Exploration du phénomène d’astroturfing : une stratégie de communication usurpant l’identité citoyenne dans l’espace public

This article presents an exploratory research on the astroturfing phenomenon. Astroturfing is a communication strategy whose’s true source is hidden, and that pretends to emanate from a citizen’s initiative. Litterature barely addresses astroturfing, which is nonetheless very active in democratic societies. A web search brought to light 99 cases of astroturfing. These cases and their analysis are based on 548 documents (media articles, blogs, corporate communications, etc.). It is then possible to sketch a portrait of this phenomenon, based on information about its initiatiors, executants, goals, targets and the means of communication they select. The results let one believe that astroturfing’s main mission is to influence society members, and that it is conducted through agenda-building and interagenda influence strategies. This first step toward a better comprehension of the phenomenon wishes to encourage academics to pursue research on this object, so that concatenation of results can be reached. We feel it is very important to study those communication strategies, even if they are unethical