Repeated political soundbites can influence how people think – even if they disagree with the message

It’s now common for radio stations and news podcasts to run a package of soundbites to promote their shows, and this takes on an even more political flavour in the lead up to an election. Political parties are also focused on pushing out their own soundbites about their adversaries. Whether these messages come direct from political parties, or are curated by the media, they can be equally influential in shaping perspectives of a politician or party.

On LBC radio, part of a promotion for the station’s election coverage being played repeatedly at the moment includes a clip of a man called Jason talking about Rishi Sunak. He says:

People in this country have got an issue that he’s rich and they’ve got an issue that he’s not white…we’re hearing stuff like ‘he’s not British enough’, and I’m just finding it embarrassing.

The whole clip is not directly negative for Sunak, but the focal points are very emotive. And emotions can both guide how we think about something as well as how well people remember it.

Phrases such as “not white” and “not British enough” are bound to trigger emotional responses and are likely to affect how a listener will perceive Sunak. If a listener is racially prejudiced, then it’s more likely that they will focus primarily on that element of the clip. This is because negative emotions tend to make people focus on the aspects they perceived to be negative. And that means they’re more likely to forget the caller, Jason, was in fact criticising those who think Sunak isn’t British enough.

Repeat – until people believe it

Research shows that if you repeat something enough, and the message is presented consistently in the same format, people tend to believe it, even if it’s a blatant lie. Even if fake news headlines are refuted, they tend to be believed if they have been repeated enough times. And this is irrespective of whether the fake news aligns with a person’s political views.

In the context of the UK election, if the Conservatives continues to repeatedly claim that Labour will raise taxes by £2,000 per household if it wins power, it may embed itself in voters’ subconsciousness even though its accuracy has been questioned.

Even messages that appear exaggerated and outlandish can have an impact, through repetition. The election campaign of the Reform party features the messaging that “Britain is broken” and “We want our country back”.

This could affect the way in which people think in the longer term, a phenomenon known as “the sleeper effect”. People may originally discount a message because the message itself or its source doesn’t appear credible. However, the non-credible message can still leave an impression. The message sticks in the memory, but over time people forget why they disregarded it and as they forget the negativity associated with it, their attitudes instead align in favour with what they heard or read.

Because sleeper messages are known to be effective, there have been many political campaigns in the past trying to capitalise on this effect. In 1978, the Conservative party ran a poster with the slogan “Labour isn’t working” alongside a picture of a long unemployment cue. While in 2010, the Labour party ran an advert with the phrase “Don’t let him take Britain back to the 1980s” next to a picture of David Cameron portrayed in a similar fashion to Gene Hunt, the politically incorrect character from the TV series Ashes to Ashes.

Can political advertising be trusted?

Media Smart and the Advertising Association are currently running an awareness campaign called “What’s the deal with political advertising?” to help voters understand the political party advertising in the run up to the election. The campaign uses messages such as “You’re telling me election ads don’t rely on facts”, but this may actually enhance overall distrust in political messaging if repeated enough times. At a time where around only 28% of the UK population trust political advertising, more negative messaging around it is unhelpful.

It’s unlikely, however, that this means people will simply ignore political campaign information in the future. Emotive and sleeper messages that are continuously repeated will still get through, at least to a large majority of people. So if you want to avoid falling prey to persuasive messaging, take some time to think about what the message is really telling you.

Cathrine Jansson-Boyd does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.