Asian Journal for Public Opinion Research

Center for Asian Public Opinion Research & Collaboration Initiative (충남대학교 아시아여론조사학회)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Effects of Political Campaign Materials on Party and Non-Party Voting Supporters

  • Idid, Syed Arabi (Department of Communication, International Islamic University Malaysia) ;
  • Souket, Rizwanah (Department of Communication, International Islamic University Malaysia)
  • Published : 2014.08.31
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

Political parties would normally claim that their campaign and communication materials have effects on voters, be it on their supporters or their opponents during election campaigns. However, such effects are assumed effects by the parties unless voters are themselves assessed about the effects of such materials on themselves. The supporters of the parties are likely to regard such campaign materials as congenial to them but this may not be so with the opposition supporters who would regard such materials as negative. Taking the third-person effect to analyze effects on the audience as the theoretical framework, this study posited that opposition members would regard the materials as negative and thus would claim that they would not have any effect on them but they would likely say that such campaign materials would have effects on own party supporters. Davison (1983) posited that individuals will perceive that negative mediated messages would have their greatest impact not "on me" or "you" but on "them,"- the third person. Research suggests that people judge others to be more influenced than they are by media, advertising, libelous messages, media violence, pornography, and television drama. The theory referred to as the Third-person effect developed on the postulation that audience members would not admit that media had any direct effect on them, but would instead believe that the media influenced others, the third person (Tewksbury, Moy, & Weis, 2004; Price, Tewksbury, & Huang, 1998). On the other hand, while people would discount the effects of negative or biased messages on themselves, they would, under the notion of the First Person Effect, readily admit to being influenced by such messages. This study was based on studying the effects of political literature on party and opposition party supporters taking the messages to be positive to one group and biased and partisan to another group. The study focuses on the assumed effects of political literature on own party and opposition party supporters. It traces the degree of influence of Malaysia's largest political party, Barisan Nasional (BN) political communication literature on its own supporters and on non-BN party supporters. While the third-person effect assumes a null or minimal effect on one's self and some or strong effect on others, the question that arises are on welcoming favorable media effects on oneself and assuming unfavorable effects on others.

