What does an elected individual
do or portray that may benefit them in the run up to polling day? In election campaigns, candidates
attempt to promote themselves and try to communicate a positive message to get
the support of the deciding voters. Along with expressing their motives if
elected, does an understanding of the voter’s mind benefit their campaign
strategy? A promotion of this idea could be witnessed in a haunting statement
from Adolf Hitler (1933) who remarked in his infamous literature Mein Kampf,
'' … the greater the scope of the
message that has to be present, the more necessary it is for the propaganda to
discover that plan of action which is psychologically the most efficient''
Political communication and
persuasion may have intrigued a tyrant in Nazi Germany, but how does modern day political messages
affect the public? In political elections
advertising is regularly used to communicate a candidate's message in the hope
of being elected. The public are exposed to images of politicians on campaign
posters, campaign buses, leaflets through their letterbox, political broadcasts
and televised debates. Whether the individual is walking on the street, driving
in their car or sitting in front of the TV, they will likely witness
political campaign advertising in some form or another.
In what ways does this
advertising affect the mind of a voter? In the 2008 US presidential
election Barack Obama’s campaign slogan of ''Yes we can'' may have been
transformed into a victorious ''Yes we did!'' (Miller, 2009). The ‘Mere exposure effect’ proposed by Zajonc
(1968), says that a repeated exposure to a particular object results in a
greater attraction to that object. If this theory is applied to political
advertising, you could argue that people who continually witnessed
Obama's campaign signs, may have developed a preference for his slogan and thus his
party in general.
However, voters are not easily
fooled by familiar and attractive faces alone (Mattes et al., 2010). First impressions of a political
candidate can also be important. Primacy effects refer to people's tendency
to assign more importance to the first information we learn about a person.
Research suggests that a candidate who arouses positive feelings in a voter at
an early stage, may have a heavy bearing on the day citizens go to the polls. Research from Abakoumkin (2011)
highlighted the relationship of primacy effects in the ballot order of
candidate's names and election outcomes. According to the author, those
candidates listed earlier on a voting list may have had an advantage over those
listed afterwards.
Contrary to these primary
effects are recency effects, the enhanced memory of recently learned
information. Can recency effects have an impact in how they
influence vote decision? On October 24th 2011, in the race for the Irish
Presidency, allegations were made against front runner Sean Gallagher that he
received a €5,000 payment from convicted fuel smuggler Hugh Morgan. An argument could be made that recency effects of the allegations
played a role in Mr. Gallagher losing votes and not being elected President.
The recency effects coupled with this revelation may have removed feelings of
trust and popularity among the Irish electorate.
Popularity and liking is also psychologically important for creating an association with a person. In his book 'Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion', Cialdini (2007)
says that people tend to comply with the requests of someone they know and like
(p. 167), with other researchers arguing that the likeability of a candidate
suggests caring, trust and sociability (Hoegg & Lewis, 2011). Candidates
trying to win votes may employ this tactic in order to create a 'one of us'
connection. Cialdini also discussed peoples need to reciprocate; a politician who canvasses door to door making promises about what they will do
once elected, or what they have done, can leave people in a situation where
they feel an act of reciprocation is due (Cialdini, 2007). The political
promises are acknowledged and in exchange for a vote, the 'reciprocity rule' lets the person avoid feelings of indebtedness to the other party.
Another method of creating an
association with voters is in the linking of celebrities to political parties
(Cialdini, 2007). Name dropping to associate yourself with desirable
individuals and therefore improve other people's impressions of you, is
referred to as BIRGing, 'Basking in Reflected Glory' (Cialdini et al., 1976).
An early example of this was
portrayed in an overt media act instigated by Edward Bernays, a pioneer in public relations.
In 1924, the media had portrayed US President Calvin Coolidge as a dull,
humanless figure who was viewed as a national joke. President
Coolidge contacted Bernays for help in boosting his popularity with the masses. Bernays organised 34 film stars to visit the White House, and
in this act of combining public relations with politics, the morning newspapers
contained front page articles that increased the President's ratings among the
public (Curtis, 2002).
A more recent example
demonstrated in 2001, showed Tony Blair inviting celebrities to 10 Downing
Street in an attempt to "add some spice" to the Labour Party.
Political tactics like 'BIRGing' may sway the undecided votes, by creating a
positive mental schema of the politician and thus reducing initial cognitive
dissonance.
Basking in reflected glory may
have helped President Coolidge boost his self enhancement in 1924, but in the modern era of elections, social media sites can act as a new
communication tool for politicians (Vitak et al., 2011). With the younger
generation of today being the future voters, politicians may need to increase
political interest through relevant mediums. The internet provides people with
more information in elections than that of traditional media. Facebook and MySpace were extremely popular among younger
voters in the 2008 US Presidential race (Vitak et al., 2011). These social
media sites allow politicians to interact with younger voters who may not have been previously interested in politics. Facebook users
could post comments, share videos, express thoughts, become a "fan" of a
candidate, and connect with other users in ways that previous elections did not
offer (Vitak et al., 2011). Thus, from the use of social media
sites, the peer to peer interactions among younger users can benefit a
politician to convey their message to a broader audience.
An additional attraction of
online political communication is how cost effective it can be. Research by Hoegg & Lewis (2011) states, ''A huge
determinant of the success of a political campaign is the money spent on it''
(p. 898). It is therefore beneficial to the candidate to engage in powerful
online mediums that save on expenditure and are less resource intensive, with any surplus expenditure being directed elsewhere. However, online activities may
also have negative implications for political candidates. With the popularity of mobile phones, a member of the public
standing in a campaign crowd can record a candidates "gaffe" and immediately
post it online for millions to view (Johnson & Perlmutter, 2011). Mistakes
can be highlighted and damage political reputations, where in previous decades
an unfortunate incident may have gone unnoticed and be quickly forgotten.
The effective use of internet
mediums has also been questioned by Morozov (2009). The author regarded the
users of online resources for political interaction as ''slacktivists'', where
participants were merely engaging in feel-good online activism that has little
or zero real world impact. Online participants in
chat forums who attempt to generate publicity for a particular candidate, is
an ideal form of activism for a ''lazy generation'' and are not interested in
following through on their morals (Morozov, 2009).
Political elections continue to be a prominent topic in news and general discussion. With the development of new
trends in an internet era, politicians are faced with new challenges in
exhausting all possible resources to create the most accessible campaign
message. There are a myriad of
psychological influences present in political campaigns. The psychological
motives of a politician's actions are not always the most obvious from a voter's
perspective, but for the candidate they may be a decisive factor in securing
the position sought after.
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"People almost invariably arrive at their beliefs not on the basis of proof but on the basis of what they find attractive."
- Blaise Pascal, De l'art de persuader
"A guy can change anything. His face, his home, his family, his girlfriend, his religion, his God. But there’s one thing he can’t change. He can’t change his passion." 
