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The Effect of Twitter Use on Politicians

Credibility and Attitudes toward
Politicians
a
Sungwook Hwang
a
Department of Communication , Pusan National University ,
Republic of Korea
Published online: 29 May 2013.

To cite this article: Sungwook Hwang (2013): The Effect of Twitter Use on Politicians Credibility and
Attitudes toward Politicians, Journal of Public Relations Research, 25:3, 246-258

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 Journal of Public Relations Research, 25: 246258, 2013
Copyright # Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 1062-726X print/1532-754X online
DOI: 10.1080/1062726X.2013.788445

The Effect of Twitter Use on Politicians

Credibility and Attitudes toward Politicians

Sungwook Hwang
Department of Communication, Pusan National University, Republic of Korea

This study examined how Korean young adults evaluate the use of Twitter by Korean politicians,
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perceive politicians credibility, and evaluate politicians who use Twitter, and the relationships among
these 3 variables. Although respondents gave slightly positive, but nearly neutral, answers to ques-
tions regarding Twitter use, perceived credibility, and overall evaluation of politicians, the model
represented by these 3 variables fits the responses of young Korean voters. In other words, this study
shows that attitudes toward the use of Twitter by Korean politicians positively influenced perceived
credibility, which, in turn, positively influenced attitudes toward Twitter-using politicians. In
addition, attitudes toward Twitter use directly influenced attitudes toward politicians in a positive
way. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed in this article.

Twitter was created in March 2006 in the United States, and over 175 million people now use the
social networking and micro-blogging service (Wikipedia.com, 2011). Twitter has also become
popular in South Korea, as the number of smartphone users has increased (Lee, 2011). As of
January 2, 2011, approximately 2.39 million Koreans were Twitter users (Lee, 2011). Notably,
some Korean sports celebrities, CEOs, and politicians have influenced the rapid diffusion of
social networking services (Lee, 2011). The 2010 Olympic champion Kim Yun-A, Shinsegae
department store CEO Jeong Yong Jin, Doosan Infracore CEO Park Yong Man, legislator U
Si Min, legislator Shim Sang Jeong, legislator Na Kyung Won, and legislator Park Geun Hye
are all examples of leading Twitter users.
The popularity of social media tools, including Twitter, has also inspired communication
scholars to study these new media outlets. In particular, strategic communication scholars have
examined public relations (PR) practitioners use of social media tools (e.g., Avery et al., 2010;
Curtis et al., 2010; Eyrich, Padman, & Sweetser, 2008), role of online social media in media
relations (e.g., Lariscy, Avery, Sweetser, & Howes, 2009; Waters et al., 2010), use of social
media in political campaigns (e.g., Kushin & Yamamoto, 2010; Metzgar & Marrugi, 2009;
Utz, 2009), and use of Twitter in the communication of leading companies (e.g., Barnes &
Mattson, 2009; Rybalko & Seltzer, 2010). That is, scholars have examined the use of social
media in diverse communication areas. However, few studies have investigated the effect of
social media on the perceived images of politician users.

Correspondence should be sent to Professor Sungwook Hwang, Ph.D., Pusan National University, Communication,
Geumjeong-gu, Busan 609-735, Republic of Korea. E-mail: hsw110@pusan.ac.kr
 TWITTER, POLITICIANS CREDIBILITY, AND ATTITUDES TOWARD POLITICIANS 247

Limiting the scope of the research area to Korean politicians social media communication,
this research aims to examine how general Korean audiences evaluate these politicians Twitter
use, perceive the credibility of politician Twitter users images, and evaluate them as individuals.
More important, this study uses a structural model to examine the relationships between the three
aforementioned variables. Acknowledging that younger generations tend to better understand or
more quickly embrace new technological innovation, this study specifically investigated Korean
undergraduate students perceptions of politicians use of social media.
In doing so, the study theoretically contributes to the building of a comprehensive model that
can be used to evaluate the social media use and perceived credibility of politicians, as well as
attitudes toward them. If the model proposed by this study fits the responses of young voters, it
implies that political practitioners can use social media to strategically manage and build credible
images and encourage favorable attitudes among their politician clients.
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STUDY BACKGROUND

