2012/08/27 by Friederike Nagel, Marcus Maurer, Carsten Reinemann · 115 citations
Arts and Humanities · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Argumentative #Artificial intelligence #Cognitive psychology #Communication #Communication in Education and Healthcare #Communication studies #Computer science #Contrast (vision) #Dominance (genetics) #German #Linguistics #Media Influence and Health #Media Studies and Communication #Multimedia #Nonverbal communication #Political communication #Political science #Politics #Psychology #Social psychology #Sociology #Visual communication
paper · doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2012.01670.x
published in Journal of Communication 62(5), 833-850 (Oxford University Press)
openalex publication_date 2012/08/27 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
On the basis of a televised debate in the 2005 German national election, this study compares the influence of verbal, visual, and vocal communication on viewers' immediate impressions of political candidates by using an innovative research design. A second-by-second content analysis of 17 verbal, visual, and vocal message elements is combined with a second-by-second analysis of viewers' immediate impressions using continuous response measurement (CRM). Findings show that viewers' immediate impressions are mainly influenced by verbal communication, especially the issues discussed and the argumentative structure used. In contrast to that, the effect of nonverbal communication is far smaller. The causes and implications of these findings are discussed.