. Finally, I wish to thank Eric Miramon, for his support and care for me to complete this thesis in order to contribute new knowledge to the academic world of media effects of online campaigns.
Bionote. Siriluk Sriprasit is a graduate student, received a full-scholarship from the Erasmus
Mundus Program (Academic Year 2012-2014), to study the 1st Year at Aarhus University in Denmark, and the 2nd Year of Media and Politics at University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
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Appendix
Sample of stimulus materials: A. Negative tone message, which contains image and web-cues
