Can Text Simplification Help to Increase the Acceptance of E-participation?

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of text simplification (with and without artificial intelligence support) and the role of participants (author or reader) on the acceptance of e-participation processes. Therefore, a near-realistic experimental study with 276 participants was conducted simulating a participatory budgeting process. The results of our study show, on the one hand, that text simplification and the role of participants has no direct influence on the intention to use e-participation. Although a higher level of participation cannot be achieved by text simplification, our results also show that no negative consequences for usage intention can be expected from text simplification. On the other hand, the results show that people with reading and writing difficulties prefer text simplification for proposals in e-participation.

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