TY - JOUR
T1 - Media use and political learning
T2 - Comparing Trump supporters to celebrity candidate voters
AU - Kanihan, Stacey Frank
AU - Rim, Hyejoon
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, © 2018 Taylor & Francis.
Copyright:
Copyright 2018 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2018/8/8
Y1 - 2018/8/8
N2 - This study examines whether political media use behaviors of voters who supported Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election align with those of “celebrity candidate voters” portrayed in the literature. The study used a national online survey (N = 1,608) conducted during the 2016 primary, and findings reveal that Trump supporters, more than other voters, are driven by entertainment motivations and follow campaign news using entertainment media: specifically, the video-sharing site YouTube. Although Trump voters are interested in the campaign, their level of political knowledge is lower than other voters, and no one media outlet made a significant contribution to their learning. A comparison group of other voters showed significant knowledge gains from news websites and Twitter. Results for Trump voters are consistent with scholars’ characterization of the celebrity candidate audience, particularly in studies suggesting that celebrity politicians may increase citizens’ engagement through entertainment gratifications rather than by a desire to become informed.
AB - This study examines whether political media use behaviors of voters who supported Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election align with those of “celebrity candidate voters” portrayed in the literature. The study used a national online survey (N = 1,608) conducted during the 2016 primary, and findings reveal that Trump supporters, more than other voters, are driven by entertainment motivations and follow campaign news using entertainment media: specifically, the video-sharing site YouTube. Although Trump voters are interested in the campaign, their level of political knowledge is lower than other voters, and no one media outlet made a significant contribution to their learning. A comparison group of other voters showed significant knowledge gains from news websites and Twitter. Results for Trump voters are consistent with scholars’ characterization of the celebrity candidate audience, particularly in studies suggesting that celebrity politicians may increase citizens’ engagement through entertainment gratifications rather than by a desire to become informed.
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U2 - 10.1080/15456870.2018.1493881
DO - 10.1080/15456870.2018.1493881
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85052992943
SN - 1545-6870
VL - 26
SP - 251
EP - 266
JO - Atlantic Journal of Communication
JF - Atlantic Journal of Communication
IS - 4
ER -