The paper examines how voters’ physiological reactions measured during exposure to a candidate’s speech affect attitudes about the candidate and vote intentions. We exposed 92 subjects to one of four versions of a candidate’s webcast, which differed in terms of the candidate’s body language (confident or not confident) and the quality of their speech (stronger or weaker). Participants’ skin conductance
levels and facial muscles (brow and cheek) movements were monitored throughout the speech. We test two hypotheses. The first posits a transfer of arousal mechanism, by which individuals’ skin conductance levels (a common measure of arousal) influence their post evaluations, with more arousal leading to more candidate support and increased vote intentions. The second hypothesis tests for a facial feedback mechanism, by which individuals’ facial reactions influence their evaluations, with increased cheek muscle activity (smiling) leading to more positive evaluations and increased brow activity (frowning) leading to more negative ones. We expect the features of the speech, the candidate’s gender and individuals’ own personality variables to moderate these mechanisms.
