The (minimal) persuasive advantage of political video over text

<jats:title>Significance</jats:title> <jats:p>Video is an increasingly common source of political information. Although conventional wisdom suggests that video is much more persuasive than other communication modalities such as text, this assumption has seldom been teste...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Wittenberg, Chloe, Tappin, Ben M, Berinsky, Adam J, Rand, David G
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Political Science
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2022
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/144232
Description
Summary:<jats:title>Significance</jats:title> <jats:p>Video is an increasingly common source of political information. Although conventional wisdom suggests that video is much more persuasive than other communication modalities such as text, this assumption has seldom been tested in the political domain. Across two large-scale randomized experiments, we find clear evidence that “seeing is believing”: individuals are more likely to believe an event took place when shown information in video versus textual form. When it comes to persuasion, however, the advantage of video over text is markedly less pronounced, with only small effects on attitudes and behavioral intentions. Together, these results challenge popular narratives about the unparalleled persuasiveness of political video versus text.</jats:p>