My research focuses on the three topics briefly described below. See the list of my publications and my research projects for more information.

Content and effects of political communication, with a special interest in campaign communication 

I am interested in both the "supply side" and the "demand side" of political communication, including but not limited to political statements by politicians and political parties, media coverage of politics, its processing, and its effects.

A particular focus of my research is on campaign communication, and here on televised debates, but also on the strategies used by political actors, especially negative campaigning. I am also very interested in the factors that influence the use of negative campaigning on the one hand and moderate its processing and effects on the other hand. Lately, I have been focusing on the role of (dark) personality.

In terms of communication outside of election campaigns, I focus particularly on the coverage of political scandals.

Political knowledge, political attitudes and electoral behavior

I am also interested in voters' political knowledge, their political attitudes and their impact on voter turnout and voting behavior. My particular focus is on the role of politicians, as well as issues, on voting behavior. More specifically, I am interested in how political communication informs voters and how this affects attitudes and behavior. 

Research methods

Since my research is based on quantitative data, I am very open to all kinds of (new) research methods. The methods I use include content analysis, candidate surveys, opinion polls, (online and lab) experiments, and real-time response measures.