Grillo, Alessandro (2021) Digitalisation, social capital and political participation : an investigation of technological affordance and intensity of social media use. (PhD thesis), Kingston University, .
Abstract
Social Network Sites (SNSs) have attracted the attention of academics and practitioners in the field of Political Marketing, Media Studies, Sociology and Political Science for their capacity to boost social, political and civic engagement. Yet, extant research has yielded contrasting empirical evidence on the impact of different SNSs on Social Capital and Political Participation, possibly due to lack of consideration of the differences among SNSs affordances and their intensity of use. The aim of this study is to enhance the understanding of the relationship between Social Capital and Political Participation, by considering the moderating effects of the technological affordances of different SNSs (Facebook and Twitter), their intensity of use and their combined and not combined use. The broad setting of the research is the growth of “mediatisation” and “digitalisation” of social interactions in the UK. The underlying frameworks of this thesis are the Resource Mobilisation Theory from Political Science, the Social Capital Theory and Social Network Theory from Sociology, in an optic of technological determinism through the lens of technology affordance. To fulfil the aim of this study, a quantitative research strategy with a cross-sectional design were employed. Data were collected through an online, self-completion survey employing measures well established in previous academic research. The sample was randomly selected from a consumer panel owned by a reputed UK-based market research agency, resulting in 1212 valid responses. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) through the SmartPLS software was used to test the moderation effects of the type of SNSs used, their intensity of use and their combined or not combined use on the relationship between Social Capital and Political Participation. A series of parametric two-way ANOVAs in SPSS and non-parametric two-way ANOVA in R were employed to test for the interaction effects of the type of SNSs used and their intensity of use on Social Capital and Political Participation, respectively. Results show that the type of SNS employed and their intensity of use moderates the relationship between online Social Capital and Political Participation. Moreover, the research findings indicate that an interaction effect between the type of SNSs used and their intensity of use must be considered when analysing the effects of SNSs on Social Capital and Political Participation. Given the relevance and use of Social Capital in different disciplines, this thesis contributes to theoretical knowledge in different academic fields. First, this thesis advances prior work in the domain of Engagement and Mobilisation Theories by expanding the Resource Mobilisation Theory framework through moderation mechanisms working in accordance with the principles of Technology Affordance and Technological determinism. Second, this research advances knowledge in the field of Social Capital and Political Participation by delving into the connections between different SNSs, Online (Bridging/Bonding) Social Capital, Political Participation (online/offline) and their relationships, introducing interaction effects that help to explain the contrasting empirical evidence in extant literature. Third, this thesis introduces a novel perspective to Political Marketing studies, by employing Social Capital as the main element of investigation to advance knowledge in engagement and targeting theories through different SNSs meanwhile maximising social, ethical and democratic engagement. Fourth, this thesis expands on previous SNSs studies in the domain of Media and Communication that have argued that social media affordances facilitate specific political behaviour. Integrating the Affordance thesis with the intensity of use of SNSs clarifies several competing theories related to media usage.
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