Because this study investigates South Korean politicians Twitter use and its effect, this section
briefly explains South Korean politics. According to the National Election Commission (2010),
the South Korean congress consists of 298 legislators. The number of seats held by negotiation
groups formed by political parties in the National Assembly is as follows: the ruling Grand
National Party (57.38%), the largest opposition party, that is, the Democratic Party (29.19%),
and others (13.43%). A general election is held every 4 years. The current South Korean presi-
dent, Lee Myung Bak, belongs to the ruling party.
As of November of 2010, 189 politicians, including incumbent legislators, former legislators,
and mayors had their own Twitter accounts (J. A. Kim, 2011). The most notable Korean
politician Twitter users are U Simin (the representative of the Participation Party), Roh Hoichan
(the representative of the New Progressive Party), Park Geunhye (the former representative of
the ruling Grand National Party), Shim Sangjung (the former representative of the New
Progressive Party), Lee Jeonghee (the legislator of the Democratic Labor Party), and Han
Myungsook (the former prime minister). These politicians communicate with 50 to 200 thousand
Twitter followers (Park, 2011). Scholars estimate that, currently, Twitter influences 8% to 12%
of voters and its influential power will grow in the coming elections because it is likely to be
used for encouraging voting behavior (Y. J. Choi, 2011).

LITERATURE REVIEW

This study aims to examine the empirical effect of Twitter use by politicians on their personal
PR. PR practitioners and scholars describe Twitter as a popular social media tool with the
potential to encourage better practices. However, few studies have directly spotlighted the effect
of Twitter use on high profile personal PR. Therefore, this study comprehensively reviews the
relevant research. This section investigates research regarding social media and political
campaign PR. Further, it reviews previously performed studies in terms of practitioners Twitter
use. In addition, this section examines the credibility concept and relevant studies as a means of
understanding and measuring the cognitive effect of a politicians personal image.
 248 HWANG

Social Media and Political Campaign PR

Definition and typology of social media. Social media is defined as a two-way platform
that allows users to construct personal identities through self-presentation and dialogue
(Rettberg, 2009). According to Sweetser and Lariscy (2008), social media is the concept of
a readwrite Web, where the online audience moves beyond passive viewing of Web content
to actually contributing to the content (p. 179). That is, social media make it possible for users
to share content they have generated and establish an extended social network online.
Popular social media tools include the following: blogs, intranets, podcasts, video sharing
(e.g., YouTube), photo sharing (e.g., Shutterbug, Flickr), social networks, wikis (e.g., Wikipedia),
gaming, virtual worlds (i.e., Second Life), micro-blogging (e.g., Twitter, Pownce, Plurk), text
messaging, videoconferencing, PDAs, social event=calendar systems (e.g., Upcoming, Eventful),
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social bookmarking (e.g., Delicious), news aggregation=RSS, and e-mail (Eyrich et al., 2008). Of
the leading corporations listed as Fortune 500 companies, 76% use these social media tools
(Sweetser, Avery, & Lariscy, 2009).
Political campaigns through social media. Social media is also a vital issue in political
campaigns. Metzgar and Maruggi (2009) monitored social media online during the 2008 US
presidential election by using Radian 6, a social media tracking tool. According to their study
results, social media was an effective tool for disseminating a campaign message and communi-
cating promptly with those to whom the message appealed. Overall, although both traditional and
social media dealt with prominent issues with comparable effectiveness, social media tended to
spotlight information excluded from traditional media as well. For example, social media often
engaged discussion of the Iraq War, unlike traditional media, which focused on the economy.
In addition, social media gave equal mention to all four candidates during campaigns. These
results indicate that social media offers more balanced opportunities for political discourse.
In making comparisons among several generations, young adults appear more likely to
actively gather information from social media. It was found that 27% of adults younger than
30 collected political campaign information from social network sites (SNS), whereas only 4%
of the adults between 30 and 39 used social media for such purpose and 1% of the adults older
than 40 did so (Kohut, 2008). Social media users showed the following political communication
activities online. Facebook users tend to make online donations, inspire their colleagues to vote,
and upload graphics or comments about political attitudes and opinions (Kushin & Yamamoto,
2010). Candidates and voters use Twitter and blogs for discussing social and political issues,
sharing information, and encouraging political participation (Kushin & Yamamoto, 2010). In
their study, Kushin and Yamamoto classified types of political Internet activity as attention to
social media, attention to traditional Internet sources, and online expression. They concluded that
young adults are more likely to become involved in an election campaign by expressing opinions,
discussing issues, and sharing information through social media.
Utz (2009) also examined the benefits of SNS as tools for campaigns. According to the first
survey results, SNS exposed those less interested in politics to political messages. Viewing a can-
didates social media profile secured users attitudes. However, politicians did not fully use the
interactive functions offered by SNS during the 2006 Dutch General Elections. The results of
the second experimental study indicated that respondents perceived politicians who reacted to
users comments through SNS favorably. The effect of feedback was particularly strong in the
 TWITTER, POLITICIANS CREDIBILITY, AND ATTITUDES TOWARD POLITICIANS 249

