Page 89 - The Handbook of Persuasion and Social Marketing

82 The Handbook of Persuasion and Social Marketing

received considerable media coverage but for which a clear relationship
between the issue attitude and the evaluation of the government did not
exist.
The second criterion that candidates use when they select an issue to
prime is whether the public supports the candidate’s position on the issue.
The 1991 Gulf War was certainly a momentous event in recent history, and
its impact on the American public is likely to have been multifaceted. A
look at public opinion polls results suggests that the Gulf War may have
had a profound impact on Americans’ views of President George Bush’s
performance. As documented by numerous public opinion polls, Bush’s
approval ratings had been moderate just before the war began in October
1990, at about 55 percent. When the United States initiated air attacks on
Iraq in mid-January 1991, after the gradual massing of allied troops in the
Middle East, Bush’s approval ratings began to increase. And in March, by
which time the military efforts were completed, approval ratings soared to
nearly 90 percent. Although the following months saw a gradual decline in
this positive sentiment, even three months later they were still near 70
percent—a relatively high level. Simultaneously, the American media fo-
cused public attention powerfully and seemingly unceasingly on the Gulf
War for a period of almost three months. What accounts for the dramatic
increase in presidential approval ratings between the fall of 1990 and the
spring of 1991?
Althaus and Kim’s (2006) analyses show that the evaluative tone of Gulf
War news coverage was an important factor in producing priming effects.
The largest jump in Bush’s approval rating was an immediate and direct
consequence of the start of the air war in mid-January. American citizens,
who had been deeply divided about the wisdom of going to war, became
galvanized for action immediately following the war’s onset.
Krosnick and Brannon (1993) analyzed the data collected as part of the
1990–1991 National Election Panel Study. During both prewar and post-
war interviews, respondents were asked an extensive series of questions
addressing many political beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. They appraised
George W. Bush’s handling of the Gulf War, his handling of foreign affairs
generally, his handling of the domestic economy, and his job performance
in general. In addition, respondents were asked questions measuring their
knowledge about politics in general, their exposure to political informa-
tion through the news media, and their interest in the Gulf War.
When Krosnick and Brannon (1993) examined the basic priming ef-
fects, ignoring political involvement, they found that the impact of the
Gulf War on Bush’s performance increased substantially (by 50 percent)
after the war, while there were negligible changes over time in the impact