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Citizens are exposed to a great deal of information during election campaigns, much of which takes the form of cues about candidates� positions on issues. This research examines how citizens respond to information cues embedded in negative messages made by candidates about their opponents. Specifically, I examine how such cues influence citizens� views of both the target and the sponsor of the attack. Data from a survey experiment show that citizens use these cues in two ways: (1) they assess the target of the message as holding more extreme ideological positions than the ones the attacker actually espouses; while (2) their assessments of the attack�s sponsor shift in the opposite direction.
