The affected German voter: Televized debates, follow-up communication and candidate evaluations

Abstract

In the run-up to the last German federal election, 'American style' televized debates were held for the very first time. Using a three-wave panel comprising of citizens of Augsburg and Bamberg - two medium-sized cities in Bavaria - to analyze the impact of the 2002 German debates, the present article deals with the following questions: First, how were the two contenders evaluated by viewers of the debates? Who 'won' the debates? Secondly, do these perceptions and evaluations influence viewers' attitudes towards Schroder and Stoiber? And if so, what is the magnitude of this effect? Thirdly, do these effects last, and for how long? How do the mass media as well as interpersonal communication influence the durability of debate effects? Our results show that Schroder won both debates. Based on a path model, we show that the debates affected the images of the candidates considerably, but that these effects were not very stable and thus disappeared quickly. However, mass media as well as interpersonal communication have the potential to stabilize debate effects, depending on the extent and the (perceived) content of the follow-up communication