Abstract:Abstract. We examined the effect of presenting unknown policy statements on German parties’ election posters. Study 1 showed that participants inferred the quality of a presented policy from knowledge about the respective political party. Study 2 showed that participants’ own political preferences influenced valence estimates: policy statements presented on campaign posters of liked political parties were rated significantly more positive than those presented on posters of disliked political parties. Study 3 r… Show more
“…These new characteristics of media use challenge both advertisers and political actors who are trying to convey their messages to the voters. For those reasons, politicians are still inclined to use media channels that hamper complete selective avoidance, such as political poster ads, which are still one of the most important means of political advertising in many European countries (Dumitrescu, 2010; Schott & Wolf, 2018). Yet, only because political posters are present in public spaces during election campaigns or because political ads pop up on a computer screen, people do not necessarily pay attention to this content.…”
Abstract. Partisan selective exposure, the phenomenon of selectively attending to information that is in line with one’s political views, has received extensive research attention. Researchers have thus far largely neglected, however, to examine the tendency to avoid attitude-discrepant information, that is, selective avoidance. Selective avoidance can be considered a different phenomenon that is not necessarily implied by, nor only occurs simultaneously with, selective exposure. This study investigates these two separate phenomena, for the first time, using eye-tracking methodology. We exposed participants to political ads by liberal and conservative parties placed next to neutral political ads and tracked eye movements unobtrusively. Findings showed that individuals paid more visual attention to political ads that were consistent with their partisan ideology. Additionally, we found that individuals tended to avoid political ads that were inconsistent with their partisan ideology, which provides some evidence for selective avoidance processes. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.
“…These new characteristics of media use challenge both advertisers and political actors who are trying to convey their messages to the voters. For those reasons, politicians are still inclined to use media channels that hamper complete selective avoidance, such as political poster ads, which are still one of the most important means of political advertising in many European countries (Dumitrescu, 2010; Schott & Wolf, 2018). Yet, only because political posters are present in public spaces during election campaigns or because political ads pop up on a computer screen, people do not necessarily pay attention to this content.…”
Abstract. Partisan selective exposure, the phenomenon of selectively attending to information that is in line with one’s political views, has received extensive research attention. Researchers have thus far largely neglected, however, to examine the tendency to avoid attitude-discrepant information, that is, selective avoidance. Selective avoidance can be considered a different phenomenon that is not necessarily implied by, nor only occurs simultaneously with, selective exposure. This study investigates these two separate phenomena, for the first time, using eye-tracking methodology. We exposed participants to political ads by liberal and conservative parties placed next to neutral political ads and tracked eye movements unobtrusively. Findings showed that individuals paid more visual attention to political ads that were consistent with their partisan ideology. Additionally, we found that individuals tended to avoid political ads that were inconsistent with their partisan ideology, which provides some evidence for selective avoidance processes. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.
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