Keywords

References

  1. Andsager, J. L., & White, A. (2007). Self-versus Others: Media, Messages, and the Third Person Effect. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associated, Inc.
  2. Atwood, L. E. (1994). Illusions of Media Power: The Third Person Effect. Journalism Quarterly, 71(2), 269-281. https://doi.org/10.1177/107769909407100202
  3. Banning. S. A., & Sweetser, K. D. (2007). How Much Do You Think It Affects Them and Whom do They Believe? Comparing the Third Person Effect and Credibility of Blogs and Traditional Media. Communication Quarterly, 55(4), 451-466. https://doi.org/10.1080/01463370701665114
  4. Baran, S., & Davis, D. (2012). Mass Communication Theory: Foundations, Ferment, and Future. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
  5. Berelson B. R., Lazarsfeld, P. F., & McPheee, W. N. (1954). Voting: A study on opinion Formation During a Presidential Campaign. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  6. Brosius, H.-B., & Engel, D. (1996). The Causes of Third Person Effects: Unrealistic Optimism, Impersonal Impact, or Generalized Negative Attitudes Toward Media Influence. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 8(2), 142-162. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijpor/8.2.142
  7. David, P. & Johnson, M. (1998).The Role of Self in Third Person Effects about Body Image. Journal of Communication, 48, 37-58. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.1998.tb02769.x
  8. Davison, W. P. (1996). The Third Person Effect Revisited, International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 8(2), 113-119. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijpor/8.2.113
  9. Davison, W. P. (1983). The Third-Person Effect in Communication, Public Opinion Quarterly, 47(1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1086/268763
  10. Day, A. (2006). Public Affairs Advertising: Corporate Influence, Public Opinion and Vote Intentions under the Third Person Effect (Proquest Dissertation and Theses) Available from Proquest Information & Learning Company. United States.
  11. Debatin, Bernhard, Lovejoy, Jennette P., Ann-Kathrin Horn M.A., & Brittany N. Hughes. (2009). Facebook and Online Privacy: Attitudes, Behaviors, and Unintended Consequences. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, (15), 83-108. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2009.01494.x/full.
  12. Duck, J.M., Terry, D.J., & Hogg, M.A. (1995) The Perceived Influence of AIDS Advertising: Third-person Effects in the Context of Positive Media Content. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 17, 305-325. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15324834basp1703_2
  13. Esaiasson, P. (1990) Svenska valkampanjer 1866-1988. Stockholm: Publica.
  14. Hoffman, L. (2013). Political Interviews: Examining Perceived Media Bias and Effects Across TV Entertainment Formats. International Journal of Communication, 7, 471-488.
  15. Hoorens, V. & Ruiter, S. (1996) The Optimal Impact Phenomenon: Beyond The Third Person Effect, European Journal of Social Psychology, 26, 599-610. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-0992(199607)26:4<599::AID-EJSP773>3.0.CO;2-7
  16. Huh, J., DeLorme, D.E., and Reid, L.N. (2004). The Third-Person Effect and Its Influence on Behavioral Outcomes in a Product Advertising Context: The Case of Direct-to-Consumer Prescription Drug Advertising. Communication Research, 31, 568-599. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650204267934
  17. Hussain, Y. (2000). Mass Media in Peninsular Malaysia. In Hussain, Yusof (Ed.), Media in selected Muslim Countries. IIUM: Gombak.
  18. Idid, S. A. (1995) (Ed). Pilihanraya Di Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur: Megacoms.
  19. Idid, S. A. and Mohd, S. H. (1993). Pilihan Raya Umum: Satu Perspektif Komunikasi Politik. Kuala Lumpur: DBP.
  20. Idid, S. A. & Wok, S. (2010). Analyzing Political Campaign Effects: A Test of the Third Person Effects Theory. Paper prepared for International Communication and Media Conference (ICOMC'10) 18-20 June 2010.
  21. Jensen, J. D., & Hurley, R. J. (2005) Third-Person Effects and the Environment: Social Distance, Social Desirability, and Presumed Behavior. Journal of Communication, 55, 242-256. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2005.tb02670.x
  22. Lambe, J. L. & McLeod, D. M. (2005). Understanding third-person perception processes: Predicting perceived impact on self and others for multiple expressive contexts. Journal of Communication, 55(2), 242-256. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2005.tb02670.x
  23. Lazarsfeld, P., Berelson B., & Gaudet, H. (1944). The People's Choice. New York: Duell, Sloan & Pearce.
  24. Lee, B., & Tamborini, R. (2005). Third-Person Effect and Internet Pornography: The Influence of Collectivism and Internet Self-Efficacy. Journal of Communication, 55, 292-310. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2005.tb02673.x
  25. Lewis, I. M., Watson, B., & Tay, R. (2007). The effectiveness of physical threats in road safety advertising: The role of the third-person effect, gender, and age. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 10(1), 48-60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2006.05.001
  26. Lewis, I., Watson, B., & White, K. M. (2008). An examination of message-relevant affect in road safety messages: Should road safety advertisements aim to make us feel good or bad? Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology & Behaviour, 11, 403-417. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2008.03.003
  27. Mason, L. (1995). Newspaper as Repeater: An Experiment on Defamation and Third-Person Effect. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, 72 (3), 610-620. https://doi.org/10.1177/107769909507200311
  28. Paul, B., Salwen, M. B., & Dupagne, M. (2000). The third-person effect: A meta-analysis of the perceptual hypothesis. Mass Communication & Society, 3, 57-85. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327825MCS0301_04
  29. Perloff, R. (1999). The third-person effect: A critical review and synthesis. Media Psychology, 1, 353-378. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532785xmep0104_4
  30. Price, V., Tewksbury, D., & Huang, L.-N. (Spring 1998).Third- Person Effects on Publication of a Holocaust-Denial Advertisement, Journal of Communication, 3-26.
  31. Rojas, H., Shah,D. V., & Faber, R. J. (1996). For the Good of Others: Censorship and the Third Person Effect. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 8(2), 163-186. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijpor/8.2.163
  32. Rojas, F., Shah, D., & Faber, R. J. (1996). Mass Media and Political Outspokenness in Hong Kong: Linking the Third-Person Effect and the Spiral of Silence. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 8(2), 187-211. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijpor/8.2.187
  33. Rucinski, D. & Salmon, C. T. (1990). The 'Other' As The Vulnerable Voter: A Study Of The Third-Person Effect In The 1988 Campaign. International Journal of Public Opinion Research 8(4), 345-368.
  34. Shah, D., Faber, R., & Youn, S. (1999) Susceptibility & Severity, Communication Research, (26)2, 240-267.
  35. Salwen, M. B., & Dupagne, M. (2001). Third-person perception of television violence: The role of perceived knowledge. Media Psychology, 3, 211-236. https://doi.org/10.1207/S1532785XMEP0303_01
  36. Salwen, M. B., & Dupagne, M. (1999). The Third-Person Effect. Communication Research, 26, 523-549. https://doi.org/10.1177/009365099026005001
  37. Schramm, W. (1997). The Beginnings of Communication Study in America. Thousand Oaks: Sage.Tewksbury, D., & Price, V. (1996). The causes of Third-Person Effects: Unrealistic Optimism, Impersonal Impact, or generalized Negative Attitudes towards Media Influence? International Journal of Public Opinion Research. 8(2), 142-162. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijpor/8.2.142
  38. Spinda, John S. W (2009). The third-person and first-person effects of sports fandom, Kent StateUniversity,194pages;retrievedfromhttp://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc
  39. Tewksbury, D. (2002). The Role of Comparison Group Size in the Third-Person Effect. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 14, 247-263. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijpor/14.3.247
  40. Tiedge, James T; Silverblatt, Arthur, Havice, Michael J & Rosenfeld, Richard (1991): "Discrepancy Between Perceived First-Person and Third-Person Mass Media Effects", in Joumalism Quaterly Vol. 68.
  41. Wei, R., Lo, V.-H., & Lu, H.-Y. (2012). The Third Person Effect of Tainted Food Product Recall News: Examining the Role of Credibility, Attention, and Elaboration for College Students in Taiwan. Journal & Mass Communication Quarterly, 82 (3/4), 598-614.
  42. Willnat, W., He, H., Takeshita, T., & Lopez-Escobar, E. (2002) Perceptions Of Foreign Media Influence In Asia And Europe: The Third Person Effect And Media Imperialism. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 14(2), 175-192. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijpor/14.2.175