Processing Economic News

The news media’s coverage of the economy is an important source of economic information as the economy is a topic, which we can only partly observe in our own lives. Other parts of the economy we would not be aware of if the news media did not report about it. The important role of the news media in providing economic information raises the need for knowing how exposure to economic news influences economic perceptions and through which cognitive and emotional mechanisms. Inspired by the information processing approach, the main argument proposed in the dissertation is that news attention, perceived personal relevance of news and emotional responses to news are central mechanisms in transforming economic news into effects on economic perceptions.
The dissertation is based on a four wave panel survey combined with a content analysis of Danish economic news and a survey experiment. In different chapters the dissertation examines what happens from when news consumers are exposed to economic news to economic perceptions are formed. The results show that news attention, perceived personal relevance of news and emotional responses to news are central mechanisms in transforming economic news into effects on economic perceptions. Chapter two shows that exposure to negative economic news has a positive effect on internal economic efficacy and that this effect is mediated by attention to economic news. Chapter three shows, that exposure to economic news presented with a human interest frame stimulates interest in the economy because economic news is perceived as personally relevant. Chapter four shows that negative economic news affects emotional responses and that internal economic efficacy moderates the effect on negative emotions. Chapter five shows that ambiguous economic news exposure lowers consumer confidence because news consumers come to feel uncertain about the economic situation. Added together the dissertation provides insights into how and why economic news exposure affects economic perceptions.
The main conclusion to be drawn from the dissertation supports the assumption that news attention, perceived personal relevance of news and emotional responses to news are central mechanisms in transforming economic news into effects on economic perceptions. Moreover, the results show that media effects are moderated by personal characteristics of the news consumers. In chapter two, interest in the economy is found to moderate the effect of negativity on internal economic efficacy through news attention. In chapter four internal economic efficacy was found to moderate emotional responses to negative news. Hence, the dissertation contributes with new empirical insights of why economic news influence news consumers. Something that aggregate level studies in the field of economic news research has not been able to do.
In a broader perspective the dissertation finds several positive effects of economic news and offers an alternative view on the debate as to whether economic journalists have failed in covering the economy. The dissertation did of course show that negative and ambiguous economic news can elicit emotions that can lower consumer confidence. However, when focusing on the ability of economic journalism to stimulate interest in the economy, evoking attention to economic news or to increase internal economic efficacy the failure of economic journalism is less obvious.
The results of the dissertation also has practical implications for journalists, communication strategists and politicians who wish to construct economic messages that are processed and likely to have an effect on the recipients. Producing economic messages that elicit attention or emotions, or are perceived of as personally relevant seems to be the right way to go to get the message through to the news consumers.