Cognitive Dissonance and the Effects of Voting Advice Applications on Voting Behaviour: Evidence from a Laboratory Experiment at the European Elections 2014

The effects of VAAs on voting behaviour have been studied since the first VAAs had been developed. However, crucial questions have been left unanswered. Only recently, studies drawing on panel experimental data focus on the effect mechanisms and contextual factors that moderate the effect size. This paper contributes to this new strand of research. It investigates the degree of change in intra-individual voting behaviour instigated by cognitive dissonances generated by the use of such a tool, as VAAs provide users with specific information about party positions and present a party match which might be in conflict with their pre-existing attitudes. The paper explains and empirically tests under which conditions cognitive dissonances occur and how party choice is affected. Drawing on data from a laboratory experiment with 100 individuals before the 2014 European Elections, the paper aims to reveal the mechanisms and contexts under which VAAs change political behaviour.