PERCEIVE Deliverable 3.4 - ‘Report on the statistical analysis of communication efforts’ impact and effectiveness on citizens’ awareness and appreciation of EU-financed projects’
Creators: name: Barberio, Vitaliano
name: Kuric, Ines
name: Mollona, Edoardo
name: Pareschi, Luca
Publisher: name: Alma Mater Studiorum - Università di Bologna
Year: 2018
Subjects: SECS-P/07 Economia aziendale
SECS-P/08 Economia e gestione delle imprese
SECS-P/10 Organizzazione aziendale
SPS/04 Scienza politica
SPS/08 Sociologia dei processi culturali e comunicativi
SPS/11 Sociologia dei fenomeni politici

description: Why is a focus on policy communication relevant to the practice and study of European integration?
Over the two last two decades, no clear pattern seems to have emerged linking the efforts of the
European Union (EU) to foster local development and reduction of disparities with a generalized
increase in the levels of European identity. This constitutes a relevant challenge for both policy
makers and local implementers as well as for students of the European integration process. In this
context, it is surprising how little attention has been paid to the potential role of cohesion policy –
the EU’s largest investment policy aimed at promoting regional development and reducing
disparities.
Based on a recognition of previous research and direct experience acquired through interaction
with practitioners of the cohesion policy field, in this report, we point out the importance of
‘awareness’ and ‘appreciation’ (of EU efforts) by EU citizens. This means that, albeit not a general
rule, those who are aware of the policy often appreciate EU developmental policies and, when these
two conditions are matched with each other, tend to fell more European. In managerial terms, this
gap between institutions and citizens points to the centrality of policy communication. That is, we
need to better understand the mechanisms and outcomes of communicating policy in todays’
practice of policy implementation.
Accordingly, this report aims at increasing our understanding of a number of strategic aspects
connected with the task of communicating EU regional cohesion policy at the local level. In more
detail, two main aspects are dealt with: First, the extent to which local communication activities
take part in a wider international discourse (i.e. through topics). Here, we expand our previous work
(i.e. see PERCEIVE deliverables 5.3 and 3.3) on communicating EU cohesion policy through social
media by analyzing contents generated by Local Managing Authorities’ (hereafter referred to as
LMAs) use of Facebook. And second, the impact and effectiveness of communication efforts (i.e. the
effect of the amount of communication investments and the content of communication activities
on citizens’ awareness of EU policies and appreciation of EU actions). Inquiring this aspect entailed a
statistical analysis of the association between communication efforts which LMAs disseminate the
aims and accomplishments of regional cohesion policy on the one hand, and awareness as well as
appreciation of the policy by EU citizens on the other hand. The outcomes of the social media
analysis described as the first aspect above are also included as variables of the statistical analysis of
the second focal aspect.