Issue Importance as a Moderator of Framing Effects

TLDR

Research has examined how individual and contextual factors influence news framing effects, yet it remains unclear whether the issue’s importance moderates these effects. The study examines whether the magnitude and process of framing effects vary with issue importance. Two experimental studies with 1,821 participants were conducted to test this moderation. Results reveal that high‑importance issues produce no framing effects while low‑importance issues elicit large effects, a moderation that operates at both contextual and individual levels.

Abstract

A growing amount of research is devoted to the question of which individual and contextual variables enhance, limit, or obliterate news framing effects. However, the fundamental question whether framing effects vary depending on the issue at stake has not been addressed. Based on two experimental studies (total N = 1,821), this article investigates the extent to which framing effects differ in magnitude as well as process, depending on how important an issue is. The studies show that a high-importance issue yields no effects and a low-importance issue large effects. This moderating function of issue importance operates both at the contextual and at the individual levels. The implications for future framing effects research are discussed.