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Quality Not Quantity: How a VAA Affected Voting Behavior in Three Large-Scale Field Experiments

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  • Frese, Joris
  • Hix, Simon
  • Lachat, Romain

Abstract

Voting-advice applications (VAAs) are increasingly popular, but their impact on electoral outcomes is contested among political scientists. To bring new and stronger evidence to this debate, we conducted a series of pre-registered studies during the 2024 European Parliament elections in Germany, Italy, and France. In this paper, we report results for the highest-powered VAA encouragement experiment to date (total n = 6,501) and a novel regression discontinuity design around VAA recommendation thresholds (n = 10,535). While we observe null effects of VAA usage on voter turnout, the frequency of vote switching, and political knowledge, we find that our VAAs significantly improved the quality of vote switching: users were more likely to vote for their ideologically most aligned party. Based on these findings and a rich battery of supplementary analyses, we conclude that VAAs are effective precisely for their intended purpose: to help voters make better-informed vote choices.

Suggested Citation

  • Frese, Joris & Hix, Simon & Lachat, Romain, 2025. "Quality Not Quantity: How a VAA Affected Voting Behavior in Three Large-Scale Field Experiments," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 55, pages 1-1, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:bjposi:v:55:y:2025:i::p:-_176
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