Selective Exposure, Information Utility, and the Decision to Watch Televised Debates

摘要

Why do people watch televised election debates? This article considers the role of three factors highlighted in recent research on political news exposure: selective approach toward attitude-congruent information; selective avoidance of attitude-incongruent information; and information utility. I test the distinct effects of these three factors on viewing decisions by taking advantage of Austria's unique organization of televised debates as pairwise match-ups between the main party leaders. I find that selective approach dominates selective avoidance and that information utility increases exposure propensity. Beyond explaining debate viewership, these findings have general implications for understanding exposure to political information, particularly during campaigns.