Voter advice applications in practice: answers to some key questions from Turkey

Abstract

This paper investigates the effects of the media promotion of the Turkish Voter Advice Application website (www.oypusulasi.org) during the 2011 Turkish Parliamentary elections. The research design combines data on the dates and medium used for the promotion of the VAA with statistical data on the number of connections received, the recommendations by users, and the user's propensity to vote for each individual party. By running a multiple–interrupted time series model, we find that there is a double–screen effect in the promotion campaign. In fact, the VAA was promoted through traditional media, such as television and newspapers, and through Internet–based communications. We also find that the political parallelism that characterises the Turkish media system has an important impact on the composition of the users, as voters who support conservative parties were only attracted to the website when it was mentioned in conservative media.