How candidate characteristics affect favorability in European Parliament elections: Evidence from a conjoint experiment in Finland

Henrik Serup Christensen; Marco Svensson La Rosa; Kimmo Grönlund

doi:10.1177/1465116520929765

How candidate characteristics affect favorability in European Parliament elections: Evidence from a conjoint experiment in Finland

Henrik Serup Christensen, Marco Svensson La Rosa, Kimmo Grönlund

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Abstract

Previous literature has studied voter behavior in European Parliament elections. However, it remains unclear how candidate characteristics affect favorability of EP candidates since it cannot be taken for granted that these characteristics work as in national elections. We therefore use a conjoint analysis to examine how gender, left-right ideology, issue focus, political experience, representative focus, citizenship, and attitude towards European integration affected EP candidate favorability during the 2019 campaign in Finland. Results show that while traditional candidate characteristics matter, their impact is dwarfed by effects of traits particular to the EP elections. Hence, it is imperative to observe the particularities of EP elections to understand candidate choice.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	519-540
Journal	European Union Politics
Volume	21
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/1465116520929765
Publication status	Published - 1 Sept 2020
MoE publication type	A1 Journal article-refereed

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title = "How candidate characteristics affect favorability in European Parliament elections: Evidence from a conjoint experiment in Finland",

abstract = "Previous literature has studied voter behavior in European Parliament elections. However, it remains unclear how candidate characteristics affect favorability of EP candidates since it cannot be taken for granted that these characteristics work as in national elections. We therefore use a conjoint analysis to examine how gender, left-right ideology, issue focus, political experience, representative focus, citizenship, and attitude towards European integration affected EP candidate favorability during the 2019 campaign in Finland. Results show that while traditional candidate characteristics matter, their impact is dwarfed by effects of traits particular to the EP elections. Hence, it is imperative to observe the particularities of EP elections to understand candidate choice.",

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PY - 2020/9/1

Y1 - 2020/9/1

N2 - Previous literature has studied voter behavior in European Parliament elections. However, it remains unclear how candidate characteristics affect favorability of EP candidates since it cannot be taken for granted that these characteristics work as in national elections. We therefore use a conjoint analysis to examine how gender, left-right ideology, issue focus, political experience, representative focus, citizenship, and attitude towards European integration affected EP candidate favorability during the 2019 campaign in Finland. Results show that while traditional candidate characteristics matter, their impact is dwarfed by effects of traits particular to the EP elections. Hence, it is imperative to observe the particularities of EP elections to understand candidate choice.

AB - Previous literature has studied voter behavior in European Parliament elections. However, it remains unclear how candidate characteristics affect favorability of EP candidates since it cannot be taken for granted that these characteristics work as in national elections. We therefore use a conjoint analysis to examine how gender, left-right ideology, issue focus, political experience, representative focus, citizenship, and attitude towards European integration affected EP candidate favorability during the 2019 campaign in Finland. Results show that while traditional candidate characteristics matter, their impact is dwarfed by effects of traits particular to the EP elections. Hence, it is imperative to observe the particularities of EP elections to understand candidate choice.

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How candidate characteristics affect favorability in European Parliament elections: Evidence from a conjoint experiment in Finland

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