case of right-wing politicians as perceived by left-wing voters. Utz insisted that right-wing
candidates could increase their appeal to left-wing voters by utilizing the user-to-user interactive
functions of social media. Her study is especially relevant in that, like this study, it dealt with
attitudes toward politicians who use social media; however, her study differed from this study
in that it did not include a specific cognitive variable, such as perceived credibility, and did
not investigate Twitter in detail.

Twitter and PR

Micro-blogging is a system of communication or an Internet-based publishing platform that con-

sists of sending short text messages with a maximum length of 140 characters through tools such
as Twitter (Xifra & Grau, 2010, p. 171). Barnes and Mattson (2009) examined the 2008 Fortune
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500 list to monitor corporate use of social media outlets, including Twitter. Eighty-one companies
had blogs and 23 (28%) of these blogs linked to corporate Twitter accounts. Although the ratings
of companies that were linked to Twitter on the Fortune 500 list were not high at the time, the
popularity of Twitter among individuals has been growing rapidly. The number of users has
increased dramatically, and Twitters average yearly growth rate measures 1382% (McGiboney,
2009; Milian, 2009). Arceneaux and Weiss (2010) insisted that both traditional media, including
newspapers and magazines, and social media, including blogs, facilitated the diffusion of Twitter,
supporting their claim with the content analysis results of media coverage regarding new tech-
nology. According to the study by Shim and Hwang (2010), which applied the theory of uses
and gratifications, individuals use Twitter for the followings purposes: social participation by
exchanging information, formation of follower group based on social interactions, convenient
communication tool, easiness of transferring information, relaxation and entertainment, private
memory place, and usefulness of 140 characters (p. 233).
Several studies (Rybalko & Seltzer, 2010; Smith, 2010; Xifra & Grau, 2010) have examined
Twitter from a PR perspective. Xifra and Grau (2010) analyzed 653 tweets including the words
public relations or PR. The coding categories were labor introspective dealing with new PR
positions, academic introspection regarding scholarly information, practices including information
provided by practitioners, press release references, general information on the PR field, and Twitter
users conversation with the community, research, and announcements. The results of the study
indicated that, where PR is concerned, Twitter is more frequently utilized for professional purposes
than theoretical development (Xifra & Grau, 2010). The study concluded that Twitter is useful for
communicating users experiences, case studies, ideas, and new academic approaches.
Rybalko and Seltzer (2010) investigated how Fortune 500 companies use Twitter to appeal to
stakeholders. Similar to traditional Web sites, blogs, and SNS, Twitter served as a useful tool for
corporations who wanted to effectively conduct dialogic communication with stakeholders
(Rybalko & Seltzer, 2010). A Web site can promote relationships through dialogic communi-
cation (Kent & Taylor, 1998; Kent, Taylor, & White, 2003). Likewise, Twitter allows corpora-
tions to realize dialogic communication by promoting an easy interface, conserving visitors,
promoting return visits, offering useful information to various public sectors, and providing a
dialogic loop (Rybalko & Seltzer, 2010). These are the five dialogic communication principles
that make social media useful tools for cultivating relationships (Seltzer & Mitrook, 2007).
Notably, the dialogic communication among the most effective companies (74.5%) has targeted
a broad general audience (Rybalko & Seltzer, 2010).
 250 HWANG

Twitters notability is based on its organizational strengths and relationship management.

Smith (2010) examined how Twitter users discussed Haiti relief efforts and which PR relation-
ship management strategies were employed by these users. Early in the relief effort, tweets by
members of the public favorably influenced the reputation of participating organizations (Smith,
2010). Through Twitter, people were able to connect with a community of supporters, encourage
involvement in the Haiti relief effort, and offer individualized perspectives on public issues
(Smith, 2010). Twitter users also utilized the following relationship cultivation strategies:
relational commitment, conversational human voice, dialogic feedback loops, positivity, and
openness (Smith, 2010). In other words, a core force driving Twitter use is interactivity, and
the two dimensions of interactivity, functional technological interactivity and contingent interde-
pendent messaging interactivity, are strongly associated with individuals involvement with
Twitter (Smith, 2010).
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Considering the highly interactive mode of micro-blogging, Gilpin (2010) reasonably

suggested that organizations take a more flexible approach to their image, because it is easier for
stakeholders to control the direction of conversations on Twitter than in press releases or blogging.

