<P> Additionally, research done on voters in Ann Arbor and Durham after the US 2008 elections showed partial evidence that voting for the losing candidate may lead to increased cortisol levels relative to levels among voters who chose the winning candidate . </P> <P> The use of emotional appeals in political campaigns to increase support for a candidate or decrease support for a challenger is a widely recognized practice and a common element of any campaign strategy . Campaigns often seek to instill positive emotions such as enthusiasm and hopefulness about their candidate among party bases to improve turnout and political activism while seeking to raise fear and anxiety about the challenger . Enthusiasm tends to reinforce preferences, whereas fear and anxiety tends to interrupt behavioral patterns and leads individuals to look for new sources of information . </P> <P> Research findings illustrate that it is possible to influence a persons' attitudes toward a political candidate using carefully crafted survey questions, which in turn may influence his or her voting behavior . A laboratory study in the UK focused on participants' attitude toward former Prime Minister Tony Blair during the 2001 pre-election period via a telephone survey . After gauging participants' interest in politics, the survey asked the participants to list either i) two positive characteristics of the Prime Minister, ii) five positive characteristics of the Prime Minister, iii) two negative characteristics of the Prime Minister, or iv) five negative characteristics of the Prime Minister . Participants were then asked to rate their attitude toward Blair on a scale from 1 to 7 where higher values reflected higher favorability . </P> <P> Listing five positive or negative characteristics for the Prime Minister was challenging; especially for those with little or no interest in politics . The ones asked to list five positive characteristics were primed negatively towards the politicians because it was too hard to name five good traits . On the contrary, following the same logic, those who were to list five negative, came to like the politician better than before . This conclusion was reflected in the final survey stage when participants evaluated their attitude toward the Prime Minister . </P>

Which of the following is not a factor that voters typically focus on to make their decisions