Choosing Public or Private Action: Evidence from a Student-Based Experiment in 2017

Citizens increasingly engage in private politics—market-based actions such as boycotts and buycotts—alongside or instead of public politics aimed at government institutions. This study examines how perceptions of efficacy and institutional trust, shaped by digital media environments, influence individuals’ choice between these modes of participation. A laboratory experiment tested how efficacy cues and governance frames affect engagement preferences in the United States (N = 395). Participants were asked to sign an e-petition directed at either a government agency (NOAA) or a private corporation (BP). Experimental treatments varied by portraying government as either pluralist or business-like and by emphasizing governmental versus corporate efficacy. Results show that efficacy cues, rather than ideological beliefs about how government should operate, primarily drive behavior. Messages enhancing perceived governmental efficacy increased public political action, while messages emphasizing business efficacy shifted respondents toward private politics. These findings indicate that perceptions of efficacy, as filtered through digital and algorithmic environments, shape how citizens direct their participation. Understanding how these cues operate is essential for anticipating whether civic engagement will gravitate toward public institutions or market channels in an increasingly mediated political landscape.