Beyond the Notion of Accessibility Bias: Message Content as the Common Source of Agenda-Setting and Priming Effects

Abstract

This study examines the cognitive mechanisms behind agenda-setting and priming effects. Recent evidence suggessts that accessibility effects within network models of memory are not well suited to explain agenda-setting and priming effects. This article attempts to provide additional evidence regarding the roles of issue accessibility and message content in agenda-setting and priming processes. Our findings indicate that changes in issue accessibility are not a sufficient condition for agenda-setting and priming effects. Instead, the content of mediated messages that validates an issue as a matter of public concern is shown to be the primary explanation of agenda-setting and priming effects. Different psychological processes observed in social psychological studies and political communication studies as well as theoretical relationships between agenda setting and priming are discussed.

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