Promoting news and political information consumption on social media with self-interest and public-interest nudges

Most citizens do not consume news and politics, which weakens democratic resilience. This project employs theoretical nudges highlighting the benefits of following news and politics to oneself and the public (self-interest and public-interest nudges). These nudges are expected to motivate social media users to follow news/political accounts, enhancing news consumption. A static survey experiment (Study 1, n = 2011) indicates that both nudges increase the proportion and number of news/political accounts followed. However, a more ecologically valid experiment on an interactive mock social media platform (Study 2, n = 2003) shows that self-interest nudges slightly increase the proportion, but not the number, of news/political accounts followed and public-interest nudges have no effects. Study 2 further reveals that both nudges have no effects on liking political posts and reading political articles embedded in the posts. This project has important implications and highlights the necessity of testing interventions across varied settings.