Information Behaviour (September 2021)

The study on information behaviour was conducted by Info GmbH on behalf of the Press and Information Office of the Federal Government. In the survey period 26.08.2021 to 11.09.2021, 1502 German-speaking persons aged 16 and over were surveyed in telephone interviews (CATI) and online interviews (CAWI) on the following topics: The focus of the survey was the detailed analysis of the media use of the population in the context of political information. In addition to the relevance of political information, statements on media preferences including the use of messenger services as well as on the perception of freedom of opinion were collected. The focus was on the credibility of the different media as well as the handling of fake news. Finally, the respondents were asked about their awareness of various information services offered by the federal government, their use and their evaluation. The respondents were selected through a multi-stage random sample from the ADM sample frames for landline and mobile numbers (dual-frame sample) and a random sample from an actively recruited online access panel.<br>1. Relevance of political information: importance of being informed about current issues; political interest; self-assessment of being politically informed (international politics outside Europe, politics in Europe, work of the federal government, work of the state government, local political issues from the region); frequency of using different media for information about local, national or international issues; Statements on information processing (I specifically search for information on a political topic that interests me, I come across interesting political topics by chance in social networks, in news apps or on news portals, I skim the headlines in social networks, news apps or on news portals, I read through an article on a political topic in its entirety, I read through news in its entirety that corresponds to my own opinion or that takes a different position from that of the media. that take a different position than my own); criteria for the credibility of a piece of information (e.g. is held by the majority of science, is disseminated in news broadcasts of public media, many people share it in social networks, etc.).

2. Media preferences and use of messenger services: use of social networks on the internet; frequency of use of various social networks (TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitch, Twitter); behaviour on social networks with regard to political topics in the last week (read messages on political topics, reacted to messages on political topics, forwarded/shared messages on political topics, posted messages on political topics or wrote messages on political topics to individuals); use of messenger services on smartphone; frequency of use of different messenger services (WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, Facebook Messenger); in the last week on messenger services read messages on political topics, reacted to messages on political topics, forwarded/shared messages on political topics, posted messages on political topics in group chats or wrote to individuals).

3. Information offers of the federal government: awareness of various information offers of the federal government (internet pages of the federal government, brochures and leaflets on topics such as pensions, health, taxes, etc., advertisements in newspapers or magazines, posters, Schwarzrotgold magazine, citizens´ telephone, Twitter messages of the government spokesperson, Facebook presence of the federal government, online advertisements, YouTube channel of the federal government, Instagram posts of the Federal Chancellor); perception or use of the aforementioned information offers of the federal government in the last 12 months; reasons why the information offers of the federal government were not used (open); evaluation of the aforementioned information offers of the federal government; reasons why the information offers were not liked so much (open); credibility of the information of the federal government on political topics.

4. Perception of freedom of opinion and dealing with fake news: frequency of occurrence of someone in Germany being reported for expressing an opinion, losing their job, being threatened by others, being insulted or abused by others and being ostracised by others; own experience of expressing an opinion in the last five years; triggering topics (open); negative reaction to personal expression of opinion in the last five years; perception of the terms fake news and disinformation; false facts tend to be spread accidentally vs. are more likely to be deliberately spread to influence people; self-assessment recognition of fake news and disinformation; assessment recognition of fake news and disinformation in other people; advocacy of measures to curb fake news and disinformation; responsibility for these measures (operators of platforms on which fake news and disinformation are spread (e.g. Facebook, Twitter), Federal Government, European Union, Other (open)); have themselves already received clearly false news or posts via messenger services; naming the messenger service via which the respondent received false news or posts; persons who have sent, forwarded or posted false news to the respondent in chat groups (relatives, family, friends, acquaintances, celebrities or influencers, persons unknown to the respondent, services subscribed to by the respondent (e.g. news services)).

Demography: age (average age, age groups); German nationality; sex; education; type of vocational training/professional qualification; employment status; type of current or most recent occupation (professional position); marital status; household size; number of children/young people under 16 in the household; federal state; place of residence Berlin: former Berlin district; place of residence (West/East); Nielsen areas; size of place; neighbourhood rural/urban; decision on how to vote in the Bundestag election in September; party sympathy; economic situation of the household; self-assessment top-bottom in relation to other people in Germany; net household income.

Additionally coded were: Respondent ID; weight; county; average household size; average number of children under 16 in household; BIK region type; BIK structure type; municipality size (political); municipality size (region size BIK).