Influence of Communication During the Distant Phase of the 1996 Republican Presidential Primary Campaign

Abstract

This study examines the influence of five communication modalities on voters' perceptions of candidates during what Popkin terms"the distant phase" of the presidential primary campaign. During the final week of the New Hampshire primary campaign, researchers surveyed 315 prospective voters in four states whose primaries followed New Hampshire's by 1, 2, 4, and 5 weeks. The results revealed that political talk radio exerted the greatest influence on voters' perceptions of Bob Dole and considerable impact on perceptions of Steve Forbes. In addition, prospective voters' conversations with other people, television news, and candidate spots (only for Forbes) exerted modest influence on voters' perceptions of Republican candidates.Much less is known about the influence of communication modalities in presidential primary campaigns than in general election campaigns (Jewell, 1974). This is ironic because the potential of communication to influence voters'

Media use and public confidence in democratic institutions

“…Research on televised talk shows is grounded mainly in critical and cultural perspectives (e.g., Schaefer & Avery, 1993) and daytime talk shows, because of their sensational nature, have not been the focus of research (Priest & Dominick, 1994). However, a recent study reports the tone of television entertainment talk shows (e.g., Late Night with David Letterman, The Tonight Show) to be particularly negative toward, thus undermining confidence in, the Presidency, Congress, and the public school system (Pfau et al, 1998). Similarly, empirical evidence regarding the impact of political talk shows is sparse and contradictory (Pfau & Eveland, 1996).…”

“…Pfau, Moy, Radler, and Bridgeman (1998) present evidence of persistent negativity on the part of most communication sources toward most democratic institutions. Operating under a modified version of the cultivation paradigm, 1 Gerbner, Gross, Morgan, and Signorielli (1980), combined content analyses and survey data to reveal that users of particular media tend to perceive democratic institutions as depicted by these sources.…”

“…The present investigation extends the initial study of Pfau et al (1998). Specifically, this study probes the effects of traditional news media, "non-traditional" media, and political talk radio on public confidence in institutions.…”

Talk Radio Listening, Opinion Expression and Political Discussion in a Democratizing Society

“…First, many researchers have examined the effects of talk radio listening on citizens' attitudes towards politicians, issues, and institutions (e.g. Barker, 1998aBarker, , 1999Barker & Knight, 2000;Bolce, deMaio, & Muzzio, 1996;Hall & Cappella, 2002;Holbert, 2004;Hollander, 1996;Jones, 1998Jones, , 2002Owen, 1997Owen, , 2000Pfau et al, 1997;Yanovitzky & Cappella, 2002). Underlying this research effort is the Asian Journal of Communication 79 belief that radio talk shows, when compared with traditional news media, provide the conditions for relatively powerful media effects (Barker, 1998a;Lee & Cappella, 2001;Owen, 2000).…”

“Please Clap”: Applause, Laughter, and Booing during the 2016 GOP Presidential Primary Debates

“…This typically occurs by candidates taking extreme rhetorical stands (Pfau et al 1997 ) accentuating the polarized nature of partisan primary debate attendees. The socially adept candidate may then use the tenor and intensity of audience utterances to alter and hone their messages and delivery during their performance (1984).…”