Posits a strategy of resistance to the influence of attack messages in political campaigns. Finds that political campaign messages can be designed to inoculate supporters of candidates against subsequent attack messages of opposing candidates. (MS)

This study explores whether and how campaign-induced changes in local information environments influence citizens' everyday communication activities. The empirical analysis in this study centers on a comparison of two New Jersey media markets that showed idiosyncratic differences in the amount of political advertising during the 2000 presidential…

Fear that the Internet promotes harmful political rumoring is merited but not for reasons originally anticipated. Although the network accelerates and widens rumor circulation, on the whole, it does not increase recipient credulity. E-mail, however, which fosters informal political communication within existing social networks, poses a unique…

Examines the influence of negative political advertising frames on the thoughts and feelings undergraduate students generate in response to campaign advertising. Finds that participants were more likely to generate cynical comments and hold politicians accountable for the country's ills when reading candidate theme advertisements than ad hoc issue…

Can perceived message effectiveness (PE) be considered a cause of actual effectiveness (AE)? If so, PE judgments can be used as valid indicators of the persuasiveness of messages in the preimplementation phase of campaigns. In addition, manipulating PE may be a viable persuasive strategy. But, if the reverse causal sequence obtains (AE[right…

Extends the traditional Woelfel-Saltiel balance formulation of attitude change to a continuously-scaled least-squares paradigm in which change occurs as a function of accumulated information. A longitudinal tracking of the changes in attitude toward parties, candidates, and issues is then used to make predictions about subsequent attitudes and…

Studies the effects of source valence, including source credibility, attraction, and homophyly, on voter preference in a Florida Democratic primary election campaign. Indicates that attitude homophyly is an excellent predictor of voter preference. (JMF)

This study employs NES (National Election Survey) data from several presidential elections to investigate the effects of presidential debate watching on voters' issue knowledge, character evaluation, and vote choice. Debates can instill issue knowledge; however, voters are less likely to learn about incumbent presidents seeking re-election after a…