Testing the Implicit-Explicit Model of Racialized Political Communication

Abstract

The Implicit-Explicit (IE) model of racial priming posits that implicitly racial messages will be more effective than explicitly racial ones in priming racial predispositions in opinion formation. Is the Implicit-Explicit model supported by existing data? In "Racial Priming Revived,"Mendelberg responds to our analysis of a pair of experiments in which we found that "that implicit appeals are no more effective than explicit ones in priming racial resentment in opinion formation." In this note we demonstrate that the concerns raised about our experiments are unfounded. Further, we show that the existing work supporting the IE model suffers from serious limitations of experimental design and implementation. Cumulatively, we find that the evidence questioning the IE model is far stronger than the evidence that supports it.

Keywords: Field experiments, randomization, racial priming, opinion formation

JEL Classification: C93