Why Cultural Consumption Matters
David Weisstanner and Sarah Engler ask whether everyday cultural cues—what politicians say they enjoy doing in their free time—shape voters' electoral preferences. They frame these cues as symbolic class signalling: routine acts of cultural consumption (for example, drinking beer in a pub versus listening to classical music with a glass of wine) that signal class identity and cultural belonging. The question matters because political competition in many democracies has increasingly organized along cultural lines, and such symbolic signals could help explain who gains or loses support as parties realign.
How the Authors Studied It
The authors fielded a conjoint survey experiment with 1,550 respondents in Switzerland in January–February 2023. Respondents evaluated hypothetical politicians whose profiles varied across attributes including a cultural-consumption vignette. This design isolates the independent effect of a politician's claimed cultural hobby on voter evaluations while holding other characteristics constant.
Key Findings
- Voters show negative reactions to politicians who claim an affinity for classical music and wine: that combination tends to reduce electoral appeal for many respondents.
- Politicians who say they drink beer in a pub gain particular appeal among working-class voters aligned with the radical right and without tertiary education.
- These patterns align with the authors' expectation that symbolic class signalling has become more electorally consequential in a political landscape polarized along cultural dimensions, and that radical-right parties stand to benefit most from culturally coded appeals.
What This Reveals for Political Behavior
The study demonstrates that small, everyday cultural markers can function as effective signals of class identity and party affinity. For scholars and practitioners, the findings highlight how symbolic politics—rather than policy positions alone—can mobilize or repel specific voter segments during periods of partisan realignment. By showing who responds positively and negatively to different cultural cues, the research clarifies one mechanism through which cultural identity shapes contemporary electoral competition in Switzerland and potentially comparable European settings.
