The next generation of voting advice applications

Abstract

The Political Engagement of citizens between 14-30 has been declining in the last decades due to a transition of their needs in comparison to older generations. However, the popularity of Voting Advice Applications (VAA’s) as a tool to prepare for elections. Nevertheless, little is known about the potential of VAA’s outside of the context of elections as a new way for young citizens to become more politically engaged.Therefore, this study aims to 1) gain a better understand of the ways that young citizens inform themselves, 2) create a Value Proposition based on VAA principles, 3) research the acceptance and use of the Value Proposition, 4) test the effect of Gamification and 5) and determine the product-market fit.For this purpose, 20 interviews were conducted based on the Value Proposition Framework and a quantitative study was conducted by means of an online survey. The quantitative research framework is based on the Technology Acceptance model (TAM) which was extended to fit the context of VAA’s. In addition, an experiment was used to test the effect of Gamification.The results indicate that VAA’s have potential in the Dutch, Swiss and German market to be used outside of elections. Further, this research shows that young, disengaged, Social Media users have the most Behavioral Intention (BI). Moreover, Perceived Trustworthiness (PTW) and Perceive Enjoyment (PE) are significant determinants of acceptance and use. Lastly, this research shows that Gamification does not significantly contribute to a positive perception of The Next Generation of Voting Advice Applications.

Date of Award	21 Oct 2021
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	João Cotter Salvado (Supervisor)