Predicting Voting Behavior via the Agenda-Setting Tradition

Abstract

The agenda-setting function has primarily reinforced the premise that the mass media do not tell people what to think, but what to think about. The possibility that the agenda-setting function may exist in a two-step process is explored, from the transfer of salience to behavioral outcome. The results of a two-group discriminant analysis appear to indicate that specific groups of voters can be identified according to their level of issue concerns. The study suggests that the mass media may not only tell us what to think about, but they influence what actions we take regarding those thoughts.