The moderating role of identification and campaign exposure in party cueing effects
In a democracy, citizens are expected to have political opinions. Previous research has shown that citizens, in part, form their opinions by following cues from political parties. Building on this literature, this article argues that these cueing effects are the result of individuals
identifying with political parties, leading to parties as credible sources and alignment of attitudes to maintain in-group coherence (motivated reasoning). However, party cues can only be successful when individuals are actually exposed to these cues, which previous research has not explicitly
studied. Using survey data (N = 20,893) collected from 21 EU member states, this study shows that cueing effects indeed depend on the strength of party identification and the degree of exposure. These results demonstrate the contingent nature of party cueing effects which are
also changing as party loyalties decrease.
Keywords: Public opinion; identities; party cues; political behaviour; quantitative survey
Document Type: Research Article
Affiliations: Amsterdam School of Communication Research, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Publication date: 04 March 2018
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