Framed for You: Exploring Cognitive Effects of Episodic Versus Thematic Frames and the Moderating Role of Framing Preferences

Building on the notion that media effects depend on different levels of susceptibility, this article argues that individual preferences moderate the cognitive effects of episodic versus thematic news frames. To test this assumption, this preregistered study (N = 395) combined a repeated measures experiment with a between-subjects design to explore the prevalence of framing preferences, as well as its potentially moderating role for cognitive effects of episodic versus thematic news frames. Results indicate that an episodically framed news article on the impact of climate change in Africa caused readers to list more thoughts and recall more facts than its thematically framed counterpart – although the latter depends partly on how recall is measured. Contrary to the initial expectations, framing preferences do not moderate news framing effects on knowledge acquisition. In part this may be due to framing preferences being not particularly pronounced among most respondents.