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Abstract
This study tests how repeated exposure to the same news frame influences political opinions over time. In a survey experiment (N = 296), we repeatedly exposed participants to the same news frame (at the start of the study, after one day, one week, and two weeks) and measured effects on opinions (at the start, after two weeks, and after six weeks). Participants in a control group were exposed only once and the effect was also traced over time. Results show that repetitive framing leads both to stronger and more persistent effects than single exposure. The persistence effects are most evident for individuals with moderate political knowledge. Our study contributes to a more comprehensive model of framing effects in mass communication experiments.
Notes
[1] This explanation does not contradict other models, which argue that framing is defined by applicability changes (Nelson et al. Citation1997b). Applicability changes are also part of repetitive framing, but might not always increase with repetition (Chong & Druckman, Citation2007b).
[2] Mitchell (Citation2012) presents findings from a 10-week longitudinal experiment, where the dependent variable was measured each week. A diagnostic test, where the treatment group was compared to another group that had only been measured in the first and last week showed “no evidence of reactivity to the measure” (p. 302). We discuss any issues with sensitizing effects in the limitation section of this paper.
[3] Participants receive fixed incentives for participating in online survey experiments.
[4] The full text of the stimulus articles is available from the authors upon request.
[5] The other measures were: “Which politician recently left the PVV [PARTY] and has set up their own political party?” “Who is the current president of the European Commission?” “Which country is not a member of the European Union?” “How many seats are there in the Dutch senate?”
[6] We also tested for immediate framing effects. At t1, participants in the single exposure group exposed to a positive news frame showed stronger support for a policy related to elderly care (M = 4.65, SD = 1.08) than those exposed to a negative frame (M = 4.20, SD = 1.16), t(158) = 2.50, p < .05. Similarly, individuals in the repetitive group showed that exposure to a positive frame increased (M = 4.83, SD = .88) support for the issue relative to a negative frame (M = 4.33, SD = 1.04), t(134) = 2.99 p < .01. There was no significant difference between participants in the single or repetitive group who had been exposed to positive and negative news frame respectively.