SUPPORTING CITIZENS’ POLITICAL DECISION-MAKING USING INFORMATION VISUALISATION

Authors

Vanessa Graf, FIM Research Center, University of AugsburgFollow
Valerie Graf-Drasch, Project Group Business and Information Systems Engineering of the Fraunhofer FITFollow
Verena Tiefenbeck, Institute of Information Systems / Digital Transformation, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-NurembergFollow
Robin Weitzel, FIM Research Center, University of AugsburgFollow
Gilbert Fridgen, SnT – Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust, University of LuxembourgFollow

Abstract

Individual decision-making is a complex process. If carried out by individual citizens in the context of politically relevant decisions, serious consequences at all levels of a society might occur. That is why these decisions need to be made with care and preferably on a broad set of information to reflect citizens’ true preferences. However, due to limited attention, citizens often consider only salient aspects in their decision-making. To mitigate unwanted consequences following therefrom, citizens are in dire need of decision-support. We address this need by developing an Information Systems (IS) tool. Being based on information visualisation, our tool supports citizens by providing instant feedback. To ensure a meaningful engagement, the IS tool is designed according to gamification principles. A first instantiation in the context of renewable energy acceptance in Germany yields three key findings: First, we find indications that young, urban, and environmentally aware citizens are willing to accept a high percentage of renewable wind energy. Second, we find that the tool influences citizens’ decision-making. Third, we find citizens to update, however not completely turn over their preferred level of renewable wind energy after interaction with the tool. This holds true across different cross-sections of the population.

Recommended Citation

Graf, Vanessa; Graf-Drasch, Valerie; Tiefenbeck, Verena; Weitzel, Robin; and Fridgen, Gilbert, "SUPPORTING CITIZENS’ POLITICAL DECISION-MAKING USING INFORMATION VISUALISATION" (2020). In Proceedings of the 28th European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS), An Online AIS Conference, June 15-17, 2020.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2020_rp/133