Reality Bites: The Limits of Framing Effects in Salient Policy Decisions
Type
working paper
Date Issued
2012
Author(s)
Abstract
A large literature argues that public opinion is vulnerable to various types of framing and cue effects. However, we lack evidence on whether existing findings, which are typically based on lab experiments involving low salience issues, travel to salient and contentious political issues in real-world voting situations. We conducted a panel survey experiment around a direct-democratic vote on immigration policy in Switzerland, a highly politicized issue to examine the relative importance of issue frames, partisan cues, and their interaction for opinion formation over time. We find that voters responded to frames and cues, regardless of their direction, by increasing support for the position that is in line with their pre-existing partisan attachment. This reinforcement effect was most visible among low knowledge voters that identified with the party that owned the issue. Overall, our results highlight the limits to framing effects in the context of salient and contested policy issues.
Language
English
Keywords
democracy
referendum
framing
campains
elections
direct democracy
immigration
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
No
Publisher
Arbeitspapier
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
222432