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A Comparative Study of Nonprofit and For-Profit Web-based Issue Advocacy
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A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF NONPROFIT AND FOR-PROFIT
WEB-BASED ISSUE ADVOCACY
Abstract
Using the Web to advocate positions and actions on public issues is an emerging and
potentially powerful means of shaping public opinion and action. Building on studies of Web advocacy in the political sector, this research employs content analysis to examine web-based advocacy by for-profit and nonprofit organizations. For-profit organizations were found to engage in much more Web advocacy than nonprofit organizations. Those organizations that did engage in extensive advocacy, or were commited to multiple social values, appear to have come to adopt those postures or activities consistent with what a cost benefit analysis of the impact on their enterprise would predict. With respect to region, the Northeast and South evidenced adistinctly higher and lower pattern of advocacy, respectively. Finally, greater financial resources predicted more extensive advocacy content generally, and in the particular issue areas this study examined: community focus, charitable causes, environmental issues and diversity.
Introduction
World Wide Web communication allows individuals and organizations to reach large
numbers of people and potentially influence their perceptions and behaviors regarding social and political issues. Though this communication channel has existed for less than 10 years, many different types of organizations have understood the Web’s value and have designed their web sites with the goal of influencing visitors. Research on what types of organizations are doing what types of advocacy has tended to lag behind actual practice.
A partial exception to this observation is found in the use of Web advocacy by
government and political organizations, and some political science research that assesses the use of this communication tool. Government agencies, political candidates, and political organizations have made increasingly effective use of web advocacy to educate and persuade website visitors regarding issues and causes – a recent successful example of this strategy being Presidential candidate Howard Dean’s use of Web sites and blogs to fuel his campaign (Drinkard and Lawrence 2003). But political candidate and organization sites form a small fraction of Internet sites, and little is known about whether and how other types of organizations use advocacy on their Web sites. Since Web advocacy may be employed by these other types of organizations to present and influence public policy issues, understanding how and when they might do so becomes a matter of some importance for researchers and policy makers alike.
The present study seeks to expand understanding of Web advocacy by (1) documenting the
extent and nature of Web advocacy efforts by for-profit and nonprofit organizations, and (2) identifying variables that help explain how much and what kind of Web advocacy an organization employs. In this paper, we review the literature, state hypotheses based on existing knowledge and theory, and employ content analysis to test these hypotheses. Content analysis seems particularly appropriate for research on a topic where practice has outrun theory, as it
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| | Authors: Williams, Christine., Foxman, Ellen. and Saraswat, Satya. |
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1
A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF NONPROFIT AND FOR-PROFIT
WEB-BASED ISSUE ADVOCACY
Abstract
Using the Web to advocate positions and actions on public issues is an emerging and
potentially powerful means of shaping public opinion and action. Building on studies of Web
advocacy in the political sector, this research employs content analysis to examine web-based
advocacy by for-profit and nonprofit organizations. For-profit organizations were found to
engage in much more Web advocacy than nonprofit organizations. Those organizations that did
engage in extensive advocacy, or were commited to multiple social values, appear to have come
to adopt those postures or activities consistent with what a cost benefit analysis of the impact on
their enterprise would predict. With respect to region, the Northeast and South evidenced a
distinctly higher and lower pattern of advocacy, respectively. Finally, greater financial resources
predicted more extensive advocacy content generally, and in the particular issue areas this study
examined: community focus, charitable causes, environmental issues and diversity.
Introduction
World Wide Web communication allows individuals and organizations to reach large
numbers of people and potentially influence their perceptions and behaviors regarding social and
political issues. Though this communication channel has existed for less than 10 years, many
different types of organizations have understood the Web’s value and have designed their web
sites with the goal of influencing visitors. Research on what types of organizations are doing
what types of advocacy has tended to lag behind actual practice.
A partial exception to this observation is found in the use of Web advocacy by
government and political organizations, and some political science research that assesses the use
of this communication tool. Government agencies, political candidates, and political
organizations have made increasingly effective use of web advocacy to educate and persuade
website visitors regarding issues and causes – a recent successful example of this strategy being
Presidential candidate Howard Dean’s use of Web sites and blogs to fuel his campaign (Drinkard
and Lawrence 2003). But political candidate and organization sites form a small fraction of
Internet sites, and little is known about whether and how other types of organizations use
advocacy on their Web sites. Since Web advocacy may be employed by these other types of
organizations to present and influence public policy issues, understanding how and when they
might do so becomes a matter of some importance for researchers and policy makers alike.
The present study seeks to expand understanding of Web advocacy by (1) documenting the
extent and nature of Web advocacy efforts by for-profit and nonprofit organizations, and (2)
identifying variables that help explain how much and what kind of Web advocacy an
organization employs. In this paper, we review the literature, state hypotheses based on existing
knowledge and theory, and employ content analysis to test these hypotheses. Content analysis
seems particularly appropriate for research on a topic where practice has outrun theory, as it
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