Does Candidate or Supporter Information Drive Candidate Preference?

We employ a new aspect of today’s information environment, the “decision agent,” to examine whether people can make better candidate selections when an electronic agent assists by providing information comparing an individual’s stands on issues to those of candidates or the candidates’ supporters. The study was conducted during the 2004 election. We find that when electronic agents elicit individual preferences and provide information about the alternatives, voters do, indeed, alter their evaluations to be consistent with their own issue stands. They not only increased support for the best-fitting candidate, but also decreased support for their preferred candidate. There are two important aspects of these results. First, it appears to be real change, holding for two weeks, at least until the night before the election. Second, the effect was stronger when the information was about a candidate’s supporters stands than the candidate’s stands on the issues. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]