Perceived Credibility

Advertising scholars have mainly studied endorser credibility and its effects. They have explored
the issue of the credibility of an advertising message source (i.e., endorser). Similarly, this study
examines the credibility of politicians who post information and messages in their own Twitter
feeds, thereby using Twitter as a PR medium. Therefore, the following discussion of credibility
studies aims to explain and measure the perceived credibility of politician Twitter users.
Credibility is defined as judgments made by a perceiver concerning the believability of a
communicator (OKeefe, 1990, pp. 130
131). Credibility is one of the most important image
dimensions for politicians, in addition to leadership, warmth, and salience (Y. J. Choi, 2006).
Scholars (Berlo, Lemert, & Mertz, 1969; McCroskey, 1966) found that the concept of credibility
is multidimensional. Most studies depicted trustworthiness and expertise as two common factors
of credibility (Gass & Seiter, 2004). Erdogan (1999) also identified expertise and trustworthiness
as the main components of credibility, whereas Ohanian (1990) classified the dimensions of
credibility as expertise, trustworthiness, and attractiveness. Expertise is conceptualized as the
extent of a persons knowledge, skills, and experience and to what extent he or she communi-
cates accurate information (Hovland, Janis, & Kelley, 1953). Trustworthiness is defined as the
extent to which an audience believes a person is capable of sincerely communicating information
without prejudice (Ohanian, 1991). Attractiveness refers to the extent to which an audience finds
a person physically attractive (Ohanian, 1991).
Many scholars who have examined the effects of endorsers in advertising have utilized the
credibility dimensions of Ohanian (1990). In establishing the dimensions of endorser credibility,
Erdogan, Baker, and Tagg (2001) have identified specific characteristics of high-profile endor-
sers, which include congruence, credibility, profession, popularity, and obtainability. S. M. Choi
and Rifon (2007) have also tested endorser credibility by employing exploratory and confirma-
tory factor analyses. Their research confirmed that credibility is composed of attractiveness,
trustworthiness, and expertise.
In general, studies on the effect of endorsements on corporate advertising have found that
credible endorsers are effective in producing positive consumer responses and encouraging
 TWITTER, POLITICIANS CREDIBILITY, AND ATTITUDES TOWARD POLITICIANS 251

favorable attitudes toward an ad=brand and intent to purchase (Atkin & Block, 1983; Frieden,
1984; Goldsmith, Lafferty, & Newell, 2000; Kamins, 1989; Lafferty & Goldsmith, 1999;
Lafferty, Goldsmith, & Newell, 2002; Ohanian, 1991). Goldsmith and his colleagues (2000)
found that the credibility of endorsers strongly influences attitudes toward advertising, whereas
corporate credibility affects attitudes toward brands. Lord and Putrevu (2009) examined the
relationship between consumer motivation (informational vs. transformational) and the three
dimensions of credibility. Adult consumers with informational motivation strongly perceived
expertise and trustworthiness through cognitive processing, whereas those with transformational
motivation more strongly perceived attractiveness through affective processing. Such processing
further influenced attitudinal and behavioral responses. In summary, endorser credibility
positively influences the effectiveness of corporate advertising.
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RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESES

This study, which highlights the use of Twitter by politicians, first questions how Korean young
adults evaluate politicians Twitter use as follows:

RQ1: Which attitude do members of the younger generation take toward politicians Twitter use?

This study also examines how young adults perceive the credibility of politician Twitter users:

RQ2: How do members of the younger generation perceive the credibility of politician Twitter
users?

Furthermore, this study investigates how young adults evaluate politicians who use
micro-blogging:

RQ3: How do members of the younger generation perceive politicians who use Twitter?

