Measuring the effect of media framing on behavior towards refugees

Research demonstrates that media framing of immigrants and refugees affects sentiments toward these groups in the receiving societies; however, no evidence on the media effects on actual behavior toward these groups has been offered. We contribute by testing the impact of media framing on a behavioral outcome through an online experiment carried out in seven European Union (EU) countries. We randomly assigned visual treatments corresponding to humanitarian, security, and economic burden media frames, and offered respondents an opportunity to donate to a charity supporting refugees. Exposure to the humanitarian frame increases the probability of a donation, while there is no statistically significant effect of the security and economic frames. Furthermore, we observe a moderating role of ethnocentrism and political ideology on the humanitarian and the security frames.