3
might market to women voters that he will represent women better than his female opponent.
Or, a conservative female candidate could influence liberal women through rhetorical messages.
Politicians send gendered “cues” to voters through gender-based marketing strategies which
might persuade voters away from their ideal vote choice.
Candidate Evaluations and Vote Choice
As a first step towards understanding how gender-based marketing strategies might
change the minds of voters, in this section, I give an overview of the ingredients of vote choice
and voter perceptions. Specifically, I outline the factors most commonly associated with vote
choice as well as summarizing the research specific to gender-related perceptions.
The public evaluates candidates on a number of different factors that then determines
their final vote choice, which I display visually on the right hand side of Figure 1. The main
components of vote choice are an individual’s political and demographic variables, such as party
identification and gender (Niemi and Weisberg 1993). Citizens also form evaluations of the
candidate based on their perceptions of the candidate’s issue positions or beliefs, which
subsequently determines vote choice
2
(Rahn et al. 1990). To make a decision based on issue
positions, voters calculate the distance from their own issue position to that of the party and then
choose the party who is closest (Downs 1957).
3
Finally, the public assesses a candidate’s image, the traits or personality characteristics of
a candidate, in order to make a vote decision (Rahn et al. 1990). Scholars have identified four
important dimensions on which the public evaluates candidates: competence, integrity, empathy,
and leadership (Funk 1999; Kinder 1986; Miller, Wattenberg, and Malanchuk 1986).
Evaluations on these dimensions, particularly on the competence and leadership traits help
determine global ratings and vote choice of the politician (Funk 1999).
A candidate’s characteristics, such as gender, aid voters in evaluating candidates via
stereotypes. For example, prior research has established that voters have image perceptions of a
candidate based on gender stereotypes: voters see women as more competent on certain issues
such as education, health care, helping the poor, among others (Alexander and Andersen 1993;
Huddy and Terkildsen 1993; Lawless 2004; Leeper 1991; Matland 1994; Rosenwasser and Dean
1989; Rosenwasser et al. 1987; Rosenwasser and Seale 1988; Sapiro 1982). Women are seen
differently on certain traits, such as being more compassionate, warm, and emotional (Alexander
and Andersen 1993; Huddy and Terkildsen 1993; Lawless 2004; Rosenwasser and Dean 1989).
Finally, women are seen as more liberal in their beliefs or broad issue positions (Huddy and
Terkildsen 1993; Koch 2000; Koch 2002; McDermott 1998). Their male counterparts are
viewed as more competent at handling issues such as the military, terrorism, defense, crime, and
the economy (Alexander and Andersen 1993; Huddy and Terkildsen 1993; Lawless 2004;
Rosenwasser and Dean 1989). Men are seen as better leaders, more assertive, decisive, and
aggressive (Alexander and Andersen 1993; Huddy and Terkildsen 1993; Lawless 2004;
Rosenwasser and Dean 1989). Finally, male candidates are seen as more conservative in their
beliefs (Huddy and Terkildsen 1993; Koch 2000; Koch 2002; McDermott 1998).
A candidate’s party might also be a source for stereotypes that help determine vote choice
(Petrocik 1996; Rahn 1993). Candidate party leads to trait inferences about competencies on
particular kinds of issues; that is, Republicans and Democrats are seen as able to handle different
types of issues. In addition, candidate party can affect impressions about a candidate’s issue
2
Of course, each of these factors might affect vote choice directly - for example, party identification might
determine vote choice without an evaluation of the candidate. For ease of presentation, I do not draw these arrows.
3
There exists some debate about directional versus proximity theories of voting (Westholm 1997).
Convention