More important, the study examines the relationship between the three variables previously
mentioned. Twitter makes it possible to fully engage dialogic communication and interact
promptly. As compared to unidirectional information sharing, the two-way information sharing
that this social medium allows is a more effective means for people to perceive politicians as
credible. Open and candid information sharing could lead to the perception that a politician
Twitter user is highly credible. That is, when people feel optimistic about the use of Twitter
by a politician, they may also begin to view that politician as credible:

H1: Attitudes toward the use of Twitter by politicians positively influence perceived politician
credibility.

The results of the aforementioned endorser effect studies indicated that perceived credibility
positively influences attitudinal responses, such as attitudes toward advertisements or brands.
Because politicians, themselves, can be regarded as brands, this study proposes the following
hypothesis:

H2: Perceived politician credibility positively influences attitudes toward politician Twitter users.
 252 HWANG

Moreover, when people favorably evaluate politicians use of fully interactive social media, it
can directly and positively affect their evaluation of the politicians themselves:

H3: Attitudes toward the use of Twitter by politicians positively influence attitudes toward politician
users.

METHOD

Procedure

For this study, undergraduate students at four large universities located in the two major cities of
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South Korea, Seoul and Busan, were recruited to examine young voters evaluations and percep-
tions of the use of Twitter by politicians. The survey questionnaire was distributed to a total of
400 students, all of whom were enrolled in various classes in the subjects of English, journalism,
economics, or politics during the month of October in 2010. Three hundred and eighty students
voluntarily participated in the survey and these students were rewarded with extra credit. Of these,
369 students completed their surveys, whereas 11 students did not complete the survey (N 369).

Measurement

Attitudes toward the use of Twitter by politicians were measured using three questions based
on the measurement scale developed by MacKenzie and Lutz (1989). Seven-point semantic
differential scales were used (good=bad, favorable=unfavorable, and positive=negative; a .94).
Politicians credibility was measured according to the perceived dimensions of credibility:
attractiveness, trustworthiness, and expertise (see Ohanian, 1990). The specific items are
as follows: attractive=unattractive, classy=nonclassy, sincere=insincere, reliable=unreliable,
trustworthy=untrustworthy, expert=inexpert, experienced=inexperienced, and skilled=unskilled.
Sexy=nonsexy was excluded as a measurement item because it did not apply to politicians
overall. Again, seven-point semantic differential scales were used and the Cronbach alpha value
was .92 for the items.
Attitudes toward the politicians who use Twitter were also measured according to three
general responses toward their brandgood=bad, favorable=unfavorable, and positive=negative
(MacKenzie & Lutz, 1989)using a seven-point scale (a .93).

Demographic Information

Of the respondents, 49% were men. Freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors accounted for
5.1%, 66.1%, 18.4%, and 10.3% of the participants, respectively. On an average, participants
were 22 years old. They used blogs at a rate of 56.6%, YouTube at 30%, Facebook at
16.5%, Twitter at 32.5%, and other social media services at 28.2%. Twitter users among the
participants accessed the social medium 1.2 times per day and spent approximately 30 min using
it. Those who did not use Twitter showed high intent to use the medium (M 6.10 out of 7).
Thirty percent of the participants owned smart phones.
 TWITTER, POLITICIANS CREDIBILITY, AND ATTITUDES TOWARD POLITICIANS 253

Analysis

This study analyzed the mean values of measurement items in the following research areas: attitudes
toward the use of Twitter by politicians (RQ1), perceived credibility (RQ2), and attitudes toward the
politician users (RQ3). To test the effects of these paths among the variables (H1, H2, and H3),
structural equation modeling was employed and the statistical software AMOS 7.0 was used.

