We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
When talk is not cheap: What factors predict political campaign messaging on social determinants of health issues?
- Authors
Gollust, Sarah E.; Frenier, Chris; Tait, Margaret; Baum, Laura L.; Kennedy‐Hendricks, Alene; Niederdeppe, Jeff; Franklin Fowler, Erika
- Abstract
Political candidates use campaign communication to signal to the public which policy issues they consider important. However, the factors that shape political discourse related to the social determinants of health have not been adequately studied. We examined the volume and predictors of attention to three issues—jobs, income inequality, and early childhood education—among campaign ads in 2011–2012 (N = 10,467 ads, aired 4,025,771 times) and in 2015–2016 (N = 9926 ads, aired 3,809,887 times). While attention to jobs was common in campaign ads (41% and 21% of ads in 2011–2012 and 2015–2016), attention to economic inequality (11% and 4%) and early childhood education (0.4% and 0.9%) was much less common. Campaign‐related factors (especially partisanship) explain much of the variation, as compared to community demographic conditions, although campaign ads referenced jobs more often in areas with higher unemployment in 2015–2016. Future research should explore political responsiveness to the factors that shape health in communities. Key points: • Attention to employment in campaign ads aired in the 2012 and 2016 election cycles is high. • Attention to economic inequality and early childhood education in campaign ads is much lower. • Campaign‐related factors, especially partisanship, explain much of the geographic variation in volume. • Besides community unemployment rates, demographic conditions explain little of the variation in attention to social determinants of health.
- Subjects
SOCIAL determinants of health; POLITICAL campaigns; INCOME inequality; ELECTIONS; JOB advertising
- Publication
World Medical & Health Policy, 2022, Vol 14, Issue 3, p464
- ISSN
1948-4682
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1002/wmh3.470