Are citizens responsive to interest groups? A field experiment on lobbying and intended citizen behaviour
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Are citizens responsive to interest groups? A field experiment on lobbying and intended citizen behaviour. / Junk, Wiebke Marie; Rasmussen, Anne.
In: West European Politics, 2023, p. 1643–1669.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Are citizens responsive to interest groups?
T2 - A field experiment on lobbying and intended citizen behaviour
AU - Junk, Wiebke Marie
AU - Rasmussen, Anne
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - The ability to mobilise public opinion is central to interest group politics. Yet,whether and how groups succeed in swaying the public remains inconclusive.The article assesses this by conducting a field experiment in which a consumergroup sent different versions of campaign material to a representative sampleof over 5000 citizens. Relying on a two-wave panel survey, it shows that whilethe campaign affected intended consumer behaviour, it did not influence attitudes. Surprisingly, material by the organisation alone was more effective than material sent with a partner. Moreover, campaign references to personal experiences and facts were not more effective than material referring to publicopinion. The findings challenge existing evidence on how sender and messagecharacteristics affect the likelihood of influencing citizens. At the same time,they underline that public opinion is hard to change and have importantimplications for understanding political representation and interest groups indemocratic politics.
AB - The ability to mobilise public opinion is central to interest group politics. Yet,whether and how groups succeed in swaying the public remains inconclusive.The article assesses this by conducting a field experiment in which a consumergroup sent different versions of campaign material to a representative sampleof over 5000 citizens. Relying on a two-wave panel survey, it shows that whilethe campaign affected intended consumer behaviour, it did not influence attitudes. Surprisingly, material by the organisation alone was more effective than material sent with a partner. Moreover, campaign references to personal experiences and facts were not more effective than material referring to publicopinion. The findings challenge existing evidence on how sender and messagecharacteristics affect the likelihood of influencing citizens. At the same time,they underline that public opinion is hard to change and have importantimplications for understanding political representation and interest groups indemocratic politics.
KW - Faculty of Social Sciences
KW - interest groups
KW - public opinion
KW - campaigns
KW - political representation
KW - political communication
U2 - 10.1080/01402382.2023.2229710
DO - 10.1080/01402382.2023.2229710
M3 - Journal article
SP - 1643–1669.
JO - West European Politics
JF - West European Politics
SN - 0140-2382
M1 - 47(7)
ER -
ID: 360778024