RESULTS

RQ1 investigated attitudes toward the use of Twitter by politicians. Participants showed slightly
favorable, but nearly neutral, evaluations of Korean politicians use of micro-blogging (good:
Mean 4.49, SD 1.37; favorable: M 4.46, SD 1.39; positive: M 4.40, SD 1.28).
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RQ2 examined how participants perceived the politician Twitter users credibility. Once again,
the participants responses regarding their perceptions of politician users credibility were slightly
positive, but nearly neutral: attractive (M 4.49, SD 1.30), classy (M 4.49, SD 1.25), sincere
(M 4.43, SD 1.22), experienced (M 4.31, SD 1.22), skilled (M 4.28, SD 1.21), expert
(M 4.29, SD 1.15), reliable (M 3.90, SD 1.29), and trustworthy (M 3.85, SD 1.28).
RQ3 analyzed how the participants evaluated the politician micro-bloggers. As in responses
to RQ1 and RQ2, participants showed moderately positive, but nearly neutral, attitudes toward
the politician users: good (M 4.35, SD 1.28), favorable (M 4.35, SD 1.28), and positive
(M 4.29, SD 1.27).
This study used the structural equation model in order to test the three hypotheses (H1, H2, and
H3). The fitness of the data to the original model was not acceptable. The chi-square value was
560.16 (df 74, p < .001), indicating a poor fit. The other model fitness indexes showed poor fit
as well. Thus, this study noted model modification indexes and connected some error terms to
achieve high modification index scores. As a result, the final structural equation model was
obtained. The model was a better fit with the data, and although its chi-square value was much
lower than that of the previous model, it remained unacceptable (v2 173.77, df 69,
p < .001). Because the chi-square value was sensitive to sample size (Loehlin, 2004), other fitness
indexes were noted once again: Chi-square=Degree of Freedom ratio (CMIN=DF) 2.52, Root
Mean Squared Resdual (RMR) .05, Goodness of Fit Index (GFI) .94, Normed Fit Index
(NFI) .97, Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) .97, Comparative Fit Index (CFI) .98, and Root Mean
Squared Residual Approximation (RMSEA) .06. These index scores were fully acceptable on the
basis of the standards established by Browne and Cudeck (1993) and K. S. Kim (2005).
H1 assumed that attitudes toward the Twitter use of politicians would positively influence
participants perceptions of politicians credibility. As expected, the hypothesis was supported.
The path coefficient was .70 (standard error [SE .04, t 16.28, p < .001). That is, those
who favorably evaluated the use of micro-blogging by politicians were likely to perceive the
politicians as credible.
H2 predicted that perceived credibility would positively influence attitudes toward politician
micro-bloggers. The path coefficient was .52 (SE .06, t 8.52, p < .001). This suggests that
those who perceived political celebrities as having credible public images were more likely to
positively evaluate the politicians. Therefore, H2 was also supported.
H3 predicted that attitudes toward the use of Twitter by politicians would positively influence
attitudes toward the politicians themselves. The path coefficient was .39 (SE .05, t 7.23,
 254 HWANG

p < .001). This indicates that, when participants favorably evaluated the politicians micro-
blogging, they were more likely to have positive attitudes toward the political celebrities as
individuals. Thus, H3 was supported as well.

DISCUSSION

This study examined how young adults perceive the use of Twitter by politicians. Respondents
evaluated politicians Twitter use and credibility, and politician users themselves somewhat
positively, but almost neutrally (RQ1, RQ2, & RQ3). These results can be interpreted as two
ways. First, it is worth at least noting that young respondents in this study did not negatively
evaluate politicians Twitter use and images, nor did they express negative attitudes toward
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politicians. Twitter is a still rising social media outlet in South Korea. Considering its relatively
short history, politicians Twitter use and consequent image will likely be better evaluated in the
near future. Second, the use of social media cannot build a favorable reputation for politicians on
its own. Politicians essential task is to initiate and refine unique and useful policies. In addition
to the development of such policies, personal PR activities by politicians, including social media
communication, can increase their popularity among members of their public.
Most important, this study presented a model for examining attitudes toward Twitter use,
perceived politician credibility, and politicians as individuals that correspond to young voters
survey question responses. According to the model, favorable evaluation of politicians Twitter
use increases perceived credibility (H1). This, in turn, positively influences evaluations of
politicians (H2). Furthermore, those who favorably evaluate the use of Twitter by politicians
are more likely to evaluate politician users positively (H3). Theoretically, this indicates that
the use of social media such as Twitter facilitates effective PR for individuals, as well as orga-
nizations. This reveals a need for communication scholars who study personal PR to extend the
current research area systemically by further investigating and specifying the use of social media
like Twitter as an influential independent variable.
What produced these results? I noted the features and attributes of Twitter as a medium. First,
Twitter is a new and somewhat complicated medium that has not yet been adopted by everyone.
Taking on the challenge of a new and unfamiliar communication tool can, itself, contribute to the
perception of a fresh and attractive politician image. That is, those who positively evaluated the
use of Twitter by politicians tended to perceive politicians as attractive and classy, because they
felt that the politicians were challenging themselves by using a new communication medium. In
addition, the use of such a technologically complicated tool made politicians appear experienced
and highly skilled.
Twitter is also very useful for dialogic communication. Social media makes it possible for
organizations to fully engage in dialogic communication with stakeholders (Rybalko & Seltzer,
2010). Likewise, politicians can maximize dialogic communication with their (potential) voters
through social mediums like Twitter. In essence, the word dialogue indicates open-minded,
specific message content and a sincere listening attitude. That is, the open-mindedness required
for dialogic communication makes politicians appear sincere, reliable, and trustworthy. When
politicians actively share their candid opinions through the open public sphere of Twitter, this
can cultivate an open-minded image that leads members of the public to perceive politician users
as sincere and reliable.
 TWITTER, POLITICIANS CREDIBILITY, AND ATTITUDES TOWARD POLITICIANS 255

