Jumping on the Bandwagon: The Role of Voters' Social Class in Poll Effects in the Context of the 2021 German Federal Election.

ABSTRACT: Published findings of opinion polls are an important part of the political coverage before elections. Thus, researchers have long investigated whether the perceived popularity of political parties can lead to even more voters following this majority. However, empirical findings on this so-called political bandwagon effect are mixed. In the present paper, we integrate theories from political science and social psychology to explain these inconsistencies through social class as a potential moderating variable. Based on previous findings regarding consumer decisions, we hypothesized that bandwagon effects are greater among voters with lower social class. To investigate this hypothesis, we combined data from the German Longitudinal Election Study (GLES) Rolling Cross-Section 2021, which was co

SUBMITTER: Unkelbach F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9364306 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature