The mechanisms that make social media effective in building citizens’ trust on local government
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/DPRG-06-2022-0069 |
| Published date | 02 February 2023 |
| Date | 02 February 2023 |
| Pages | 138-152 |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information policy |
| Author | Pedro Torres,Mário Augusto,Tatiana Rodrigues |
The mechanisms that make social media
effective in building citizens’trust
on local government
Pedro Torres, M
ario Augusto and Tatiana Rodrigues
Abstract
Purpose –Focusing on municipalities, this study aims to examine whether citizens’ engagement with
local publicadministration activities onFacebook can have a positive effect oncitizens’ trust.
Design/methodology/approach –Using data from 333 citizens and resorting to structural equation
modelling,a conceptual model is tested.
Findings –The resultsshow that communicating directly with citizensthrough social media can enhance
the citizens’involvement in social issues and their identificationwith their city council. The effectof citizen
engagement on trust propensity is mediated by citizens’ identification with the city council and by
citizens’involvement in social issues.
Practical implications –The study provides a conceptual model that can be used by practitioners to
improve practicesthat enhance citizen engagement and buildtrust in the local government. City councils
should promote activities on social media that encourage identification and citizens’ involvement.
Furthermore, the findings suggest that municipalities can increase trust by involving citizens in social
issues.
Originality/value –This study contributes to a better understanding of the government social media
phenomenon,highlighting and empirically testingthe effect of citizen engagement on institutionaltrust. In
doing so, a process to build citizens’ trust in their city council through social media is unpacked. The
findings show that communicating directly with citizens throughsocial media can enhance the citizens’
involvement in social issues and their identification with the city council. The important role of
identificationto build institutional trust is emphasized.
Keywords Local public administration, City council, Social media, Trust, Identification
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Public administration institutions are increasingly using social media outlets, such as
Facebook and Twitter, to communicate with citizens (Robinson et al.,2019). These third-
party platforms enable social interactions among users and content (co)creation (Mergel
and Bretschneider, 2013). Social media can radically change the relationship between
governments and citizens (Morozov, 2013), but past studies show that municipalities do not
make full use of social media (Kowalik, 2021). Moreover, despite social media importance,
there is little research on the relationship between constructs of the government social
media phenomenon, in particular, regarding social media effects on general citizen
engagement (Medaglia and Zheng,2017).
Studying citizen engagement is relevant because it might lead to positive outcomes, such
as trust in local governments, which is considered central for governments adequate
functioning (Baldassare, 1985). Trust is a core concern for democratic governance and
public administration (Tolbert and Mossberger, 2006). In social capital studies, the most
Pedro Torres and
M
ario Augusto are both
based at the Faculty of
Economics, CeBER,
University of Coimbra,
Coimbra, Portugal.
Tatiana Rodrigues is based
at the Faculty of
Economics, University of
Coimbra, Coimbra,
Portugal.
Received 21 July 2022
Revised 3 October 2022
7 November 2022
22 December 2022
Accepted 22 December 2022
Funding: This work has been
funded by national funds
through FCT –Fundac¸a
˜o para a
Cie
ˆncia e a Tecnologia, I.P.,
Project UIDB/05037/2020.
PAGE 138 jDIGITAL POLICY, REGULATION AND GOVERNANCE jVOL. 25 NO. 2 2023, pp. 138-152, ©EmeraldPublishing Limited, ISSN 2398-5038 DOI 10.1108/DPRG-06-2022-0069
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