IPR Research Notes

Competitive Framing

Spring 2007, Volume 29, Number 1

James Druckman and Dennis Chong

In a recent study, IPR faculty members Dennis Chong and James Druckman looked at how a framing strategy could affect public opinion on a contested issue in a competitive political campaign environment.

To investigate how competition between frames, in particular their frequency and strength, might affect individual stances, Chong and Druckman implemented an experiment where more than 1,000 people were exposed to stronger and weaker frames at varying frequencies and orders of presentation. They assigned participants to one of 16 possible combinations of frames regarding either an urban growth proposal or a hate-group rally, and participants were questioned on their thoughts about the proposal. Three weeks later, the researchers followed up with more questions, plus additional issue information for the treatment group.

Chong and Druckman found that a frame’s strength was the most reliable predictor of a shift in an individual’s opinion for or against a particular policy. A frame’s repetition, sequence, and timing could also affect individual positions, depending on how much an individual knows about the policy. For example, less knowledgeable voters were more affected by repetition.

The researchers point out that deciding which value to call attention to is critical because voters do not necessarily pick the frame most closely aligned with their values. Stressing the right value can sway voters on both sides of an issue. Highlighting the wrong one can inadvertently evoke the opposition’s values and push voters away.

In a competitive environment, a campaign must give voters—even its most traditional allies—the “right” reason to continue to support or adopt a particular position, they said. Thus, each campaign must develop a wide variety of frames, each one tailored to a particular constituency of voters that can also withstand the opposition’s counter-framing attempts.

Chong is John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Professor of Political Science and an IPR faculty associate. Druckman is AT&T Research Scholar, associate professor of political science, and an IPR faculty fellow.

“Competitive Framing” received the 2006 award for best paper in political psychology at the American Political Science Association’s annual meeting in Philadelphia.