Campaigns do matter – the impact of campaigns in reducing framing effects

This study examines the role of political campaigns in reducing voter susceptibility to framing effects, focusing on the 2022 EU defense opt-out referendum in Denmark. Unlike prior research, we directly engage with the influence of a real-world campaign by conducting framing experiments at the campaign's outset and its conclusion. The findings reveal a significant reduction in framing effects. At the start of the campaign, frames associated with losses moved voter opinions on the referendum, whereas by the end of the campaign this impact waned by the campaign's end. The result suggests that the campaign provided voters with information and arguments that made them less susceptible to framing effects, and instead empowered voters to make informed decisions on the referendum based on their own attitudes towards the EU. In the conclusions we encourage further research on susceptibility to elite messages in real-world settings.