Study shows effect of voting campaigns on voters
Published: Thursday, Sep 19th 2024, 17:10
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Swiss voters estimate the campaign budget of the opposing side to be higher than it actually is. This was revealed by a research project conducted by the Center for Democracy Aargau in collaboration with Année Politique Suisse.
After the votes in spring 2024, researchers asked over 1,000 people how intense they felt the voting campaigns on the five proposals were:
On March 3, the 13th AHV pension and the pension initiative were voted on, and on June 9, the premium relief initiative, the Electricity Act, the cost brake initiative and the "Stop compulsory vaccination" initiative were voted on.
Citizens' assessments of the effectiveness of referendum campaigns corresponded quite well with the measurable advertising expenditure and the number of advertisements, as the Center for Democracy Aargau (ZDA) announced on Thursday. They correctly recognized that the largest advertising budgets were for the 13th AHV pension and the Electricity Act.
One interesting effect was that respondents overestimated the budget of the opposing side. Those who had said yes to a proposal generally assumed that the no camp was running a more intensive campaign - and vice versa.
Little knowledge about the impact of political advertising
The authors of the evaluation can be quoted as follows: "Even if it seems very obvious that the intensity of voting campaigns is important for the outcome of direct democratic decisions, we know surprisingly little about the effect of political advertising on individuals."
The findings suggest that citizens have a good sense of the intensity of political campaigns. However, this could be deceptive when it comes to differentiating between the advertising power of the respective Yes and No camps.
With the research project "Direct Democracy Switzerland in the 21st Century (DDS21)", the ZDA examines the motives for the participation and decisions of voters after every federal vote. The ZDA is a scientific research center supported by the University of Zurich, the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland, the Canton of Aargau and the City of Aarau.
©Keystone/SDA
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