Race and Gender as Peripheral Cues on Political Campaign Web Sites |
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| Authors: | Melissa M Smith |
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| Institution: | Department of Communication , Mississippi State University , |
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| Abstract: | This study examines the roles candidate race and gender may play in the evaluation of candidates presented via campaign Web sites. Apparent race and gender of a candidate were manipulated while issue information was held constant on a campaign Web site. The candidate's gender was shown to affect evaluations of the candidate (positively for female candidates) after controlling for participant political ideology, political knowledge, and political self-efficacy. The candidate's race did not affect evaluations of the candidate. Findings are discussed in the context of peripheral bias of central processing. |
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| Keywords: | Campaign Web Site Elaboration Likelihood Model Gender Politics Race |
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