Suggests that while endorsements seem to sway a few voters, the effect is so small that such endorsements are unlikely to influence the outcome of an election. (FL)

Reports that all indices of political change tested were found to correlate significantly with exposure to televised political advertisements in the 1975 Chicago mayoral campaign. Notes that the correlations were not significantly different among voters with high, medium, and low levels of political involvement. (GT)

A study was conducted to learn more about voters' use and perception of endorsements in the 1984 presidential election. Six interviewers were trained and then assigned to a random sample of precincts in Orlando, Florida, on the day of the 1984 presidential election. Each interviewer stopped every third voter and asked those willing to cooperate 12…

Data from a 1976 election study were used to compare the effects of different types of television watching (daytime, evening entertainment, news, campaign programing, presidential debates) on voter turnout and to compare these effects with those of other media (radio, magazines, newspapers). After controlling for the effects of the traditional…

Reports data that link media use to knowledge of public affairs and this knowledge to voter behavior in local elections. (FL)

Time of final vote decision in a national presidential election campaign was explored as the dependent variable in a media effects study conducted earlier as part of the National Election Study of 1980. Political identity, a new measure of partisanship and independence known as the Partisan Supporter Typology, was used as an important contingent…

Many young adults are not politically active. Since 1972, their participation and interest levels have declined not only in absolute terms but also relative to other voting-age groups. This paper examines how the Internet can reverse this trend. It focuses on how leading news and political information Web sites affected young adults during the…

Found considerable support for the hypothesis that voters who rely on television use candidates' image characteristics to make their voting choices more than do voters who rely on newspapers. Found little support for the second hypothesis that candidates' stands on issues will play a stronger role among voters who rely on newspapers. (PD)

A study investigated the relationship of campaign media attention to cognition, strength of the commitment to the candidate choice, and probability of voting. The 1985 gubernatorial campaign in Virginia was selected for analysis. A model constructed for predicting voting tendencies hypothesizes that the role of the mass media is largely indirect,…

A study investigated whether reliance on television rather than on newspapers affected the way people made voting decisions. Specifically, it focused on whether television reliance was associated with greater candidate image evaluation and newspaper reliance with greater issue importance in the prediction of voter preferences. Telephone interviews…

Concludes that voter response varies with the content theme, but that backlash or boomerang may be the most common effect of negative political advertising. (FL)

Finds that election surveys, expert opinions, and man-in-the-street interviews have about the same amount of impact on candidate preferences. (SR)

A study conducted in Columbus, Ohio, assessed the importance of voter uncertainty in motivating media use and use of specific campaign information. Data were collected from a telephone survey of 540 persons registered to vote in Columbus or surrounding Franklin County. Decisional difficulty, likelihood of vote change, and knowledge about the…

Reports that newspaper and television coverage of presidential elections have increased at comparable rates since the mid-1950s and that most Blacks who vote use both media. (FL)

Data collected as part of a larger survey that focused on the 1978 gubernatorial race in New York State were used in a study of political advertising and media credibility. Specifically, the study examined the factors that influence an individual's rating of the helpfulness of political advertising and related these factors to voting patterns. A…