What will be ‘right’ in the Future? The Influence of Spatiotemporal Metaphors and Visual Priming on Persuasiveness of Political Posters.
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2025-06-30
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en
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Political posters have historically served as a formidable tool of political communication, yet the cognitive mechanisms that could be employed to ameliorate their persuasiveness remain underexplored. This study investigates whether the Space-Time Congruency Effect (STCE), a spatiotemporal metaphor, and visual priming enhance the perceived persuasiveness of political posters. The STCE can be described as a psychological phenomenon which leads people to visualise the passing of time spatially in accordance with their writing directionality. A 2x2 between-subjects experimental design tested 122 participants, exposing them to political posters with either STCE-congruent or incongruent stimuli, with or without visual priming. Participants rated posters’ perceived persuasiveness using a validated, reliable scale. Results showed no statistically significant main effects for spatiotemporal congruency or priming. However, a small but significant priming effect emerged for posters concerned with social issues, suggesting priming may enhance persuasiveness in specific contexts. This study’s findings indicate limited practical applicability for political posters.
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