Page 95 - The Handbook of Persuasion and Social Marketing

88 The Handbook of Persuasion and Social Marketing

affective responses to remote attitude objects. When a political symbol
appears, it often primes particular meanings or features (Sears, 2001). For
example, Kammelmeier and Winter (2008), in two experimental studies,
examined the consequences of exposure to the flag on Americans’ sense of
national attachment. The results support the idea that the American flag
increases nationalism but not necessarily patriotism.
Third, candidates can emphasize issues that send signals about their
image (i.e., they can use issues to prime image). This assumption is sup-
ported by the results of analyses conducted by Schoenwald (1987).
Combining issues with candidate imagery via correlational analyses, he
found that, for example, an improved voter perception on the devotes-
time-to-education attribute could translate into a better reading on caring
about children, caring about state problems, and generally being more hu-
man. Iyengar and Kinder (1987) showed that the news media priming of
issues related to energy, defense, and inflation influenced voters’ percep-
tions of President Carter’s competence.
Hayes (2005), in his theory of trait ownership, stated that not only do
the Republican and Democratic Parties own issues (Petrocik, 1996), but
their candidates own traits associated with those issues. Perceptions of
candidates’ personal qualities are the product of strategic candidate behav-
ior, and they belong to the very nature of political information processing.
During campaigns, candidates focus on issues their parties own, which
prompts the public to make trait inferences associated with those issues.
The American public sees Republicans as stronger leaders and more moral
individuals, whereas Democrats are perceived as more compassionate and
empathetic. The existence of party-based trait perceptions may generate a
baseline of expectations in the minds of voters about how representative of
certain traits each party’s candidates should be in comparison to their op-
ponents. The degree to which candidates deviate from these expecta-
tions—either in overcoming them or by falling short—could shape voters’
candidate evaluations and, subsequently, their voting choices. Republican
candidates who can successfully portray themselves as at least as compas-
sionate or empathetic as their opponents can turn a traditional Democratic
advantage into an electoral asset. This process of “trait trespassing” works
the same for Democrats. Making intrusions into the Republican territory
of morality and leadership can yield bigger advantages than Republicans
can realize simply by maintaining their advantage. Voters expect the par-
ties’ nominees to represent particular traits, and these expectations power-
fully influence their perceptions and behavior.
Peterson (2005) claimed that in addition to the direct impact on voting
choice, issues also matter because they determine how voters perceive