Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Voting Advice Applications

Munzert, Simon; Ramirez-Ruiz, Sebastian

doi:10.1080/10584609.2020.1843572

Cited by 24 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 34 publications

(19 reference statements)

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“…We also find that VAAs clearly influence vote choices, which is in line with previous studies (Munzert and Ramirez Ruiz 2021). Endorsements of VAAs, based on a matching of issue positions of the voter and the candidates, has an effect on candidate favorability on par with endorsements from family members and close friends.…”

Section: Concluding Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Research on VAAs has expanded substantially over the last decade. While many studies in the field rely on less ideal cross-sectional and opt-in data, findings indicate that VAAs can influence political behaviour in a variety of ways (Munzert and Ramirez Ruiz 2021). VAA usage has for example been shown to mobilize voters (Gemenis and Rosema 2014;Garzia, Trechsel, and De Angelis 2017), to have positive cognitive effects (Schultze 2014;Kamoen et al 2015), and to influence vote choices (Kleinnijenhuis et al 2019).…”

Section: Endorsements and Candidate Choicementioning

confidence: 99%

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How voters choose one out of many: a conjoint analysis of the effects of endorsements on candidate choice

Christensen

Järvi

Mattila

et al. 2021

Political Research Exchange

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Candidate endorsements affect the likelihood that people vote for a candidate since they reduce the efforts devoted to vote choices. However, the effects of endorsements from different sources remain under-explored. Furthermore, the effects of endorsements are believed to vary with the level of political sophistication, as voters with low sophistication are more reliant on such shortcuts, but it is unclear whether these differences are similar for different sources. We study the effects of endorsements from three different sourcesfamily and close friends, networks on social media and Voting Advice Applications (VAAs)on candidate favorability. We do so with a choice-based conjoint experiment embedded in a survey from Finland (n = 1021), where we also examine differences in effects across political sophistication (political interest, frequency of political discussions, internal political efficacy, party identification, and voting in the last parliamentary election). The results show that endorsements from VAAs and family and friends have positive effects while social media networks do not. We do not find systematic differences in effects across levels of political sophistication no matter how we operationalize it. This shows that it is important to consider the source of an endorsement to appreciate the effect, no matter who is the recipient.

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Section: Concluding Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Endorsements and Candidate Choicementioning

confidence: 99%

How voters choose one out of many: a conjoint analysis of the effects of endorsements on candidate choice

Christensen

Järvi

Mattila

et al. 2021

Political Research Exchange

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Usually, the absence of randomized treatment assignment, an inevitably feature of observational data (e.g., survey data), precludes 2 We excluded causal evidence on the effects of voting advice applications from our summary as they are a very specific form of digital media, constructed to enhance political participation in democracies. The effects of voting advice applications are already extensively discussed in a meta analysis [52]. the identification of causal effects because individuals differ systematically on variables other than the treatment (or independent) variable.…”

Section: Causal Inferencementioning

confidence: 99%

A Systematic Review of Worldwide Causal and Correlational Evidence on Digital Media and Democracy

Lorenz-Spreen¹,

Oswald²,

Lewandowsky³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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One of today's most controversial and consequential questions is whether the rapid, worldwide uptake of digital media is causally related to a decline in democracy. We conducted a systematic review of causal and correlational evidence (N=498 articles) on the link between digital media and different political variables, such as trust, polarization or news consumption. We further focused on the subset of articles that employed causal inference methods. Across methods, the articles report associations between digital media use and most political variables. Some associations, such as increases in political participation and information consumption, are likely to be beneficial for democracy and were often observed in the Global South and emerging democracies. Other consistently reported associations, such as declining political trust, advantages for populists, and growing polarization, are likely to be detrimental to democracy and were more pronounced in established democracies. We conclude that while the impact of digital media on democracy depends on the specific political variable and the political system in question, several variables show clear directions of associations. We believe that the evidence calls for further research efforts and vigilance by governments and civil societies to better understand and actively design the intimate interplay of digital media and democracy.

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“…The proposed designs should be tested for their capability to fulfill design objectives, recommendation accuracy, and user satisfaction. On a general note, a lot of VAA research has been focusing on algorithms and effects of VAA usage (see e.g., Munzert and Ramirez Ruiz 2021;Mendez 2017), while only a few studies have surveyed user experiences related to specific VAA designs (see Bruinsma 2020). I perceive this line of experimental research particularly necessary, as observing VAA usage could shed light on users' political information-seeking behavior and users' perception of political issues.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving candidate-based voting advice application design

Isotalo¹

2021

INF

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Voting advice applications (VAAs) seek to strengthen democracy by assisting voters in voting-related decision-making. VAAs have become popular tools across many European democracies and their usage has been linked to real life electoral consequences. As VAA usage has become more prominent, this has also sparked research interest toward VAA design. However, most of the VAA design research has been conducted on party-based VAAs, whereas candidate-based VAAs that are in use in countries such as Finland, Denmark and Switzerland have been largely ignored. Moreover, research on overall VAA designs, in comparison to individual VAA design elements, is non-existent. This article discusses interdependencies of VAA design choices and proposes overall VAA designs that can improve existing Finnish candidate-based VAA designs, encouraging Finnish VAA developers to update their designs. Future research should develop and test the suggested designs, as more research on the topic is needed, especially regarding VAA user experiences.

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Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Voting Advice Applications

Cited by 24 publications

References 34 publications

How voters choose one out of many: a conjoint analysis of the effects of endorsements on candidate choice

How voters choose one out of many: a conjoint analysis of the effects of endorsements on candidate choice

A Systematic Review of Worldwide Causal and Correlational Evidence on Digital Media and Democracy

Improving candidate-based voting advice application design

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