European Identity and Media Effects: A Quantitative Comparative Analysis Doctoral Thesis Department of Economic Sciences and Media Technische Universität Ilmenau Doctoral Student: Waqas Ejaz Supervised by: Prof. Dr. Jens Wolling Jun.-Prof. Dr. Emese Domahidi Prof. Dr. Volker Gehrau Submission Date: 1st of April, 2019 PhD Thesis Defense: 20th of August, 2019 DOI: 10.22032/dbt.39483 URN: urn:nbn:de:gbv:ilm1-2019000328 To my parents, Ejaz and Farzana, for trying your best, To my children, Hadi and Hasna, for all the joy you bring in my life, To my love, Arfa, for all that I am and have IV Acknowledgments Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor Prof. Jens Wolling who since our first ever meeting trusted me more than I have ever trusted myself. It was his confidence, continuous support, motivation and immense knowledge that helped me throughout my Ph.D. study. Without a doubt, he is amongst the two people to whom I owe this achievement. Besides my advisor, my sincere thanks also go to Prof. Dr. Emese Domahidi, who together with Prof. Wolling, provided me an opportunity in the last year of my dissertation to work on an ambitious research project. In addition to the opportunity, it was her work ethics and critical perspective that made me see things in a way I did not before. I thank my colleagues for listening to my mundane and half cooked research ideas during fine summer afternoons and for all the stimulating discussions we had in the last six years. Last but not the least, I would like to thank my family: my parents who have always trusted me, to my siblings for bearing me, and finally, my wife for being there and supporting me in the toughest of times. V Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..................................................................................................................IV TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................................... V LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................................ VIII LIST OF TABLES ..............................................................................................................................IX ABSTRACT .........................................................................................................................................XI 1. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 DATA AND METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH .................................................................................... 4 1.2 WHAT THIS RESEARCH AIMS TO ADD TO THE FIELD ..................................................................... 5 1.3 OUTLINE OF THE DISSERTATION .................................................................................................... 6 2. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF EUROPEAN IDENTITY .............................................. 8 2.1 CONCEPT AND CATEGORIES OF IDENTITY ..................................................................................... 9 2.2 COLLECTIVE IDENTITY ................................................................................................................. 11 2.3 CONCEPTUALIZING COLLECTIVE EUROPEAN IDENTITY ............................................................ 14 2.4 EUROPEAN AND NATIONAL IDENTITIES ........................................................................................ 20 2.5 THE ROLE OF MEDIA ...................................................................................................................... 23 2.5.1 MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE EU ..................................................................................................... 24 2.5.2 MEDIA AND EUROPEAN IDENTITY ................................................................................................ 26 3. EXPLORATORY DATA ANALYSIS OF REGIONAL EUROPEAN PUBLIC OPINION ..................................................................................................................................... 31 3.1 INTRODUCTION: ............................................................................................................................. 32 3.2 EU INSTITUTIONS AS IDENTITY BUILDERS ................................................................................... 34 3.3 RESEARCH DESIGN AND QUESTIONS ............................................................................................. 35 3.4 RESULTS ......................................................................................................................................... 38 3.5 DISCUSSION .................................................................................................................................... 44 VI 4. MERE EXPOSURE, HOSTILE MEDIA PHENOMENON AND EUROPEAN IDENTITY ................................................................................................................................... 51 4.1 THEORETICAL REORIENTATION: MERE-EXPOSURE AND HOSTILE MEDIA EFFECTS .............. 51 4.2 RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND HYPOTHESES .................................................................................. 54 4.3 METHOD ......................................................................................................................................... 56 4.4 FINDINGS ........................................................................................................................................ 61 4.5 DISCUSSION AND LIMITATIONS ..................................................................................................... 64 5. INVESTIGATING MEDIA MALAISE AND MOBILIZATION EFFECTS ON EUROPEAN IDENTITY ............................................................................................................ 68 5.1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................. 69 5.2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ........................................................................................................ 72 5.2.1 POLITICAL SUPPORT ..................................................................................................................... 72 5.2.2 MEDIA MALAISE AND MOBILIZATION EFFECTS ........................................................................... 75 5.3 HYPOTHESES .................................................................................................................................. 77 5.4 DESIGN OF THE STUDY .................................................................................................................. 78 5.5 OPERATIONALIZATION OF THE VARIABLES ................................................................................ 80 5.5.1 DEPENDENT VARIABLE ................................................................................................................ 80 5.5.2 INDEPENDENT VARIABLES ........................................................................................................... 80 5.6 FINDINGS ........................................................................................................................................ 82 5.7 DISCUSSION AND LIMITATIONS ..................................................................................................... 88 5.8 ANNEX ............................................................................................................................................. 91 6. TRADITIONAL AND ONLINE MEDIA: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MEDIA PREFERENCE, CREDIBILITY PERCEPTIONS, PREDISPOSITIONS AND EUROPEAN IDENTITY ............................................................................................................ 92 6.1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................. 92 6.2 THEORY AND HYPOTHESES ........................................................................................................... 95 6.2.1 TRADITIONAL VS. ONLINE: EFFECTS OF POLITICAL NEWS CONSUMPTION ................................... 95 6.2.2 MEDIA CREDIBILITY AND POLITICAL PREDISPOSITIONS ............................................................... 98 6.3 METHOD ....................................................................................................................................... 103 6.3.1 VARIABLES OF INTEREST ............................................................................................................ 103 6.3.2 CONTROL VARIABLES ................................................................................................................. 106 6.3.3 DATA ANALYSIS ......................................................................................................................... 108 6.4. RESULTS ...................................................................................................................................... 109 6.4.1 TRADITIONAL MEDIA AND EUROPEAN IDENTITY ....................................................................... 109 6.4.2 ONLINE MEDIA AND EUROPEAN IDENTITY ................................................................................. 111 6.5 DISCUSSION .................................................................................................................................. 113 6.6 ANNEX ..........................................................................................................................................