Effects of Economic and Symbolic Threat Appeals in Right-Wing Populist Advertising on Anti-Immigration Attitudes: The Impact of Visual and Verbal Appeals

• In Event: Advances in Framing Effects Research

Abstract

This study investigates how symbolic and economic threat appeals in right-wing populist advertisements influence individuals’ attitudes toward immigration and tests the underlying mechanisms and boundary conditions of these effects. Findings of an experimental study with a quota sample of 471 participants reveal that, overall, symbolic threat appeals exert stronger effects on anti-immigration attitudes than economic threat appeals. Textual symbolic threat appeals affected anti-immigration attitudes of lower-educated voters by evoking intergroup anxiety and negative stereotypes. The additional presence of a stereotypical image amplifies the effects of the symbolic threat appeal and activates perceived symbolic threats, intergroup anxiety, and negative stereotypes among all individuals regardless of their education level, which resulted in stronger resentments toward immigration. Economic text appeals only affected anti-immigrant attitudes when combined with a stereotypic image via the activation of negative stereotypes. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Author

• Desiree Schmuck, Department of Communication / U of Vienna