Moreover, the accumulation of a credible image by politicians leads to positive evaluations of

them, just as perceived credibility positively influences attitudes toward advertisements or
brands (see Atkin & Block, 1983; Frieden, 1984; Goldsmith et al., 2000; Kamins, 1989; Lafferty
& Goldsmith, 1999; Lafferty et al., 2002; Ohanian, 1991). In other words, positive evaluation of
the challenge of using a new social medium and engaging open communication produced a
credible image, and the accumulation of cognitive credibility produced favorable attitudinal
evaluations of the politicians as brands.
Interestingly, this study also found a direct connection between respondents evaluations of
Twitter use by politicians and their evaluations of politicians themselves. It is possible that
the open image that use of Twitters dialogic communication generates led young voters to posi-
tively perceive the politicians as democratic leaders who listen to peoples opinions.
Considering the effect of politicians Twitter use on perceived credibility and attitudes toward
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politicians, and its implications for existing literature, this study also makes the following
practical recommendations. First, political campaign specialists should encourage their politician
clients to strategically adopt and use a micro-blogging service. As shown in this study, politi-
cians can enhance the credibility of their images in terms of attractiveness, classiness, sincerity,
trustworthiness, reliability, experience, and expertise when young voters positively evaluate their
use of Twitter. It is only possible to evaluate Twitter use by politicians when politicians adopt
and use the micro-blogging service.
Second, politicians should try to use Twitter as actively as possible to secure positive eva-
luations from young voters. Opening a Twitter account is easy, but maintaining relationships
with followers requires that politicians make continuous communication efforts. Simply having
a Twitter account will likely not be enough to ensure positive repercussions. Only using the
medium actively and specifically will improve evaluations markedly. Active use can be classi-
fied as employing the diverse, interactive functions offered by the medium (functional
interactivity) and frequently responding to comments made by followers (contingent interactiv-
ity; see Smith, 2010). In other words, politician Twitter users should use various functional
features like @ (reply), # (hash), and RT (retweet) and remain aware of newly developed
functions. Also, politician Twitter users should give feedback to their followers tweets and
messages as often as possible. Active interdependent messaging will contribute to evaluations
that are more favorable from young voters who perceive politicians who engage users com-
ments through SNS as more credible (Utz, 2009). Again, this study claims that adopting a
micro-blogging service is necessary for politicians who want to improve their personal PR,
but that such adoption must be accompanied by consistent functional and interdependent
message interactivity.
Although the model presented in this study showed positive relationships between the three
variables, this study has some limitations. First, it recruited Korean undergraduate students as
samples. Consequently, the results could not be applied to all generations. In the future,
recruiting participants from different generations will increase the potential for generalization.
Second, this study only spotlighted politicians use of Twitter, but no other social medium.
Therefore, applying the model presented here to the use of other social media outlets will
be an important future development, because it will lead to results that truly reflect the effects
of social media. Third, this study did not examine the respondents ideological characteristics
or party affiliations. Because these variables could strongly affect the paths traced by the
model, future studies need to include them to achieve a more exact analysis. Fourth, this study
 256 HWANG

investigated the empirical effects of politicians Twitter use on personal PR; however, it did
not examine how politician Twitter users utilize the dialogic communication principles sug-
gested by Kent and Taylor (1998). Analyzing politicians use of dialogic communication prin-
ciples in the medium of Twitter will be a meaningful future research strategy for suggesting
better practices.
In summary, this study examined the effect of micro-blogging by politicians on perceived
credibility and attitudinal responses. This study also suggested that politicians should adopt the
new medium of Twitter and use it actively. The adoption of a micro-blogging service is by no
means a panacea, but it can significantly improve politicians personal PR, especially when
politicians take full advantage of the dialogic communication tool.
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