@article{2017:peter:the_role_o,
title = {The role of similarity in exemplification effect},
year = {2017},
note = {Exemplification research has consistently shown that after reading
news reports including individual cases, people tend to base their
judgments on these so-called exemplars. Until today, it is not
entirely clear why exemplars are so powerful in shaping recipients’
perception of public opinion and why they sometimes fail to influence
personal opinion. Based on prior research, we assume that the
influence of exemplars on both types of judgments is due to similarity
effects: While similarity between recipients and exemplars should
moderate effects on recipients’ personal opinion, the similarity
between exemplars and “the public” should be responsible for
effects on the perceived public opinion. Conducting a 2x2x2-web-based
experiment, we find that the similarity between exemplars and the
target population influences public opinion estimates; we find only
partial support for an effect of similarity between exemplars and
recipients on personal opinion.},
journal = {SCM Studies in Communication and Media},
pages = {71--80},
author = {Peter, Christina and Zerback, Thomas},
volume = {6},
number = {1}
}