Attribute agenda setting, priming and the media’s influence on how to think about a controversial issue

Abstract

Using a controversial issue in South Korea, a government plan to relocate the administrative capital, this study examines attribute agenda setting. Linking survey data to an analysis of news coverage, more specifically, the article explores how television news has influenced the way the public evaluates the plan and its various attributes, i.e. potential benefits and problems of the relocation. Findings support the idea that the media could increase public salience of certain attributes by placing them more prominently in news coverage. An important outcome of attribute agenda setting was its priming effect. Issue attributes emphasized in the media were functioning as important standards by which the audience evaluated the plan. These findings, taken together, enhance the intercultural validity of attribute agenda setting by demonstrating that the theory can be applied to South Korea, a country with a unique cultural tradition.