The Impact of Media on Voting Behaviour: A Game-Theoretic Approach

In this paper, I develop a game-theoretic model to examine the effect of information provided by media on voting behaviour. Empirical research suggests the impact of media on election outcomes to be quite significant. The aim of this paper is to see whether these empirical findings are supported by theoretical evidence. To this end, I extend the model of social image theory developed by Swank (2019), which explains voting behaviour by means of social image concerns, by allowing for a public figure sharing his opinion with the public. Under the assumption that citizens attach significant value to the information provided by the public figure, the model shows that public information can change voting behaviour by hindering communication between citizens. In addition to supporting the empirical results obtained in previous research, the model therefore sheds light on a possible mechanism underlying the influence of media on election outcomes